INSOL is a computer program developed at the University of Puerto Rico at
Mayaguez to provide
intelligent solutions to insurance problems. Sponsored by the Insurance Security Commission for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the program offers two types of
analysis. An event based analysis assumes specific design earthquake or hurricane scenarios and projects the resulting monetary
losses. A probable loss analysis considers the likely events over the user specified time spans and reports on earthquake and
wind damages in combination or as separate entities.
The multi-hazard risk assessment cannot be considered an exclusive discipline of a single field of the engineering since it
requires the integration of structural, architectural, geotechnical and socio-economic components. Recent studies in the fields of multi-hazard exposure analysis, vulnerability analysis, and loss estimation have shown great potential for future
collaboration. However, very little research has been done to synthesis these components into a systematic assessment of
multi-hazard risks. Furthermore, most of the investigations have been developed with target buildings located primarily in the
continental United States. Therefore, their adaptation to other areas, even ones as close in overall characteristics as Puerto
Rico is, requires major undertakings.
The diverse backgrounds of our user groups were a design consideration from the very start.
INSOL accommodates different
levels
of user expertise by its intelligent use of default settings that may be overridden at any time. For a number of reasons, the
source code for many existing catastrophe risk models is rarely made available. This limits the industry wide contributions.
All the research and input data going into INSOL is available as free downloads through this site and so is the program itself. INSOL is also very intuitive and can be mastered in a very short time with insurance reports quickly generated in the form of a
Microsoft Word file. Early testing of the program has shown potential beyond its targeted group. Planned revisions include
specialized versions for homeowners and real state agents.
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