Recently we held the second round of the SERI Advisory Group meetings (see more information on our advisory groups here), and our Steering Group met to provide guidance on the programme. 

For more detailed information as to what was discussed at the Advisory Group meetings, see our update from the first SERI Advisory Group Meetings and our document with longer meeting summaries & actions which includes summaries on all our meetings to date. We would love your comment and input on that document, alternatively, you can get in touch with us at seri@ib1.org. 

Commercialisation & User Needs Discussion & Next steps

Read a more detailed summary  and see the presentation.

Topics discussed:

  • The working hypotheses drawn from the first Advisory Group meeting including:
    • The challenges insurers face capturing data to assess non-catastrophe related climate insights, due to a lack of understanding of the data or them lacking the framework to manage and interpret that data;
    • A SERI focus on commercial assets (e.g not residential) as insurers are major owners of commercial real estate (so have assets as well as liabilities on their balance sheet);
    • A focus on retrofitting existing buildings, as 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions comes from the built environment, of which 70% of those emissions come from building operations;
    • Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) reporting, mandated through the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), will act as a catalyst for improved insurance terms & conditions.
  • The differences in the types and timing of data capture between the construction and built environment industry and the insurance industry (i.e. BIM data is not currently used after construction, but BIM data may be a useful pool of data to have access to after construction, such as for building retrofitting);
  • The need to prove that better ESG scoring of risks leads to better loss ratios and allows insurers to maintain profits and differentiate the risk with improved terms and conditions (and potentially price).
  • 70% of carbon in a new build occurs before anyone occupies the building, are there any measures in retrofitting that encourage lower greenhouse gas emitting building materials and products? 
  • What the role of government and regulation would be in mandating increased reporting of exposures that could be facilitated through the creation of a shared data infrastructure?
  • How can improved interoperability through leveraging a shared data infrastructure, enable insurers to reduce costs?

Next steps

  • Further research into what data elements are vital to understand mitigation (beyond those captured for resilience).
  • Incorporating feedback on the Use Case Canvases and finalising the use case to determine stakeholders and data requirements. 

Systems & Standards Advisory Group Discussion & Next Steps

Read a more detailed summary and see the presentation. 

Topics discussed:

  • The need for mandatory data sharing regulation was mentioned throughout, including looking at what is useful or transferable from Open Banking and Open Energy but we recognise the regulatory landscape is very different. The FCA doesn’t have the same power in insurance as the CMA did with banks in Open Banking. 
  • Risk is a protectionist type of data which is subject to competition rules. Insurers cannot be seen to be colluding with each other on, for example, price. Although this is unlikely given how protected, and valuable the data is for insurers, brokers, catastrophe modellers etc. 
  • The use of a Climate Ready Building Passport tool has multiple uses beyond just insurance, as well the scope to enhance existing data flows (Energy Performance Certificates (EPC), Ordnance Survey, disclosures) which would enable climate-ready insurance use cases.
  • A lack of transparency and no “shared language” even between internal insurance industry participants (brokers, underwriters, catastrophe modellers, etc.) to integrate and enable interoperability across industries (e.g. between climate science and insurance).
  • Relevant data for climate considerations are either a) not captured or used, or b) are captured and used, but how and what data are used is hidden, protected and closed within the insurance value chain.
  • Current insurance data standards currently do not enable or enhance net-zero aims from a UK commercial insurance perspective.

Next steps

  • An in-depth look into the SERI use case to confirm the roles identified stakeholders would take within the SERI governance framework.
  • Use the finalised use case from the Commercialisation & User Needs Advisory Group to discuss the technology requirements and the associated operational considerations for data sharing to occur between the use-case stakeholders.

Join Us!

  1. We would love to hear from you. If you think your work is directly involved in either Advisory Group, and you’d like to share your thoughts, please either add your comments to our meeting summary document, or get in touch on seri@ib1.org.
  2. Please join us for our webinar this Thursday which explores what legal and regulatory framework is needed for SERI.
  3. We have a few outstanding questions we’d love your input on, please see them here.