Client Spotlight: CRESTA

CRESTA (Catastrophe Risk Evaluating and Standardising Target Accumulations) is the most widely used international standard for the aggregation of geographical data in the insurance industry. Their maps make it possible to geocode, link and analyze company and market data as well as other location data such as risk-related information.The 2019 CRESTA release includes more than 240,000 updated low and high resolution CRESTA zones covering 137 countries.

Founded in 1977 by the insurance industry as an independent organisation with the aim of facilitating the technical management of natural catastrophe insurance, CRESTA has since been able to have a significant positive impact on efficiency and cooperation within the global insurance markets. In September 2018, PERILS AG assumed responsibility for the CRESTA Secretariat. This was followed in 2019 by the launch of a new website, which is operated and maintained by aspectra.

The CRESTA website features a state-of-the-art web application, including map visualisation and query tools. A search function assigns the site coordinates to the corresponding low or high resolution CRESTA zones. Zoning lists and map tables in various resolutions can be downloaded from the website as Excel spreadsheets. Updated geodata sets are produced by GfK, with whom CRESTA has a long and successful partnership.

As Eduard Held, Head of Products at PERILS, points out, CRESTA recently experienced a proper renaissance: "According to feedback from industry experts, its importance for the insurance and reinsurance industry is significant, both as a means to facilitate data processing and to comply with data protection laws. In addition, CRESTA, as a globally recognized standard for the exchange of insurance data, plays a crucial role in increasing the efficiency of the risk transfer industry".

• Press Release 21.10.2019 (www.perils.org)
• CRESTA-Website www.cresta.org