Turning Risk Into Opportunity: How Property Survivability Data is Transforming the Insurance Landscape – A Conversation with Valkyrie Holmes

The commercial insurance industry is no stranger to market cycles, but the current hard market has left many agents grappling for answers. Rates are up, capacity is down, and policyholders are confused and frustrated. Despite these mounting challenges, many producers are ill-equipped to respond with meaningful explanations. The root of the issue? A lack of continuing education and access to relevant tools.

Too many agents stop learning once they’ve earned their license. The bare minimum—meeting continuing education requirements—is not enough in today’s climate. Producers often resort to online forums, asking where they can complete CE hours “as quickly as possible.” This mindset directly impacts their ability to communicate complex subjects like reinsurance or risk modeling to clients in an understandable way. As a result, they struggle to retain accounts and close new business in an increasingly competitive market.

This is where tools that help explain why a premium is what it is—down to the individual property level—are more critical than ever. If producers can’t explain the risk, they can’t justify the price. And if they can’t justify the price, they can’t retain or win accounts.

In a recent episode of the Power Producers Podcast, I had the opportunity to sit down with Valkyrie Holmes of Faura to dive deep into this exact topic.

Meet Faura: The Data Science Powerhouse Behind Property Survivability Scores

Enter Faura, an insurtech company co-founded by Valkyrie Holmes and Amanda Southworth, which is revolutionizing how we evaluate natural disaster risk and property survivability. Holmes brings a unique background to the industry—starting her career in data science with NASA and later diving into climate research. Faura was born out of that research, emerging as a solution to help communities better understand their exposure to disasters like wildfires, hurricanes, and floods.

What sets Faura apart is its singular focus on property survivability. Instead of looking at natural disaster risk in isolation, Faura evaluates how well an individual property is likely to withstand an event. The company is redefining what it means to be a “good risk” by equipping agents and carriers with high-resolution data and actionable insights.

Understanding the Property Survivability Score

At the core of Faura’s offering is the property survivability score, a 0–100 metric that reflects a structure’s ability to withstand a natural disaster. A score of 100 signifies a resilient, well-fortified property. A score of 60, while not ideal, suggests a mid-range structure that could benefit from a few upgrades. This level of detail is a game-changer, especially in hard-to-place markets where coverage has historically been unaffordable or unavailable.

The scoring model takes into account hundreds of characteristics, such as construction materials, foundation type, window strength, roof type, elevation, defensible space, and more. With just an address, Faura provides producers with an initial risk assessment, followed by an optional digital inspection workflow that dives even deeper.

From Catastrophe to Confidence: Affordable Mitigation That Works

You don’t need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to significantly improve your property’s survivability. Holmes points out that many of the highest-impact upgrades are small, affordable, and can be completed in an afternoon.

Examples of high-ROI mitigation efforts include:

Clearing vegetation and creating defensible space around the property
Installing ember-resistant vent screens for wildfire protection
Replacing or sealing roof shingles and improving drainage systems
Elevating appliances or HVAC systems in flood-prone areas
Securing or replacing garage doors and windows for wind mitigation

These aren’t just improvements—they’re insurance differentiators. They help underwriters say “yes” more confidently, and they help insureds protect their most valuable assets.

Tech-Driven Transparency for Agents and Insureds

Faura’s real innovation lies in its ability to bring transparency into a historically opaque process. By generating simple, easy-to-understand reports, producers can quickly see which parts of a property are most vulnerable and how to fix them. Each report includes:

A property survivability score
A list of risk factors and recommended improvements
Estimated costs and effort to mitigate
A directory of local contractors or products to help

This tool empowers agents to explain coverage decisions and pricing, and it helps policyholders become proactive rather than reactive. In a world where policyholders are increasingly aware of climate risk, this level of clarity builds trust and loyalty.

Wildfires, Hurricanes, Hailstorms—A New Era of Catastrophic Risk

Natural disasters are happening more frequently and more intensely than ever before. In fact, over the past decade, the U.S. has experienced a fivefold increase in billion-dollar disaster events. The traditional approach—quoting based on zip codes or outdated regional data—simply doesn’t cut it anymore.

Faura focuses on five major perils:

Wildfire
Hurricane
Hail
Flood
Earthquake

By evaluating risk at the individual property level, Faura enables smarter underwriting, more accurate pricing, and faster decision-making.

Commercial Applications and the Rise of Parametric Insurance

While much of the conversation around property survivability focuses on homeowners, commercial properties have even more to gain. Business interruption, equipment damage, and supply chain disruption can cost organizations millions.

Faura is already supporting assessments for:

Apartment complexes
Condominiums
Townhomes
Mid-sized commercial buildings

Additionally, new insurance products—such as parametric coverage for power grid failure—are emerging. These pay out automatically when specific conditions (e.g., power outage > 6 hours) are met. This level of precision requires the kind of data Faura provides.

Rebuilding Smarter: The Role of Innovation in Resilient Structures

Beyond risk scoring, a broader conversation is emerging about how we build in the first place. Materials, methods, and speed all matter—especially in the aftermath of catastrophic loss.

David Carothers shared an example of a Florida furniture retailer turning Styrofoam waste into building blocks stronger than cinder blocks, used to construct homes in South Korea and Africa. Meanwhile, 3D-printed homes built from sustainable materials are proving to be not only faster to construct but also more resilient to natural disasters.

In a future where replacing properties with better materials is both cost-effective and fast, insurance products and replacement cost estimates will need to evolve accordingly.

Final Thoughts: A Call to Action for Forward-Thinking Producers

The message is clear: Producers who thrive in this market will be those who educate, empower, and evolve. Tools like Faura are not just nice to have—they’re becoming essential in helping agents secure coverage, retain clients, and reduce total cost of risk.

The insurance landscape is shifting. Catastrophes are rising. Policyholders are more informed. And new technologies are opening up powerful opportunities for producers to lead the conversation—not follow it.

Want to future-proof your sales process and provide value beyond the quote? It’s time to start talking about property survivability.

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