FEMA Flood Zone Data Now Part of MSB?s Comprehensive Hazard Data Services
June 11, 2007
LOS ANGELES - June 11, 2007 MSB, an MDA company and the leading worldwide provider of building cost data and estimating technology to the property insurance industry, announces that in response to numerous requests from insurance carriers throughout the United States, the company now offers a full range of FEMA-defined Flood Hazard Data. The comprehensive flood data is available for batch processing location files of any size, enabling carriers to verify flood data by location for existing books and newly-bound risks within 72 hours of providing necessary data to MSB.
According to Peter M. Wells, President of MSB, "Insurers told us that Katrina significantly changed underwriting processes for them. Now, for every risk they write, they need to know if it is in or near a FEMA-defined Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). Insurers are turning to MSB for assistance with updating their current book of business to see if flood zone determinations completed in the past are correct or if they have changed over time due to updates from FEMA. Additionally, many insurers are choosing to protect their new business by uploading newly bound polices daily or weekly for processing."
Key Flood Data Elements Available:
- Flood zone
- Base flood elevation (BFE) or depth,
- In zone, out of zone, or partial designation,
- Distance in feet to nearest SFHA
- Distance in feet/miles to nearest ocean coast and inter-coastal waterway
- Ten additional pieces of vital location identification information and FEMA reference numbers
After extensive due diligence, MSB has selected flood data provider LandAmerica as its business partner for this new offering because of the company's quality of data, dedication to its customers, industry-leading technology, and extremely competitive pricing.
According to Wells, real-time access to flood data for use in point-of-sale portals will be available in the third quarter of 2007.
For more information about MSB's Flood Zone Hazard services, contact Steven Brewer, Assistant Vice President, Underwriting Services, at 1-800-420-9666, Extension 8748 or e-mail Steven.Brewer@msbinfo.com. For a free online demo of MSB's hazard identification services, go to http://www.msbinfo.com/hazardinfo/0507/.
About LandAmerica Flood Services
LandAmerica Flood Services (formerly LERETA Tax and Flood) provides flood zone determination reports, certifications, and Life-of-Loan services to lenders nationwide. LandAmerica Flood Services offers its customers a choice in levels of service, from simple delivery of flood zone determinations to complete portfolio tracking.
It is a division of LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. a leading provider of real estate transaction services with over 1,000 offices and a network of more than 10,000 active agents. LandAmerica serves agent, residential, commercial, and lender customers throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. LandAmerica is recognized as number one in the mortgage services industry on Fortune's 2007 list of America's Most Admired Companies.
About MSB
Marshall & Swift / Boeckh (MSB), an MDA company, is the leading supplier of local building cost information, residential and commercial property valuation technology and services for the property and casualty insurance sector in the United States and Canada. MSB has five offices throughout the U.S. and Canada. For information, please contact Marsha Berenson, Media Coordinator, at 800-285-1288, Ext. 2828, e-mail Marsha.Berenson@msbinfo.com, or visit MSB's Web site at www.msbinfo.com.
About MDA
MDA provides advanced information solutions that capture and process vast amounts of data, produce essential information, and improve the decision making and operational performance of business and government organizations worldwide.
Focused on markets and customers with strong repeat business potential, MDA delivers a broad spectrum of earth and space based information solutions, ranging from complex operational systems, to tailored information services, to electronic information products.
MDA employs more than 3,000 people in locations across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The Company's common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol TSX:MDA.
Contact us to learn how MSB can provide your company with an extreme competitive advantage and improve your bottom line.