NEW SERVICE SPOTLIGHT: Risk Insurance from Metar Weather

Metar Weather, based in Florham Park, NJ, has expanded its weather risk protection insurance products to buyers of snow removal services in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern U.S. regions to help protect them from winter weather volatility.

For buyers of snow removal services, such as shopping centers and other retail stores, parking lots, corporate office buildings, and colleges and universities, Metar Weather’s products are designed to offer budgetary certainty—insulation from years of heavy snowfall and a financial benefit during years of low snowfall.

Founded in 2011, the company offers protection products for the snow industry that reflect customers’ weather risk exposure as a result of access to hyperlocal weather data through a proprietary relationship with WeatherWorks, a national provider of customized meteorological services and products.

Metar Weather identifies the risk for an organization and designs a protection program that will mitigate or eliminate it. The company first analyzes customer-specific data and compares it to historical weather data to determine the customer’s actual sensitivity to different weather variables.

The three steps involved are: identify sensitivity to specific weather variables (i.e., too much rain); determine the proper coverage period; and customize a weather protection product.

Payouts are determined solely by independently reported weather measurements, minimizing the need for a claims process, proof-of-loss, or payment waiting period. If payment is due, customers typically receive a check within 30 days of the end of the policy period. Metar Weather coverage can be issued in as little as a week before the coverage period. However, the company recommends securing a contract as early as possible to ensure the best price, before forecasts have a higher impact on the premiums. The coverage does not include catastrophic events such as hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, floods, etc.