InsurTech Intelligent AI has partnered with the Building Cost Information Service (BCIS) – which has more than 60 years’ experience in collating and analysing construction costs – to provide a new AI-driven service that produces reinstatement cost assessments at the touch of a button.

Developed through the Lloyd’s Lab together with leading insurers, brokers and chartered surveyors, the Intelligent Rebuild Cost Platform (IRCP) automates the delivery of all the key property data and valuations to address the markets, and its customers, huge challenge of under-insurance.

Underinsurance is a growing and persistent problem for residential and commercial property owners due to outdate reinstatement value, leaving owners vulnerable to significant losses. In recent tests, the platform found an insurer’s portfolio of 355 commercial properties to be £1.17bn underinsured.

The IRCP brings together open data, data analytics, BCIS reinstatement data, planning applications and satellite imagery to fully automate the rebuild cost validation process and deliver validated reinstatement valuations in seconds rather than days or weeks. The platform reports on everything from individual residential properties to multi-billion-pound commercial portfolios, enabling accurate annual assessments in place of rolling checks every three or four years.

Anthony Peake, CEO of Intelligent AI, said: “Whether it’s a residential property where a few hundred pounds difference in the premium could save the customer potentially missing out on hundreds of thousands of pounds in a payout, or a commercial portfolio where the declared value is upwards of a billion, it’s about safeguarding people’s homes and livelihoods should the worst happen.”

BCIS helps property professionals to access high-quality data and understand the most appropriate data for them. James Fiske, BCIS CEO, said: “We know policyholders want to be adequately covered, but annual site visits for a whole portfolio may be unfeasible. From portfolio managers using IRCP to perform an immediate risk assessment to surveyors using pre-populated assessments as a starting point, the intention is to improve efficiencies, save time, and reduce risk for everyone in the process.”

The IRCP has received positive feedback from multiple P&C insurers and brokers during its development. Johan Berg, Head of Large & Complex at Gallagher said: “In a world of inflation and increased construction cost, rebuild cost valuations create severe under insurance issues. By using the intelligent rebuild cost platform from Intelligent AI, under insurance issues are not only addressed but also prevented.”

“James Brown, Innovation Analyst at Tokio Marine Kiln, added: “Working with Intelligent AI and understanding more about their rebuild cost platform has created exciting insight to understand more around rebuild cost valuations.”