Financial services and reinsurance brokerage firm US RE has entered into a strategic partnership with an ownership stake in Thornberry Consulting of Indianapolis, Indiana, developer of GeoEstimator, an analytical entity providing remote measurement and risk assessment technology.

The company said that National Catastrophe Adjusters (NCA), a claims management company and a partner of the company in Blue Hill Claims Management, and Dale Thornberry, the company’s founder, are other shareholders.

According to US RE, Thornberry had introduced GeoEstimator to property insurance market and roofing industry in 2009. The technology enables users to have access to accurate overlay of land and property conditions using satellite and aerial technology to facilitate reports with accurate measurements of exterior components of any structure at reasonable cost.

In addition, GeoEstimator creates a 3D sketch model of individual properties. It calculates total living area; measures roofs and captures precise angles; provides desktop tool to expedite adjustment of high volume of exterior claims; enhances adjuster productivity; improves turnaround times and provides desktop underwriting tool; and enables access to the software through Apple’s iPhone.

The company said that the GeoEstimator reduces risk of personal injury or property damage; ensures estimating accuracy; increases efficiency of adjusters; increases measurement accuracy; and can be used as an effective dispute resolution tool. It can be synchronized with other technology dealing with catastrophe exposure management, insurance-to-value, and a host of other activities.

Tal Piccione, chairman and CEO of US RE, said: “We’re delighted to play a major role in advancing this technology within the purview of those services provided by the US RE Group including US RE Analytics. We are now working with our partners and others to enable the delivery of GeoEstimator to a huge universe of insurers and clients in other industries.”