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10 In her role, Jody Gunderson is focused on furthering National General's growth through industry awareness of the company's capabilities, commitment to compliance, unique technology, and custom product offerings. Gunderson also lends her expertise and experience to a variety of industry groups to strengthen the mortgage servicing industry. Prior to joining National General, Gunderson supported Assurant, Inc. for over 19 years in various key leadership roles, last serving as SVP, responsible for enterprise strategic relationship management. Gunderson began her career at Bank of America where she assumed positions of increasing responsibility in banking, mortgage and insurance, including VP of Bank of America's Insurance Agency. In addition to her over 35 years of experience in the mortgage and insurance industry, Gunderson is a multiple award- winning executive recognized by MarCom and Hermes, and in 2017 was named by HousingWire as one of the 50 most influential women in the mortgage finance industry. She recently sat down with DS News to discuss natural disasters, and how data can benefit both the homeowner and the lender when it comes to preparation and recovery. WHAT HAS DATA TAUGHT US ON HOW TO REACT AND PREPARE FOR NATURAL DISASTERS? ere is an increasing amount of information concerning disaster events that allows servicers and their insurance providers, such as National General, to be more proactive rather than constantly reactive. Historically, when we knew that a tropical storm, hurricane, or wildfire was forming, our insight into the specific areas of impact and the level of damage was broad and largely ill-defined. Today, enhanced modeling and big data enables greater analytical precision and targeted response plans by specific catastrophe type and severity. ese tools accelerate the level of readiness in anticipation of an event, and our ability to respond as soon as the event takes place. It's crucial to have disaster response plans that advance the overall customer experience. National General's enhanced catastrophe data modeling enables us to proactively prepare for FIVE MINUTES WITH GET TO KNOW INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES BEYOND THE BOARDROOM large events and avoid impact to normal work volumes. is benefits impacted customers who need to initiate claims or manage their loss drafts, as well as homeowners that are miles away who contact us about routine insurance inquiries. e nationwide customer experience should remain consistent regardless of an event. Furthermore, big data continues to teach us some tough lessons. Experts on the panel ["Disaster Data: What It Shows and Why Change is Needed"] at the recent Five Star Disaster Preparedness Symposium, highlight that insurance industry loss data currently indicates many properties are underinsured, thus lacking sufficient coverage to fully rebuild. Based on this data, our panel recommends the need to recalculate insurance replacement cost more frequently so that homeowners are more fully protected. is analysis and recommendation will help avoid pitfalls in the future. HOW HAS THE EVOLUTION OF TECHNOLOGY IMPACTED OUR ABILITY TO TRACK, REACT, AND PREPARE FOR STORMS? Both the insurance and mortgage industries have more information than ever to identify specific impacts in areas where natural disasters are forecasted to strike. Meteorological forecasts are far more accurate and predictive, particularly with regard to hurricanes. We also have far better information about potential flooding patterns and wildfire events. is enhanced data and more precise modeling "It's crucial to have disaster response plans that advance the overall homeowner experience." Jody Gunderson EVP, National General Lender Services