Rewriting the Rules: Data Innovation and the Next Era of P&C Insurance

In today’s property and casualty (P&C) insurance landscape, data isn’t just important; it’s essential. From underwriting and risk assessment to claims management and operational resilience, carriers rely on high-quality data to drive decisions and manage risk effectively. And yet, despite its central role, access to comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date property intelligence data remains one of the industry's most persistent and pressing challenges.

Matt Schmidt from Ecopia AI’s (Ecopia’s) insurance team recently joined Bryan Falchuk, Founder and Managing Partner of Insurance Evolution Partners, and Valkyrie Holmes, CEO of Faura, to discuss the importance of high-precision property intelligence data in the P&C industry. 

This blog explores key takeaways from that conversation, like how high-precision property intelligence data is shaping the industry by improving accuracy in risk assessment, enabling proactive mitigation, and supporting smarter decision-making. Prefer to watch? The webinar recording is available at the bottom of this page.

Adapting to a shifting risk landscape in P&C insurance: higher frequency and higher intensity of severe weather events 

The webinar begins with Bryan emphasizing the need to understand the changing conditions that today’s P&C insurance industry faces, characterized by more frequent and severe natural disasters. Historically, the P&C insurance industry has faced severe weather events like hurricanes and wildfires. However, while insurers used to experience clusters of events followed by periods of recovery, the current reality is quite different: events are happening more frequently and with greater intensity. This shift represents a material change in both the frequency and severity of risks facing insurance companies. 

A major challenge Bryan highlights is that many carriers are still relying on outdated or fragmented data and using tools that weren’t designed for the complex environment we face today. Despite this, he believes there are strategies and technologies available to help insurers navigate these new challenges effectively.

Matt adds that with thousands of properties and layers of geospatial data in their portfolios, insurers need precise location intelligence to truly understand where their assets are and what risks they face. He uses Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding as an example of how precise location data can empower carriers to make better-informed decisions.

Precisely locating properties for smarter risk assessment: building footprints, geocodes, and parcel boundaries

Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding provides the most comprehensive and precise building footprint data available in the US, combined with market-leading address information. Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Ecopia’s systems digitize up-to-date geospatial imagery to rapidly generate high-definition vector maps at scale, delivering accuracy on par with trained GIS professionals. Ecopia's proprietary geocoding engine then applies a unique machine learning-based parsing system to match each address to the correct building. The result? The most comprehensive rooftop-level geocoding across the US, with over 270M+ unique primary and secondary addresses. 

Matt explains that accurate risk assessment begins with knowing the exact location of buildings associated with a policy. Traditional methods like street-level or parcel centroid geocoding can place buildings far from their true locations, leading to errors that hamper insurers’ ability to identify high-risk properties and price risk appropriately.

Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding assigns geographic coordinates directly to building structures. This precision is essential for evaluating exposure to hazards like flood zones or wildfire-prone areas. Furthermore, Ecopia updates its Building-Based Geocoding annually with the freshest imagery available to help insurers understand building change and evolving risk dynamics.

With precise, up-to-date location data at their fingertips, insurers using Ecopia’s Building-Based Geocoding improve underwriting accuracy, optimize claims management, and confidently navigate today’s complex risk landscape. As Matt puts it, “once you can accurately place your assets, you can better predict what will happen to them, observe changes over time, and adapt accordingly year after year.”

Matt stresses that establishing a solid data foundation rooted in a geospatial context is essential. Understanding a home’s proximity to potential hazards creates the spatial awareness needed for effective risk evaluation and mitigation efforts. Once a property is identified as being wildfire-prone, for example, the key question becomes how to incentivize both carriers and homeowners to take proactive steps to protect it.

Policyholder mitigation: incentivizing property owners with personalized risk insights

In the next section of the webinar, Valkyrie emphasizes that in today’s era of more frequent and severe natural disasters, better risk selection hinges on access to granular, high-quality data around individual property structures. Faura plays a crucial role in this by providing detailed, property-level risk intelligence. Their platform delivers precise insights into an individual structure, helping insurers make smarter underwriting decisions.

Valkyrie explains that these detailed insights also help policyholders better understand their own risk. The panelists discuss that on the consumer side, there is a growing demand for personalized communication from insurers, especially around mitigation efforts. By offering tailored, actionable feedback directly to homeowners, insurance companies can make the risk management process more seamless and transparent. This approach benefits both insurers and policyholders by fostering deeper risk awareness, boosting engagement, and encouraging proactive steps to reduce exposure.

Valkyrie shares a compelling story about a policyholder who was facing non-renewal because of issues with their property. Thanks to a Faura assessment, the homeowner identified specific issues they could mitigate to get their policy reinstated. They were able to keep their existing policy and premium, avoiding the hassle of switching carriers, while also becoming a more profitable and resilient customer for the insurer. 

Democratizing risk assessment data: personalized communication to drive smarter risk decisions

Bryan highlights the importance of personalized, context-aware communication to help mitigate risks and improve outcomes for both policyholders and insurers. He gives an example from auto insurance: sending a blanket message before a hailstorm advising homeowners to put their cars in the garage might help some, but it overlooks those without garages. A smarter approach uses data to identify those individuals and offer alternatives, like access to local garages for temporary parking. This simple solution could prevent significant losses in auto claims.

Building on this idea, the panelists share a similar scenario in home insurance: a homeowner is alerted that debris on their roof is increasing their wildfire risk; providing clear, personalized recommendations, or even connecting them with a local contractor, can support timely mitigation and significantly reduce exposure. However, this level of targeted intervention only becomes possible when insurers have access to accurate, up-to-date data about a property’s location, condition, and history. That kind of insight doesn’t just reduce risk; it also strengthens customer relationships and improves retention.

The panelists agree that democratized access to high-precision property intelligence data is essential, but equally important is contextualizing that data. They also emphasize that scaling these efforts and incorporating gamification to encourage mitigation can significantly boost consumer engagement, which is vital in today’s insurance landscape.

Embracing the future: how the P&C industry can lead through data-driven change

The webinar closes with a forward-looking discussion on how the P&C industry can rise to meet current and future challenges. The panelists encourage insurers to ask whether “good enough” is truly enough to address the challenges facing the P&C industry today. To stay competitive, insurers must consider the source, frequency, and completeness of the data they rely on to make confident decisions in an increasingly complex environment.

Interested in hearing more? Be sure to watch the recording below.