McKenzie Intelligence Services (MIS), a global imagery and geospatial intelligence consultancy firm, has partnered with Lloyd’s to speed up claims following natural catastrophe events.

The company’s satellite imagery and analytics gateway service provides vital insights to all 55 Lloyd’s managing agents, MIS said. MIS is able to provide precise, time-stamped intelligence at individual property and zip code levels to enable proactive customer service, the company said. In an increasing number of cases, claims are being paid while a catastrophe event is still unfolding due to the accuracy of the information cleaned from satellite imagery.

“Satellite technology used by our partners is one of the ways we’re trying to speed up claims payments for our policyholders,” said Martin Canavan, technical claims manager at Lloyd’s. “Satellite imagery helps insurers understand the situation on the ground before inspections can be carried out.”

For example, the recent California wildfires created a situation in which it was impossible for a time to get teams on the ground to investigate claims.

“That’s where we come in, using our satellite technology to help assess the situation on the ground,” said Zosia Krajewska, MIS business operations manager. “The technology gathers the intelligence remotely, showing us the areas most deeply affected, helping Lloyd’s underwriters to understand the true scale of the situation much faster. You can start the investigation process without having to wait.”