Hubbry Logo
Insurance Services OfficeInsurance Services OfficeMain
Open search
Insurance Services Office
Community hub
Insurance Services Office
logo
8 pages, 0 posts
0 subscribers
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Insurance Services Office
Insurance Services Office
Insurance Services Office
View on Wikipedia
from Wikipedia

Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), a subsidiary of Verisk Analytics, is a provider of statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims information and analytics; compliance and fraud identification tools; policy language; information about specific locations; and technical services. ISO serves insurers, reinsurers, agents and brokers, insurance regulators, risk managers, and other participants in the property/casualty insurance marketplace.[1] Headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States,[2] the organization serves clients with offices throughout the United States, along with international operations offices in the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, India and China.[3]

Key Information

Overview

[edit]

ISO was formed in 1971 as an advisory and rating organization for the property/casualty insurance industry to provide statistical and actuarial services, to develop insurance programs, and to assist insurance companies in meeting state regulatory requirements.[4] It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Verisk Analytics in October 2009.[5]

ISO provides a number of risk-related services to its clients:[1]

  • Fire and building code information
  • Insurance lines services
    • Including standardized text for insurance forms
  • Collecting the data
  • Insurance products for agents
  • Workers' compensation
  • Medicare compliance and claims resolution services

ISO's databases contain more than 19 billion detailed records relating to insurance and risk management, which form the basis for its information services,[6] with two billion records collected each year.[7] ISO employs many members of the Casualty Actuarial Society and other insurance professionals to develop its risk-related products and services.

References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Insurance Services Office

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) is a leading provider of statistical, actuarial, underwriting, and claims data and analytics services to the property and casualty insurance industry in the United States. Founded in 1971 as a nonprofit advisory organization, ISO collects and analyzes vast amounts of insurance-related data to support insurers in risk assessment, pricing, and policy development. It plays a central role by developing and promulgating standardized policy forms, rating rules, and filing necessary information with state regulators on behalf of its member companies. Over its history, ISO transitioned from a in 1983 to a for-profit entity in 1997, reflecting its growing commercial scope. In 2008, it became a of Verisk, a publicly traded company that expanded ISO's offerings into advanced data analytics, risk modeling, and technology solutions for insurers, reinsurers, and regulators. Today, ISO's services enable more accurate , claims processing, and market-wide statistical reporting, influencing insurance practices across commercial and personal lines.

History

Formation and Early Development

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) was established in 1971 through the merger of approximately 30 state and regional rating bureaus, along with key national organizations such as the Insurance Rating Board (IRB), which served stock insurance companies, and the National Bureau of Casualty Underwriters (later renamed the National Bureau of Casualty and Property Underwriters), which focused on casualty lines. This consolidation aimed to create a unified national entity to streamline fragmented rating and advisory functions that had developed across the since the early . ISO's formation occurred in the context of evolving regulatory frameworks for the property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry, particularly following the 1944 U.S. decision in v. South-Eastern Underwriters Association, which subjected to federal antitrust laws by recognizing it as interstate commerce. The subsequent McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945 granted a limited antitrust exemption to insurers but delegated to the states, requiring transparent rate-making processes and encouraging the use of independent advisory organizations to compile data and standardize practices while avoiding anticompetitive . As an advisory organization, ISO initially focused on rate standardization, statistical data compilation, and actuarial analysis to help insurers comply with these state-level requirements for fair and non-discriminatory pricing in P&C lines. Operating as a not-for-profit owned by P&C insurance companies, ISO's early activities centered on providing uniform forms, loss cost (which allowed insurers to add their own loadings to base rates), and actuarial support services to facilitate consistent and across the industry. These offerings enabled member insurers to meet regulatory filing obligations efficiently without duplicating efforts at the individual company level. By the mid-1970s, ISO had developed a aggregating statistics from participating companies, encompassing on millions of policies to support nationwide loss and predictive modeling.

Key Milestones and Acquisition

During the 1980s and , the Insurance Services Office (ISO) significantly expanded its scope beyond traditional personal lines rating to encompass commercial lines, developing comprehensive advisory loss costs and rating factors for various business s. In 1978, ISO introduced the Commercial Lines Manual, which standardized general rules and classifications for and , facilitating broader adoption by insurers seeking uniform methodologies amid growing market complexity. By the , ISO further innovated with proprietary classification systems for property s, including enhanced fire rating schedules and building valuation tools that incorporated detailed assessments for commercial structures, enabling insurers to better coverage for diverse exposures like and retail operations. This period marked ISO's evolution from a primarily statistical advisory to a key provider of data-driven rating solutions, supporting industry-wide in a deregulating environment. In response to ongoing in the / sector, which reduced mandatory bureau participation and encouraged competitive innovation, ISO transitioned from a non-profit to a for-profit in 1997. Member insurers approved the conversion in late 1996, allowing ISO to operate with greater flexibility, invest in technology, and pursue revenue growth through expanded services without the constraints of its prior mutual structure. This shift enabled ISO to challenge itself with ambitious targets, such as increasing revenues by 40 percent by via new product offerings, while maintaining core fees to support insurer adoption. A pivotal milestone occurred in 2008 when ISO reorganized by forming , Inc. as its parent holding company, culminating in Verisk's (IPO) in October 2009 that raised approximately $1.88 billion, primarily distributed to ISO's prior owner-insurers. This transaction valued the enterprise at around $1.75 billion at the time of formation and positioned ISO as a , rebranded as ISO, a , with enhanced resources for global expansion and technological advancement. Following the integration, ISO experienced accelerated growth in catastrophe loss estimation capabilities, particularly through its Property Claim Services (PCS) , which had been established in the to track and analyze insured losses from major events dating back to 1949. PCS's post-acquisition enhancements, including refined industry loss indexing and predictive modeling, became instrumental in helping insurers quantify risks from hurricanes, earthquakes, and other disasters, solidifying ISO's role in resilient . In 2022, divested several non-insurance businesses, including its Financial Services unit to for $3.55 billion, the 3E environmental health and business to New Mountain Capital for $950 million, and to for $3.15 billion. These sales allowed Verisk to refocus on its core operations, bolstering resources for ISO's and casualty data and services.

Products and Services

Data and Analytics Offerings

Insurance Services Office (ISO), a of , maintains a comprehensive database of and statistics, encompassing premiums and losses derived from hundreds of millions of individual policies annually provided by participating insurers. This database, updated regularly with quality-checked data for validity and reliability, contains over 34.5 billion detailed records (as of 2024), enabling insurers to analyze historical loss experience and trends for and pricing decisions. ISO's analytics for include tools like the Commercial Lines Manual (CLM), which standardizes classification using a system of five-digit codes grouped by industry hazards, such as (50000-59999) or contracting (90000-99999). These classifications define covered operations and exposures, allowing insurers to apply appropriate premium bases—such as gross per $1,000 for mercantile risks or for contracting—to ISO-provided loss costs, which are then modified by insurer factors for final premium estimation. This approach ensures equitable matching of premiums to levels while complying with state regulatory filings. Through its Property Claim Services (PCS) unit, ISO offers catastrophe modeling tools that deliver real-time insured loss estimates for events like hurricanes and earthquakes, serving as the primary benchmark for industry-wide catastrophe data since 1949. PCS methodologies aggregate historical loss data from insurers, reinsurers, regulatory filings, and sources, designating events above thresholds (e.g., US$25 million in the U.S.) and surveying carriers for actual losses to estimate total industry impacts, with preliminary figures released approximately 15 days post-event via platforms like ISOnet. These estimates, refined through periodic resurveys, support reserve setting and negotiations based on verified historical patterns. ISO's geocoding and exposure data services, such as the database and GeoPin tool, provide address-level risk information for virtually all U.S. residential and commercial properties, integrating geographic information systems (GIS) for precise property-level assessments. These services geocode addresses to evaluate proximities to hazards like , , floods, and sinkholes—identifying, for instance, 4.5 million properties at high or extreme risk (as of 2025)—and deliver data via APIs or web interfaces for seamless incorporation into insurers' GIS platforms to enhance accuracy and exposure mapping.

Rating and Advisory Tools

The Insurance Services Office (ISO) develops and maintains a comprehensive of standardized policy forms for and lines, enabling insurers to efficiently underwrite risks while ensuring consistency and across the industry. These forms include core coverage documents, endorsements, and general rules that address various perils, such as , liability, and commercial auto exposures, allowing carriers to customize policies without starting from scratch. For instance, ISO's policy forms are regularly updated to reflect legal and market changes, providing court-tested language that has been adopted by a majority of U.S. /casualty insurers. In 2024, ISO implemented sweeping multistate updates to its General Liability, Businessowners, , Commercial Auto, and programs to reflect regulatory changes. ISO offers advisory services for rate filings, supplying prospective loss costs derived from aggregated industry data to assist insurers in developing competitive and compliant premium rates. These loss costs represent the pure premium portion of rates, excluding expenses, profits, and other insurer-specific adjustments, and are filed with state departments to support regulatory approvals. Insurers subscribing to ISO's services can reference these filings and apply their own modifications, such as expense loadings, to meet state requirements for rate adequacy and fairness. Additionally, ISO contributes to uniform classification codes for lines like general liability and commercial auto, providing a standardized framework that categorizes by industry and operations to facilitate consistent rating and practices. To address compliance with evolving regulations, ISO provides tools such as advisory endorsements and policy modifications for emerging risks, including cyber liability. For example, ISO has developed specific endorsements for data breach liability, such as those covering access or disclosure of confidential information, which help insurers exclude or affirm coverage for cyber-related exposures in standard commercial general liability policies. These advisory resources ensure that policies align with state mandates and mitigate gaps in coverage for modern threats like cyberattacks.

Organization and Impact

Corporate Structure and Ownership

Insurance Services Office (ISO) operates as a wholly owned of , Inc., a structure established in October 2009 through a corporate reorganization tied to Verisk's on the under the VRSK. This arrangement followed Verisk's formation in 2008 as the parent for ISO, marking the transition from ISO's independent status to integration within a broader data enterprise. maintains a of approximately $30 billion as of November 2025, reflecting its scale in and across multiple sectors. Headquartered in , ISO functions within Verisk's Insurance segment, leveraging the parent company's global infrastructure while preserving its focus on property and data services. The Insurance segment, which encompasses ISO's operations, supports a workforce dedicated to , with Verisk employing around 7,800 people company-wide as of 2024, many concentrated in insurance-related roles. ISO retains operational autonomy as a distinct under Verisk's Solutions division, allowing it to deliver specialized rating, advisory, and data tools tailored to the insurance industry without full merger into Verisk's other lines. Leadership for ISO aligns with Verisk's executive structure, with oversight provided by key figures in the Insurance Solutions area. Lee M. Shavel serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of , guiding overall strategy including ISO's contributions to insurance analytics. Saurabh Khemka, appointed President of Solutions in September 2025, directly supervises ISO's core activities, succeeding Doug Caccese in leading product development and market initiatives for underwriting tools. This divisional leadership ensures ISO's insurance-specific expertise remains integrated yet specialized within Verisk's ecosystem.

Industry Influence and Operations

The Insurance Services Office (ISO), operating as Verisk Insurance Solutions, exerts significant influence on the U.S. /casualty (P&C) insurance market by providing standardized and that underpin approximately 90% of P&C premium volume through its claims database. This extensive coverage enables insurers to maintain consistent practices, fostering market stability by allowing for more predictable and reducing volatility in premium fluctuations. By serving all top 100 U.S. P&C insurers and maintaining 36.3 billion statistical records, ISO's standards promote , as smaller carriers can access the same high-quality, cleansed datasets to refine their decisions without developing proprietary systems from scratch. ISO's operations are primarily centered in , where the segment generates about 83% of Verisk's total revenue, reflecting its deep integration into the U.S. and Canadian ecosystems. Licensed as a statistical agent in all 50 U.S. states, ISO focuses on domestic P&C lines such as auto, homeowners, and , processing 2.7 billion records annually to support core functions like loss reporting and premium tracking. International expansion remains limited, achieved mainly through Verisk's strategic partnerships and acquisitions, such as collaborations in (e.g., with entities in and ) and , which extend ISO's data models to select global markets without a full operational footprint. ISO contributes to by assisting state insurance commissioners with rate reviews and providing essential data for oversight, including policy and loss statistics that inform evaluations and detection efforts. As a licensed advisory , it reviews over 12,300 legislative and 16,000 regulatory actions each year to ensure its offerings align with laws like the , helping regulators streamline rate filing processes and maintain fair market practices across jurisdictions. This support enhances the efficiency of state-level departments, enabling faster approvals and more informed decisions on premium adjustments. A key aspect of ISO's impact is its role in reducing within the insurance sector, where disparate data access can lead to inaccurate pricing and . By aggregating and standardizing vast datasets—such as 143 million records—ISO enables more precise modeling, allowing insurers to price policies based on rather than estimates. Verisk's 2024 highlights this through metrics like the coverage of 90% of P&C premiums, demonstrating improved accuracy in and contributing to overall market efficiency.

References

  1. https://www.irmi.com/term/insurance-definitions/insurance-services-office-inc
  2. https://www.verisk.com/resources/faqs/
  3. https://www.propertyinsurancecoveragelaw.com/blog/what-is-the-insurance-services-office/
  4. https://repository.law.umich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1536&context=mlr
  5. https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA456569.pdf
  6. https://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/mag-features/2010/02/21/159363.htm
  7. https://content.naic.org/insurance-topics/mccarran-ferguson-act
  8. https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3164&context=vlr
  9. https://s29.q4cdn.com/767340216/files/doc_financials/2021/q1/a24ed53b-00bb-49a6-84c2-f76391389167.pdf
  10. https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/CID/App9ISOpdf.pdf
  11. https://roughnotes.com/rnmagazine/1997/march97/03p62.htm
  12. https://www.verisk.com/company/newsroom/iso-celebrates-its-silver-anniversary/
  13. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1442145/000144214519000012/vrsk10k12312018.htm
  14. https://www.verisk.com/company/newsroom/member-insurers-approve-converting-insurance-services-office-to-for-profit-corporation/
  15. https://www.verisk.com/company/newsroom/iso-s-5-year-challenge-offer-new-services-to-raise-sales-40-whilekeeping-key-fees-at-current-or-l/
  16. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2009/10/07/104361.htm
  17. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1442145/000095012309049069/y78574b4e424b4.htm
  18. https://www.verisk.com/4a4fcf/siteassets/media/pcs/pcs-consolidated-methodology-paper.pdf
  19. https://www.iii.org/table-archive/21424
  20. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2022/03/23/659376.htm
  21. https://core.verisk.com/Insights/Featured-Insights-Articles/2024/July/Experience-Review-Bulletin-Launch
  22. https://www.sangerlibrary.org/344/Insurance-Service-Office-Rating-ISO
  23. https://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/the-iso-classification-system-and-the-cgl-policy
  24. https://www.verisk.com/products/forms-rules-and-loss-costs/
  25. https://www.verisk.com/products/pcs-catastrophe-data-platforms/
  26. https://www.verisk.com/products/location-specific-risk-data/
  27. https://www.verisk.com/company/newsroom/iso-s-location-database-assigns-fire-protection-class-to-property-addresses-throughout-the-u-s/
  28. https://www.verisk.com/siteassets/media/downloads/iso/isos-policy-forms.pdf
  29. https://core.verisk.com/-/media/Featured-Insights/Files/Core-Lines-2024-Year-In-Review.pdf
  30. https://www.verisk.com/siteassets/media/downloads/iso/isos-advisory-perspective-loss-costs.pdf
  31. https://www.verisk.com/siteassets/media/downloads/emerging-issues/iso-cyber-risk-solutions.pdf
  32. https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2014/07/18/332655.htm
  33. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1442145/000143774922004083/vrsk20211231_10k.htm
  34. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/VRSK/
  35. https://www.verisk.com/company/contact/iso-offices-and-directions/
  36. https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/VRSK/verisk-analytics/number-of-employees
  37. https://www.linkedin.com/company/verisk-underwriting-solutions
  38. https://www.verisk.com/company/about/leadership/lee-m-shavel/
  39. https://www.verisk.com/company/newsroom/verisk-names-saurabh-khemka-president-of-underwriting-solutions/
  40. https://www.verisk.com/company/about/leadership/saurabh-khemka/
  41. https://s29.q4cdn.com/767340216/files/doc_financials/2024/ar/Verisk-2024-Annual-Report.pdf
Add your contribution
Related Hubs
User Avatar
No comments yet.