Addressing earthquake risk
An ever-present yet unpredictable existential threat, earthquakes pose a significant risk to many regions. In 2023 alone, the world witnessed several billion-dollar seismic events. Among them stood the Turkey-Syria earthquakes, ranking as one of the most catastrophic natural disasters of the past century and resulting in a staggering $92.4 billion in economic losses, with a mere 6 percent covered by insurance. In 2024, earthquakes were responsible for $20 billion in economic losses and $1 billion in insured losses.
In the aftermath of such disasters, companies operating in highly exposed regions—including Turkey, Mexico, Chile, and California—often face a challenging insurance renewal process. These renewals are marked by tightened capacity and stricter underwriting guidelines, driving the rise of parametric products and multi-year structured solutions as powerful tools for risk mitigation.
Our parametric approach to earthquake exposure
Descartes' parametric earthquake insurance offers highly sought-after insurance capacity by:
- Designing bespoke payout structures based on data and insights from leading earthquake institutions.
- Providing a flexible, targeted approach tailored to single or multiple locations.
- Enabling mitigation of physical damage to assets or property, while also addressing non-damage impacts, such as revenue loss from area closures, through a swift indemnification process.
Our parametric earthquake insurance empowers corporations and public sector clients with increased resilience, offering both capacity and rapid financial protection.
Assess
We assess and evaluate the client’s earthquake risk exposure, leveraging our proprietary risk model.
Customize
Design a customized cover, fit to the client's unique needs, in which payout structures are indexed according to earthquake intensity.
Monitor
Upon policy inception, we monitor the insured's location for earthquakes to determine whether a qualifying earthquake has occurred.
Payout
Insured client receives a payout within days of reporting a loss, accelerating financial recovery and reconstruction.
Our case studies are all over the world
Utilizing Machine Learning and real-time monitoring from satellite imagery & IoT, our state-of-the-art technology helps businesses bounce back faster against climate, cyber and other emerging risks.
Who Should Consider This?
Our parametric earthquake products provide tailored structures for companies with public infrastructure (roads, bridges, and dams), industrial buildings, strategic supply chain assets, underground network and utilities, and high value property.
Capacity
Up to $70 million per contract
Benefits Powered by Parametric Earthquake Insurance
Our parametric earthquake covers exemplify the effectiveness of parametric insurance solutions.
Prompt Compensation: A swift, transparent process that clients can rely on, excluding the need for a lengthy indemnity claims process.
Data-Driven Approach: The observation of historical losses and risk modeling allows us to accurately address clients’ needs.
Bespoke Policies: Coverage tailored to the client’s needs and budget.
Empowering Brokers to Provide Innovative Parametric Earthquake Insurance Solutions
Our parametric earthquake product caters to the diverse needs of our clients, offering unique indices and payout structures based on Magnitude, Peak Ground Acceleration, Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI), and more. These parameters are designed to activate payments swiftly, helping companies recover financially from property damage, business interruptions, and NDBI, through real-time monitoring made possible by leading earthquake institutions such as the USGS.
Partner with us to effectively manage earthquake risk and maintain resilience in the face of disaster.
Our success story
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