Eqecat and Risk Management Solutions say the Florida Commissionon Hurricane Loss Projection Methodology certified the catastrophemodelers' hurricane models for use in residential rate filings.

Eqecat says the Commission certified its FloridaHurricane Model 2013a, part of the North Atlantic Hurricane Model.The North Atlantic Hurricane Model, first released commercially in1995, has been successfully certified by thecommission since the inception of the certification process in1997, says Eqecat.

RMS says the FCHLPM approved its U.S. Hurricane Modelversion 13.0 for use after reviewing updates to the long termrate set, new geocoding updates, and new post-analysisadjustments for return period losses to account for annualdeductibles required by Florida statute.

All industry hurricane models must be certified by the FCHLPMfor use in the rate filing process in Florida.

The Florida Commission on Hurricane Loss Projection Methodologywas created in 1995 as an independent panel of experts to evaluatecomputer models and other recently-developed or improved actuarialmethodologies for projecting hurricane losses. The Legislaturespecifically determined that reliable projections of hurricanelosses are necessary to assure rates for residential propertyinsurance are neither excessive nor inadequate, and that computermodeling has made it possible to improve upon the accuracy ofhurricane loss projections.