Orchid Insurance Partners With InsurTech Betterview to Enhance its CAT-Exposed Property Underwriting

VERO BEACH, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To enhance its CAT-exposed property underwriting, Orchid Underwriters Agency, LLC (“Orchid Insurance”), is partnering with Betterview to gain access to the InsureTech’s remote property intelligence platform, Bryan Schofield, senior vice president and head of commercial lines at Orchid Insurance, announced today.

As one of the largest independent managing general underwriters, Orchid Insurance will leverage Betterview’s technology to build on its industry-leading underwriting capabilities for commercial properties to enable quick quoting and binding issuance for coverage solutions including Business Owner Policies, Monoline Property Policies, Wind-Only, Lessor’s Risk, Mobile Home/RV Communities and more. This innovative approach also allows Orchid to update its reinsurance, underwriting, and aggregation models more frequently.

“When we started down the path of digitizing, we realized that a platform that offered high-quality aerial imagery and analytics was critical to the accuracy and speed of our underwriting processes,” said Schofield. “Betterview’s platform offers superior imagery and an intuitive interface, allowing us to provide more accurate – and transparent – quotes for new and renewal business.”

An early adopter of data-driven underwriting, Orchid’s Commercial Lines division has a history of teaming with InsureTech companies, such as Betterview, to deliver best-in-class underwriting results to its partner carriers.

“Technology has the potential to change our industry in a meaningful way,” said Tommy Ellis, a Commercial Lines underwriter at Orchid. “With Betterview’s platform, we simply type in the address for the property risk we intend to analyze, and, within seconds, we have high-resolution imagery and data analytics on that property. If the imagery and data show no problems, we can be flexible with deductibles and pricing. If the property has issues – roof staining or ponding, for example – the system flags those risks, allowing us to be proactive in underwriting and transparent with customers.”

Schofield revealed they are in the process of integrating directly with Betterview, which will allow data to be received seamlessly as part of the normal workflow and eliminate the need for inputting an address.

David Tobias, co-founder and COO at Betterview, said the scalable technology platform offers insurers improved data, visualization, and interpretation for better property risk management.

“We help partners like Orchid move from traditional methods of ‘repair and replace’ to ‘predict and prevent’ to help mitigate risk and avoid losses,” said Tobias. “Betterview was created with deep, firsthand knowledge of the challenge and expense in obtaining property intelligence. With better data and software, Betterview customers can provide more accurate coverage, superior risk management and an enhanced experience to their customers.”

About Orchid Insurance

Founded in 1998 and based in Vero Beach, Fla., Orchid Insurance (orchidinsurance.com) provides specialty insurance products for homeowners and businesses throughout the United States, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Orchid Insurance is a First Choice of agents who value superior process, policy and pricing options, high-quality system technologies, expertise in the Excess & Surplus Lines market with coastal-exposed risks, and extensive knowledge of coastal CAT-exposed market areas in the East and Gulf Coast states. A variety of products offer customers a single, comprehensive solution for both personal and commercial property insurance from Wind and Wind-Only to General Liability, Primary and Excess Flood, Earthquake, and Builder’s Risk. Orchid Insurance only represents well-known AM Best Rated carriers. In 2018, private equity group TowerBrook Capital Partners made a majority investment in Orchid.

About Betterview

Betterview was founded with the mission of helping carriers better identify, analyze, and manage property risks. Betterview was created with a deep, first-hand understanding of the challenges facing carriers in obtaining instant, high-quality, actionable insights into property risks. Betterview’s remote property intelligence platform enables carriers to provide a better experience to their insureds and agents while improving their bottom line. For more information, visit Betterview.com or Twitter, @BetterV.