Category: CatIQ Announcements

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Catastrophes CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Connect

CatIQ in the news

Insurance Business Canada’s Alicja Grzadkowska was among the media presence at CatIQ Connect’s February webinar, Catastrophes – 2020 Review, 2021 Preview. Her article, “Biggest Canadian catastrophes of 2020 reveal a significant rise in risk,” focuses on the 2020 CATs in Review presentation, given by our own Laura Twidle.

“The past year hasn’t just been a unique one in Canada due to the pandemic – it’s also been an interesting year because of the variety in severe weather we’ve seen, and the impact events have had across the country. Notably, 2020 was ranked as the fourth highest in insured losses since 1983.

During CatIQ Connect’s February webinar, managing director Laura Twidle outlined the major weather events from the past year, and while it may be hard for many of us to remember what exactly happened in January 2020 when we were living out the last few blissful weeks of our pre-COVID existence, the CatIQ database never forgets.”

Read the full article at Insurance Business Canada, here.

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Connect

Countdown to CatIQ Connect’s Catastrophes: 2020 Review, 2021 Preview Webinar

Toronto (January 4, 2021) – Looking back, 2020 will go into the history books as both one-of-a-kind and the same old, same old. While a global pandemic paused many aspects of our lives, catastrophes gave us no reprieve. Natural catastrophe records were broken globally, including some right in our backyard. Though 2020 was a year of exceptions in many ways, it falls right in line with the past decade when it comes to Canada’s increasing trend of annual catastrophic loss.

Canadian insured losses from catastrophic events in 2020 were nearly CAN $2.5 billion – CatIQ 

The years where annual catastrophic insured losses were below $1 billion seem to be a thing of the past; 2020 went one further and surpassed $2 billion in the first half of the year. The two largest events occurred in the second quarter. The Fort McMurray ice jam resulted in a 1 in 100-year flood event and caused a staggering $562 million of insured loss in the spring, and the June 13th Calgary hailstorm which pelted areas of the northeast with tennis ball-sized hail became the costliest hailstorm on record for Canada at $1.3 billion. These catastrophic events, which directly impact the public, require industry, academia and government to work together before, during and afterwards. In addition to its role as Canada’s loss and exposure indices provider, Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ), in partnership with MSA Research, organizes a conference to foster such collaboration in Canada.  

CatIQ Connect, is a content-driven forum geared toward: 

  • Insurance/Reinsurance/Risk Transfer Professionals 
  • All Levels of Government 
  • Engineers/Restoration contractors
  • Academia/Researchers 
  • Risk Managers 
  • Other sectors/organizations dealing with resilience to catastrophes 

Session topics: 

  • 2020 ‘Catastrophes in Review’ by CatIQ
  • State of the Industry
    • Peter Askew, President & CEO, Guy Carpenter
    • Paul MacDonald, EVP, Personal Insurance, Economical Insurance
    • Monica Ningen, President & CEO, Canada and English Caribbean, Swiss Re
    • Moderated by Paul Kovacs, Executive Director, ICLR
  • The Future of Claims Adjusting
    • Bill Dietz, President Paul Davis Canada
    • Skip McHardy, EVP, CRU Group
    • Moderated by Christopher Bartlett, President of the CIAA and Supervisor – National Claims Management Centre, Crawford and Company
  • Impacts of the Supply Chain on the Insurance Industry
    • Darilyn Dorosz, General Manager, PDR Hail Team
    • Jim Gibb, Vice President, Installation Services, Peak Services
    • Ian McKay, AVP, National Accounts, Insurance Company Solutions, Verisk
    • Colin Young, AVP, JS Held
    • Moderated by Elizabeth Kepes, Claims Corporate Vendor Manager, RSA Insurance Group

With the in-person event, typically held in February each year, being suspended for 2021, CatIQ has developed a series of quarterly webinars to focus on top-of-mind themes for all CAT stakeholders. More than 330 delegates have participated since October in CatIQ Connect’s online format.

“Climate change is causing increasingly erratic and severe weather patterns across the globe and losses from secondary peril events are forecast to increase. The risk Canada faces from extreme weather is growing and the costs of natural catastrophes are rising,” said Dipika Deol, Swiss Re’s Head of Underwriting for Canada and English Caribbean. “Events like CatIQ Connect bring together all key stakeholders to discuss and develop the solutions that will protect communities against the impact of severe weather and increase resilience across all of Canada.”

Laura Twidle, Managing Director at CatIQ says, “We are happy to have been able to bring together catastrophe experts over the past year. As we all learned, mother nature does not sit back just because there is a pandemic. We must all continue to work together to prepare for a future with increasingly frequent extreme events.”

To learn more about CatIQ Connect, visit https://connect.catiq.com/. 

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Connect

Catastrophe Stakeholders Attend CatIQ Connect to Hear David Phillips

Auditorium

Toronto (January 14, 2019) – A total of 220 delegates have already registered to attend the fourth annual CatIQ Connect, taking place February 4-6 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The overall themes of CatIQ Connect are on catastrophe preparedness and resiliency, risk management tools, and helping stakeholder and policy makers work together for the greater good of all Canadians.

David Phillips, Senior Climatologist of Environment and Climate Change Canada will open the workshop on February 4th and engage stakeholders with a review of 2018’s extreme weather events and what’s to come. The workshop will provide municipalities with insight on how to respond, recover and mitigate future disasters. Phillips says, “Canada’s annual list of top ten weather stories has revealed an increasing trend to more destructive, expensive and impactful weather. Perhaps 2018 is a preview of what lies ahead, not as exceptional, but simply the norm mere decades from now. At the same time, we have become more vulnerable and at greater risk to extreme weather. Canadians must become more resilient – not only for what lies ahead but for the climate already here.”

The workshop has been developed in partnership with The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM). FCM President Vicki-May Hamm added, “Through FCM’s Municipalities for Climate Innovation Program, we encourage municipalities to better prepare for and adapt to the new realities of climate change. We welcome the opportunity at this year’s CatIQ Connect workshop to engage the stakeholders on this topic, and advance capacity-building resources for municipalities to help them address climate-related natural disasters.”

Conference sponsors are numerous organizations dedicated to mitigating and managing catastrophic loss, and include The Co-operators, CRU Group Adjusters, IBC, Wood, other technology and restoration companies, reinsurers, reinsurance brokers, and research networks. The conference agenda will provide diverse perspectives on various facets of Canadian catastrophes and session speakers include:

To register for CatIQ Connect 2019, and to keep up to date on the latest announcements, visit www.catiq.com/connect
Photo caption:

CatIQ Connect 2019 speakers, from left: (top row) Tania Caceres, Dr. Lars Dyrud, Dr. Blair Feltmate; (middle row) Chad Nelson, David McGown, Ian McPherson; (bottom row) Shawna Peddle, David Phillips, Philipp Wassenberg.

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Platform

CatIQ Provides Comprehensive Insured Loss Estimates on all Canadian Catastrophes since 2008

Large hail

Toronto (January 28, 2016) – Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) is pleased to announce the release of catastrophic insured loss estimates from 2008-2012.

Now available on CatIQ′s Platform (www.catiq.com), this release brings CatIQ′s detailed database to 69 catastrophic events (CATs)1 along with an additional 70 notable events (NEs)2 from Jan 1, 2008 to the present. Incurred losses relating to all events over the past eight years exceed C$11 billion, averaging C$1.4 billion per year (on a nominal basis). This rich dataset will prove invaluable to the Canadian and global insurance/reinsurance/ILS industries as well as other stakeholders dealing with catastrophe management.

With the overwhelming support CatIQ receives from the insurance industry3, CatIQ is confident that its loss estimates are by far the most accurate and reliable in the market.

The CatIQ Platform provides GIS footprints, postal codes, meteorological & damage information, photos, videos and related media for both CATs and NEs, along with comprehensive insured industry loss estimates for CAT events, specifically. CatIQ’s industry loss estimates are based on surveys of the overwhelming majority of affected insurers and can be accessed in Bulletin View, CatHUB View, Query View and the Analysis Dashboard. Additionally, companies who submit data are able to compare industry CAT losses to their own losses.

With almost 140 events catalogued which can be overlaid and analyzed, there is an unparalleled wealth of knowledge available on our platform. There are so many interesting statistics and trends which can be used to explore known catastrophe risk to specific locations all across Canada by event type, loss size and specific peril, states Carolyn Rennie, CatIQ′s Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis. We owe a debt of gratitude to all the participating insurers and to the members of CatIQ′s industry advisory committee whose input continues to be invaluable.

CatIQ will be running an exclusive WebEx for subscribers on February 26th: Canadian Catastrophes in Review

1 Catastrophes (CATs) are events which impact multiple insurers and insurance companies causing property damage with losses great than $25M
2 Notable events (NEs) are events which do not meet the CAT threshold but still cause significant property damage with losses between $10M and $25M (estimated at $17.5M)
3 CatIQ’s current participation rate amongst Canadian insurers exceeds 80% when measured on a DPW basis.

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Connect

Registration Now Open for CatIQ’s Canadian Catastrophe Conference

Conference attendees listening to a session.

Toronto (October 7, 2015) – With the help of the CatIQ′s Canadian Catastrophe Conference (C4) expert Senior Advisory Committee, CatIQ announced that registration is now open for C4 2016. The full two-day event will provide attendees with a content driven platform to foster collaboration before, during and after catastrophic events.

Very recent meteorological disasters in South Carolina and the Bahamas remind us of the need for this type of organized gathering. I′m looking forward to the productive conversation among stakeholders on a collaborative approach to enable our communities to become more resilient, said C4 2016 Advisory Committee Member Jim Abraham, Director, Canadian Climate Forum and former Director General, Weather Environmental Monitoring, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada.

C4 2016 Emcee Glenn Gibson and Vice-Chairman Hamilton Tiger-Cats agreed by saying, I do think that events like the past few days shown the value proposition of the insurance policy. You pay a premium for something you hope never happens. It′s difficult at times to equate a premium payment′s value until an extreme weather event occurs.

C4 is geared towards:

  • Industry executives, including the Canadian Insurance & Reinsurance Industries, as well as other sectors impacted by catastrophic events
  • The academic and professional community conducting research related to natural or man-made catastrophes, engineering, and emergency management
  • All levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal) tasked with preparedness and resiliency from catastrophes
  • Policy makers and risk managers

The full program is now available online at www.catiq.com/c4 featuring over 40 outstanding speakers from industry, academia and government. C4 2016 sessions centre around three main themes: Catastrophes (An Overview), Strategies and Tools in Catastrophes Management and Sector Perspectives. Additionally, attendees will hear from two keynote luncheon speakers: George Kourounis, Storm Chaser & Host of Angry Planet, and Butch Bacani from the United Nations Environmental Program Finance Initiative.

Sessions include:

  • Connecting the Dots
  • CatIQ 2015 CATs in Review
  • Lessons Learned from Recent Events
  • View From on the Ground
  • Preparing for Man-Made Catastrophes
  • Dealing with Hail Risk
  • Floods – Where Do We Stand & What′s Next?
  • Modeling Catastrophes
  • Who Pays the Bill?
  • Are we Getting Through? Effective Communication
  • Resilient Cities
  • Public Sector Perspective
  • Claims Executives
  • Building a Framework for Resilience

Delegates who register before November 30th receive a discount of $100 and a further discount if three or more delegates register. Additionally, C4 2016 features a discounted Academic Rate available to students and professors at Academic Institutions.

Carolyn Rennie, Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis stated, It′s been a busy couple of months preparing the program, but the overwhelming support and encouragement from our speakers, sponsors and community partners has made the hard work worthwhile.

Current partnerships include:

  • Gold Sponsors: Aviva, Co-operators & CRU Group
  • Silver Sponsors: Aon, IBC, Munich Re & Swiss Re
  • Community Partners: CMOS, Ouranos, ICLR, ICLEI, Canadian Climate Forum & CRH Net

To register, visit www.catiq.com/c4, and obtain more conference information overall and information on partnerships.

C4 2016 Advisory Committee Members:

  • Jim Abraham, Director, Canadian Climate Forum and former Director General, Weather Environmental
  • Joel Baker, President and CEO of MSA Research Inc. & CatIQ Inc.
  • Glenn Gibson, C4 2016 Emcee, Vice-Chairman Hamilton Tiger-Cats & former EVP and Global Chief Strategy Officer of Crawford & Company
  • Steve Johnston, Director of Reinsurance, The Co-operators
  • Paul Kovacs, Executive Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) & CEO, PACICC
  • Caroline Larrivée, Team Leader ‐ Vulnerability Impacts & Adaptation, Ouranos
  • Skip McHardy, VP Canadian Catastrophe Operations, Catastrophe Response Unit (CRU) Inc.
  • Mazdak Moini , VP Commercial Lines & Reinsurance, Aviva Canada
  • Christoph Oehy, Head Treaty Underwriting – SVP, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd.
  • Carolyn Rennie, Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis, CatIQ Inc.
  • Sean Russell, Managing Director, Guy Carpenter Canada
  • Jason Thistlethwaite, Director, Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP), University of Waterloo
  • Pat Van Bakel, President & CEO, Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.
  • Rebecca Wagner, Manager, Prediction Services Operations ‐ Central Region, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada
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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Platform

Save the Date CatIQ’s Canadian Catastrophe Conference (C4)

becoming the norm and extreme events like the Calgary and Toronto Floods in 2013 have caused unprecedented economic impacts. These catastrophic events, which directly impact the Canadian public, require industry, academia and all levels of government to work together before, during and after these events.

With such a great need to build collaboration and resilience, Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) today announced its inaugural conference to address what is foremost on all our minds. CatIQ’s Canadian Catastrophe Conference (C4) will take place on February 1 & February 2, 2016 at the Toronto Region Board of Trade in Toronto, Ontario. The conference will provide an overview of catastrophes, discuss strategies in catastrophe management, and explore sector perspectives.

The C4 event is being shaped by a senior 14 person Advisory Committee from the key sectors impacted. The two-day conference which will bring together panels and speakers is being designed to “Connect the Dots” between Industry, Government and current research taking place in Academia.

The Senior Advisory Committee Members for C4 2016 include:

  • Jim Abraham, former Director General, Weather Environmental Monitoring, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada
  • Joel Baker, President and CEO of MSA Research Inc. & CatIQ Inc.
  • Glenn Gibson, C4 2016 Emcee, Vice-Chairman Hamilton Tiger-Cats & former EVP and Global Chief Strategy Officer of Crawford & Company
  • Steve Johnston, Director of Reinsurance, The Co-operators
  • Paul Kovacs, Executive Director, Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) & CEO, PACICC
  • Caroline Larrivée, Team Leader – Vulnerability Impacts & Adaptation, Ouranos
  • Skip McHardy, VP Canadian Catastrophe Operations, Catastrophe Response Unit (CRU) Inc.
  • Mazdak Moini, VP Commercial Lines & Reinsurance, Aviva Canada
  • Christoph Oehy, Head Treaty Underwriting – SVP, Swiss Reinsurance Company Ltd.
  • Carolyn Rennie, Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis, CatIQ Inc.
  • Sean Russell, Managing Director, Guy Carpenter Canada
  • Jason Thistlethwaite, Director, Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP), University of Waterloo
  • Pat Van Bakel, President & CEO, Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc.
  • Rebecca Wagner, Manager, Prediction Services Operations – Central Region, Meteorological Service of Canada, Environment Canada


“We are delighted to have assembled such a stellar advisory committee that truly bring cross-sector and multi-regional perspectives to the complex area of catastrophe management,” said CatIQ’s Director of Catastrophe Loss Analysis, Carolyn Rennie. “Thanks to them, the agenda that is taking shape will resonate across all sectors that are impacted by CATs”.

Registration information and the complete agenda will be released in September on www.catiq.com/c4/savethedate.

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Platform

New CatWATCH™ Alerts Forecast & Monitor Potential Canadian Catastrophes

CatWATCH

Available Now to CatIQ Subscribers

Toronto (May 14, 2015) – Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) today released the first phases of two brand new features to its online subscription-based Platform (www.catiq.com): CatWATCH™ and Analysis Dashboard.

CatIQ reports on natural and man-made disasters causing catastrophic damage and provides catastrophe (CAT)1 or notable event (NE)2 declarations based on estimated property losses. When CatIQ declares an event, a plethora of information is available on CatIQ’s Platform including a geographic footprint, initial bulletin with meteorological insight (if applicable), and related media. Although CatIQ’s detailed reporting is available within 1-2 days of the event, there is a need for more real-time information.

“During consultation with the industry, it became very apparent that advanced warning of impending conditions which may develop into catastrophic events is extremely important. Since we are already tracking events and collecting information in order to make CAT declarations, it makes sense to share this information with our users,” commented Carolyn Rennie, CatIQ’s Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis and in-house meteorologist.

CatWATCH™ is being created to provide updates on possible CATs monitored by CatIQ. CatWATCH™ features will be rolling out over the next couple of months beginning with Phase 1 – CatWATCH™ Alerts. Notification about potential CATs is extremely important as Canada approaches what Carolyn calls, “CAT Season”. These updates will come in the form of CatWATCH™ Alerts. The Alerts will be released to CatIQ subscribers for 5 different watch types: Severe Weather Watch, Tropical Storm Watch, Flood Watch, Forest Fire Watch, and Winter Storm Watch.

CatWATCH™ Alerts will include geographic footprints of the areas which may be impacted, information on which perils may occur or are occurring, as well as possible property damage and preparation related to each watch type. These CatWATCH™ Alerts and subsequent updates, prior to a catastrophe occurring, could assist in the mobilization of claims staff, adjusters and emergency management officials or used in policy holder outreach.

Today CatIQ has also released its ground-breaking Analysis Dashboard. Participating insurance companies have the ability to benchmark themselves with the rest of the industry and monitor trends in CAT loss estimates. The Analysis Dashboard is also integrated with data from MSA Research, CatIQ’s sister company, to provide an estimate of the impact of a specific CATs on direct loss ratios. Analysis Dashboard Phase 2 – Multi-CAT, is currently under development and will provide reports and analytics for multiple CAT events.

CatIQ Users will find out more about both features at this afternoon’s interactive Training Webinar.

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Catastrophes CatIQ Announcements

Updated Industry Loss Estimate Released on Canada Day Weekend Flooding in the Prairies

Heavy rain

Over $140 million in Insured Damage

Toronto (September 18, 2014) – Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) today released updated industry loss estimates on the flooding which occurred in Manitoba and Saskatchewan during the Canada Day Long Weekend (June 28-30, 2014). The updated insured loss estimate of over $140 million (which includes loss adjustment expenses) came from the recent 45-day re-survey of the overwhelming majority of affected insurers.

CatIQ has now pegged this catastrophe as the second largest to occur in Canada so far in 2014, following the hailstorms in Alberta which occurred in early August. CatIQ’s in-house meteorologist and Director of Catastrophic Loss Analysis, Carolyn Rennie, analyzed the meteorological system which triggered the flooding stating, “Over the Canada Day Long Weekend, a large low pressure system moved through the Prairies. The stationary system brought strong winds and heavy rains to areas of southeastern Saskatchewan and southwestern Manitoba for the entire weekend. The heavy rains, up to 230 mm in some areas, caused widespread flooding. Rivers and creeks overflowed which impacted areas from Regina to Winnipeg. The hardest-hit areas were on the Saskatchewan /Manitoba border. “

CatIQ will continue to monitor the development of this and other events. CatIQ is offered as a free service to Canadian primary insurers who supply data through surveys on the insured losses. In order to most accurately estimate the losses, exclusive Canadian Market Share data is used, as published by CatIQ’s sister company MSA Research Inc.

Members who subscribe to CatIQ have access to additional information related to this Cat (and all 2014 Cats) including; geographic footprint, media, affected postal codes, as well as the industry loss estimates broken out by province and line of business.

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Platform

Crawford joins CatIQ’s Industry Partners Program to Deliver Valuable Information from Catastrophe Zones

Signing a document

Toronto (August 13, 2014) – Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) and Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. (Crawford) today announce that Crawford has joined CatIQ’s Industry Partners Program whereby Crawford will provide CatIQ’s users with actionable real-time information from Catastrophe Zones (Cat Zones) across Canada via its proprietary CatHUB interface within the www.catiq.com platform.

CatIQ’s Industry Partners Program is an important layer of information that users will only find in CatIQ’s CatHUB interface consisting of photos, videos and text based reporting from catastrophe zones.

Crawford’s extensive network and national reach will enable CatIQ’s users to benefit from exclusive photos, videos and text-based reporting from catastrophe zones across Canada immediately following the catastrophe and as the recovery process progresses.

“We are thrilled that Crawford, the world’s largest independent provider of claims management solutions has joined this program for the industry’s benefit” said Joel Baker, CEO, CatIQ. “Crawford’s reach will give CatIQ’s users excellent visibility into the complexities that quickly arise in the wake of catastrophes and help insurers respond more effectively.”

“We look forward to being part of such a unique program and having the opportunity to help our industry during difficult times,” said Pat Van Bakel, CEO, Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. “CatIQ’s innovative system and Crawford’s experience in handling catastrophic losses will help users access important, detailed information when they need it the most.”

About Crawford

Crawford & Company (Canada) Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Crawford & Company. Based in Atlanta, Ga., Crawford & Company (www.crawfordandcompany.com) is the world’s largest independent provider of claims management solutions to the risk management and insurance industry as well as self‐insured entities, with an expansive global network serving clients in more than 70 countries. The Crawford Solution℠ offers comprehensive, integrated claims services, business process outsourcing and consulting services for major product lines including property and casualty claims management, workers compensation claims and medical management, and legal settlement administration. The Company’s shares are traded on the NYSE under the symbols CRDA and CRDB.

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CatIQ Announcements CatIQ Platform

CRU Adjusters Partners with CatIQ to Deliver Actionable Reporting from Catastrophe Zones

Toronto (July 29, 2014) – Catastrophe Indices and Quantification Inc. (CatIQ) and Catastrophe Response Unit Adjusters Inc. (CRU) today announce that they have entered into an agreement whereby CRU will provide CatIQ with actionable real-time information from Catastrophe Zones (Cat-Zones) in Canada to be shared with CatIQ’s subscribers across the Canadian insurance industry via its proprietary CatHUB interface within the www.catiq.com platform.

CRU will be the first industry partner to provide CatIQ’s users with photos, videos and text-based reporting from Cat Zones across Canada within the first hours and days following the Cat and then periodically as the recovery process unfolds. Industry Partner reports from Cat Zones are a valuable addition to CatIQ’s CatHUB interface.

“We are delighted that CRU stepped up to become our first industry partner” said Joel Baker, CEO CatIQ. “CRU’s reports from the field will be invaluable to many of CatIQ’s users especially in claim departments as they work to assess the damage immediately after a catastrophe strikes.”

“As the frequency and severity of Catastrophes have increased, CRU has become the foremost leader in catastrophe response in Canada, helping insurers serve their clients, in times of greatest need.” said Kyle Winston, President of CRU. “We are pleased to once again be at the leading edge as a partner to CatIQ , supplying accurate and timely industry wide catastrophe information.”

About CRU

Catastrophe Response Unit is a Canadian independent adjusting company. Operating throughout North America, CRU provides disaster and catastrophe services and consultation with adjusting specialties in residential, commercial, auto, and environmental claims. Utilizing the latest technology and industry-proven processes, we provide exceptional customer service while managing the loss adjusting expense and indemnity of every claim. www.cruadjusters.com