Hailstorms can cause several billion U.S. dollars in property damage each year. And although they are most common in mid-latitude regions in the U.S. and along mountain ranges between May and August, they can occur almost anywhere and at any time.
Hailstones vary considerably in size but a variety of additional factors, such as weight, degree of melting, hailfall duration, and wind and other environmental conditions affect how fast hailstones fall and the damage they cause. In towns and cities, where buildings and vehicles are numerous and close together, hail damage can be particularly costly. In addition to characteristics of the hailstones and hailstorms themselves, the vulnerability of property in their path must be taken into account when assessing potential damage.
Severe thunderstorms are no longer viewed as an attritional risk. With the potential for insured losses on both an occurrence and aggregate basis so high, companies need the best tools available to assess and mitigate U.S. severe thunderstorm risk. The updated Verisk Severe Thunderstorm Model for the United States, anticipated for release in summer 2022, introduces a first-of-its-kind and innovative component-level framework to assess the vulnerability of structures to hail strikes to help you better prepare for extreme loss volatility posed by this highly localized peril.
