Surf’s up: Hiscox expands US flood offering for larger property risks
Hiscox has expanded its US flood insurance offering with the launch of a new underwriting solution designed to provide cover for larger commercial and residential property risks that fall outside the scope of its existing FloodPlus platform.
The new product, SURF, available to Hiscox’s distribution partners, is aimed at addressing what the insurer sees as an unmet need within the London market for individually underwritten flood cover on higher-value US properties.
SURF, which stands for “submitted, underwritten, rated, flood”, complements Hiscox’s API-driven FloodPlus platform by targeting commercial and residential risks typically valued between US$5 million and US$50 million per single risk. The insurer said it can also consider schedules with values exceeding US$100 million where exposure is spread, while risks as low as US$1 million may also be considered where appropriate.
Unlike FloodPlus, which is designed for smaller commercial and residential risks, SURF enables brokers and coverholders to submit individual or portfolio risks that require bespoke underwriting beyond the platform's underwriting parameters.
According to Hiscox, the product leverages the analytics, aggregation controls and pricing discipline developed through FloodPlus while introducing individual underwriting to accommodate risks involving higher limits, broader territories and more complex structures.
The insurer said SURF provides greater underwriting flexibility, allowing it to consider risks with challenging loss histories or locations that may have struggled to secure suitable flood cover through other channels.
Hiscox is underwriting SURF alongside its existing FloodPlus portfolio, which it said provides the data, analytics and portfolio diversification needed to support larger risks while drawing on the underwriting team's experience and judgement.
The launch also forms part of Hiscox’s growth ambitions in the US flood market. The insurer said it aims to become the leading London market provider of flood insurance for US commercial and residential risks of this size, while expanding its ability to offer cover across more locations without compromising underwriting discipline.
Tom King, flood line underwriter at Hiscox London Market, said: “We’re always looking for ways to fill gaps in the market and develop new options for our distribution partners and clients, which is why we have developed SURF – which stands for ‘submitted, underwritten, rated, flood’. It’s a product, available now for our distribution partners, that has been designed to provide flood cover for higher value commercial and residential properties in the US, where we see an unmet need within the London market.”
Chris Oldfield, senior underwriter at Hiscox London Market, said: “Our API-driven digital platform FloodPlus caters for smaller residential and commercial risks. It/s hugely successful and has helped us to build the biggest flood book in the London insurance market, but we realised we also needed to offer our distribution partners an insurance solution for the risks that fall outside the underwriting parameters of FloodPlus and are perhaps not big enough to come to London via the open market.”
King added: “There is huge potential to grow this area of our flood business, and we aim to be the leading market in London for US risks of this size looking for flood cover. In tandem with FloodPlus, it means we can offer more cover in more places throughout the US and gives us a real point of competitive differentiation in the flood insurance market, without compromising the quality of our book.
“This year, we are proud to be celebrating ten years since we bound our very first Hiscox FloodPlus policy, so it’s fitting that a decade on, that entrepreneurial fire still burns bright and we continue to innovate to deliver more flood protection options for our partners and clients.”
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