Insuring accuracy in underwriting

Insurance storm damage costing in the billions of dollars has prompted underwriters to explore specific ways to better control losses. For example, the state of Texas, which has suffered severe hailstorm losses, is introducing a rating system designating four levels of hail damage resistance for some types of residential roofing materials.

The Institute for Business & Home Safety (formerly known as the Insurance Institute for Property Loss Reduction, or IIPLR), which is funded by insurance companies to reduce insurance losses, has also developed a computer program called Wind-Rite that rates building designs.

In recognition of this growing impact of insurance companies on building design, SPRI’s insurance committee has evolved from a task force created about three years ago to full committee status. It has been diligently chaired by Jim Miller, president of Metal-Era Inc., Waukesha, WI, who has developed a number of key initiatives.

"We think insurance issues will continue to be more important in the design and acceptability of all kinds of buildings," explains SPRI Technical Director Dave Roodvoets.

"Insurance companies are trying to influence design so that the building becomes less destructible and more resistant to the forces of rain, wind and hail. In and of itself, that is good and we’re all in support of that," Roodvoets says. "We just want to make sure that it doesn’t create a problem worse than the one they’re trying to solve."

Roodvoets notes that with its Insurance Committee, SPRI "is trying to be ahead of the curve rather than behind it. We believe SPRI has the technology to show what is good roofing practice."

Speaking the same language

One way in which SPRI is sharing its knowledge is by helping to clarify inaccurate definitions, such as when a single ply might not be classified correctly in insurance industry references.

"SPRI is helping to educate the insurance industry about roofing," explains SPRI President John Clifton, vice president/general counsel at Carlisle SynTec, Carlisle, PA. "SPRI’s Insurance Committee has worked with insurers to develop a Glossary of Terms that we can all agree on. It’s important that words like uplift and wind damage mean the same to all parties. We need to be speaking the same language."

Furthermore, Roodvoets adds, this glossary of roofing terms is simplified so that a non-roofing professional can understand them.

This information exchange was inaugurated nearly two years ago when representatives from the IIPLR, created in 1994, addressed SPRI’s annual meeting. Its Roofing Committee and the Wind Damage Mitigation Committee had worked on a number of initiatives to deal with wind- and hail-resistance of roofing materials. The group has also been a member of the Roofing Industry Committee on Wind Issues (RICOWI) and provides input to the model building codes. Promoting good science



Committee member John Hickman, president of W.P. Hickman Company, Asheville, NC, notes, "It is important for insurance industry programs to identify how a roof system is held down and how the edges are secured."

While Factory Mutual requirements are often cited in specifications, they do not cover all roofs, Roodvoets points out, such as schools and hospitals.

The overriding goal of SPRI’s efforts, he adds, is "to provide the insurance industry with information that’s useful and realistic to them to build rates on and avoid legislation not based on good science."

In turn, Roodvoets continues, these efforts could help a roofing contractor so that he won’t have to deal with materials being driven out of the market by a rating system or singularly higher insurance costs.

To broaden industry input on this subject, SPRI’s Insurance Committee is also seeking to establish liaisons with the NRCA and the Roofing Industry Educational Institute.

Clifton concludes, "SPRI’s Insurance Committee is part of an outreach attempt to make sure that we have input into decisions that are going to affect all of us." RSI

This article previously appeared in Roofing Siding & Insulation (RSI) November 1997