Case Study

Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

Takayuki Kusanagi - san, Corporate Products Operations Department; Daichi Shibata - san, Mobility Sales Support Department

At the forefront of automotive hailstorm countermeasures, using "hail alarms" with automobile dealers nationwide to prevent damage.

Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., which boasts the top market share in the Japanese non-life insurance market, has introduced "Weathernews for business," a weather information service for businesses, to prevent damage to automobiles caused by hailstorms, and has started a demonstration experiment to prevent hailstorms in cooperation with automobile dealers and other businesses. The experiment was started in cooperation with automobile dealers and other businesses to prevent hailstorms. We interviewed Takayuki Kusanagi - san of the Corporate Products Business Department and Daichi Shibata - san of the Mobility Sales Support Department of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. about the initiative, in which 100 companies and 930 dealers participated in the first year.

Expanding hail damage and prolonged repairs are challenges for auto insurance, and measures to deal with unpredictable hail are urgently needed.

Hailstorms with a diameter of 5 mm or more fall mainly in spring and fall, causing hail damage to buildings, automobiles, crops, and facilities, etc. Hail as large as 5 cm can reach speeds of over 100 km/h and cause extensive damage. Generally speaking, hailstorms are difficult to predict and often occur suddenly, making it difficult to take countermeasures in advance.

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Hail report received from a weather reporter in Saitama Prefecture

Hail damage to automobiles used to be mainly in the northern Kanto region, but after 2022 it will spread nationwide, with major damage occurring in Hyogo Prefecture in April 2024 and other areas. For this reason, risk management and advance countermeasures have become an urgent task for non-life insurance companies, including Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. in the past few years. Hailstorms can damage automobile bodies and windshields, resulting in losses in excess of one million yen per vehicle. If the damage to our non-life insurance subscribers grows by the hundreds or thousands, it is inevitable that our final payout will also increase," said Kusanagi - san. Another issue was the need to avoid prolonged repair response times, as hail damage is limited in time and area, and repair requests are concentrated. A particular problem is overcapacity at auto repair shops. When a large number of vehicles are damaged locally, there is a waiting list for repairs, and in some areas, repairs can take a year or more.

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Takayuki Kusanagi - san, Corporate Product Operations Department and Daichi Shibata - san, Mobility Sales Support Department, Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

The common optimal solution to both of these hailstorm challenges is that it is very important to avoid damage before it occurs.

Notified automobile dealers of hailfall risk and began using smartphones to take proactive measures.

Sompo Japan decided to introduce the "hail alarm" system, which is a part of "Weather News for Business," in the hope that it would help reduce the damage as much as possible by promptly alerting automobile dealers and others.

The "Hail Risk Prediction" function of "Weather News for Business" allows users to check the risk of hailstorms every hour for the next 36 hours at two levels: "Caution" and "Warning. When the "Warning" rank is reached, users in the corresponding area will receive a "Hail Alarm" via push notification. The PC version also allows users to check the risk for each location on a map.

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The PC version provides a map of hailfall risk up to 36 hours ahead.

Weathernews reflects hailfall reports from app users nationwide in real time in its forecasts, and our expectations for accuracy were a deciding factor in our decision to introduce the app. We also liked the fact that we could use the push notification function of Weathernews for Business to notify our clients without having to develop a new system," said Shibata - san.

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Receive notifications when there is a high risk of hail or when a hailfall report is received

930 stores nationwide participated in a demonstration test of hailstorm countermeasures, moving vehicles under roofs and using hail covers to avoid damage. Hail Alarm" shows new possibilities for hailstorm countermeasures

From September to December 2024, Sompo Japan conducted a demonstration test of hailstorm countermeasures for automobile dealers and other businesses in the Northern Kanto, Kinki, and Kyushu regions, as well as for Sompo Japan sales offices. The experiment was designed to verify the effectiveness of on-site countermeasures triggered by hailstorm alert notifications. Weathernews for business" was distributed to approximately 100 participating companies, and an online briefing session on how to use the service was conducted by Weathernews staff.

Many automobile dealers store a large number of vehicles outdoors, and a hailstorm could damage many of them at once. By deciding in advance what to do when an alert is issued, such as moving the vehicle under a roof or covering it with a hail cover, it is possible to minimize damage.

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The online briefing session of the demonstration experiment

We were very impressed by the high level of interest in hailstorms, with about 100 corporate clients and more than 930 stores participating in the demonstration experiment. Fortunately, no major damage occurred during the first year of implementation, but we sensed that there is a great need for this social issue, and we were able to get a good feeling for the future full-scale operation of the system," said Shibata - san.

New Role of Insurance Driven by Sompo Japan, Nationwide Expansion of Hailstorm Risk Management with an Eye on the Future

In addition to plans to expand the use of hailstorm alert notifications to a nationwide scale, Weathernews and Sompo Japan have jointly developed a risk management action timeline to facilitate avoidance actions after alert notifications. The company hopes to promote standardization of countermeasures in cooperation with automobile dealers and other businesses. The number of dealerships participating in the 2025 demonstration exceeds 2,000, making hailstorms a risk of even greater interest to businesses than in the previous fiscal year. Accurately identifying hailstorms is a challenge for the entire P&C insurance industry. Combining Weathernews' weather data with Sompo Japan's accident data will make it possible to further improve the accuracy of forecasts," said Shibata. Our ultimate goal is to take countermeasures before our customers suffer damage and improve the sustainability of their lives and businesses. To achieve this, we would like to realize more advanced risk management." (Kusanagi - san)

Sompo Japan's efforts are not limited to the payment of insurance claims, but also play a role in the insurance industry to "predict risks and prevent damage. We are determined to continue to take action from the perspective of P&C insurance against all kinds of risks and create a secure, safe, and healthy future.

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Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.

Business Overview

Providing services to support users' safety, security, and health with a focus on non-life insurance business

Key Point

Introduced "Weathernews for business" to counter the risk of hailstorms on automobiles

Size

5000+ employees