FinTech Vitesse, climate risk insurance platform Yokahu and parametric InsurTech FloodFlash have teamed up to support climate vulnerable communities after extreme weather events.
The companies will work together to significantly accelerate payments from insurers to policyholders to prevent small and medium-sized business (SMEs) from failing after extreme weather events.
Climate change is impacting both the frequency and severity of weather events around the world.
According to Vitesse, natural disasters through to the end of the third quarter of 2022 are estimated to have caused total economic losses of approximately $227bn, of which an estimated $99bn was covered by public and private insurers.
This means that insured losses are likely to exceed $100bn for the third year in a row according to Aon’s Global Catastrophe Recap report, Vitesse said. This represents a significant insurance protection gap of over 50%.
Moreover, SMEs and vulnerable communities in particular are disproportionately impacted by natural catastrophes with 90% of smaller companies failing within a year unless operations resume within five days of a flood, for instance.
However, traditional claims payments from insurers can take weeks or sometimes months in the case of complex claims requiring loss adjusters, time that SMEs and the individuals who work for them do not have.
To address this challenge, Vitesse, which has digital banking distribution in over 170 countries globally, has developed a platform that allows cross border payments for insurers to pay a claim in real-time, and has partnered with FloodFlash and Yokahu to enable this through parametric insurance.
Daniel Andrews, insurance director of Vitesse, said, “Our collaborative approach with FloodFlash and Yokahu demonstrates our desire to positively impact change and deliver quicker outcomes for consumers and businesses at a time when they need it most. Whether that be to repair a residential property or to get a business back up and trading. The partnership is a match made in heaven, where third parties can come together to deliver a compelling insured experience from end-to-end.”
Earlier this year, FloodFlash, the parametric insurance technology company that pays catastrophic flood claims within 48 hours, raised $15m in Series A funding.
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