Insurers Adopted New Tech to Manage Flood Risk
A new three-year subscription agreement aims to improve residential property underwriting across parts of Europe.
Updated on Sept. 21, 2026 in Insurance
Live Poll
Do you feel your household insurance costs are rising due to increased disaster risks in your area?
Colonnade Insurance S.A. has signed a three-year agreement to use Intermap Technologies' flood risk and property valuation platform, starting in the Czech Republic. This partnership intends to streamline the underwriting process by centralizing property data and hazard assessments.
Why it matters
This initiative aims to improve the accuracy of residential insurance underwriting by reducing the complexity of reconciling data from multiple sources. It follows a year in which natural disasters resulted in $224 billion in total global losses.
In 2025, natural disasters caused $224 billion in global losses, with insurers covering $108 billion of that total. The new solution draws on a 3D data foundation covering more than 300 million square kilometers across 150 countries.
The players
Colonnade Insurance S.A.
A Luxembourg-based non-life insurer that provides coverage for residential and commercial property risks.
Intermap Technologies
A provider of 3D mapping and risk assessment data used by insurers to calculate potential hazard exposure.
Fairfax Financial Holdings
A Canadian financial services holding company that acts as the parent organization for Colonnade Insurance.
The details
The platform integrates proprietary, public, and commercial datasets into a single workflow to provide traceable property information. By consolidating flood risk and valuation data, the insurer expects to enhance its underwriting precision for residential properties. This digital approach replaces the manual reconciliation of disparate data sources that previously hindered efficient risk assessment.
Timeline
September 21, 2026: The subscription agreement was formally announced.
2027: Plans call for expanding the technology into Slovakia and Hungary.
2028: The companies aim to have the offering active across all operations in Central and Eastern Europe.
Money Landscape
Insurers are increasingly turning to advanced data integration to manage property risk amidst a broader trend of rising climate-related costs. This investment addresses the challenge of keeping residential coverage viable against a backdrop of global disaster losses growing by 5% to 7% annually.
As insurers implement more precise valuation models, policyholders may see risk assessments that better reflect their home's specific geographic hazard exposure. While these digital tools primarily affect underwriting workflows, any changes to your policy premiums or coverage terms should be discussed with a qualified insurance professional.
The takeaway
Advanced data modeling is becoming a standard tool for insurers managing the high costs of property hazards. If you live in an area prone to natural disasters, review your policy annually to ensure your coverage limits accurately reflect current property valuation and potential risk exposures.
Further reading
To learn more about how shifting risk assessment impacts your coverage, visit our guide on Insurance.
Live Poll
Do you feel your household insurance costs are rising due to increased disaster risks in your area?
