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The Hidden Cost of Household Risk Each year, the U.S. insurance industry pays out tens of billions of dollars in residential property claims. Fires caused by lint-clogged dryer vents. Water damage from aging hoses or unnoticed leaks. Structural issues from overgrown trees or failing sump pumps. These incidents are widespread, yet many of them are also preventable. Insurers have invested heavily in smarter pricing models, improved catastrophe modeling, and AI-powered analytics. These tools are powerful. But when it comes to what's actually happening inside the homes we insure, there’s still a major gap: We can’t see what’s happening until it becomes a claim. A Familiar Challenge: Insuring What You Can’t See For most carriers, each home in a portfolio is still something of a mystery. We may know the square footage, the year it was built, and how far it is from the coast. But we don’t know if the smoke detectors are working. We don't know if the dryer vent is at high risk for clogs and fires. We don’t know whether aging plumbing parts are quietly degrading behind the walls. These kinds of home maintenance blind spots are often the root cause of costly claims, but they remain invisible in the traditional insurance model. To move the industry forward, we don’t just need better data, we need more meaningful visibility into the real-time condition of the homes we insure, along with effective communication to the homeowner on how to prevent any safety hazards in their home. A New Layer of Insight: Bringing the Home into Focus To better manage loss, carriers need a view of the home that goes beyond one-time underwriting snapshots. That starts with two categories of insight that have historically been missing but are increasingly possible to surface: Home Condition Visibility: What’s Happening Right Now? This includes practical, safety-relevant signals that help answer key questions like: Are there visible safety risks like missing smoke detectors or aging water heaters that the homeowner needs to know about? Are the most common sources of claims (fire, water, freeze, intrusion) being proactively addressed? Are the correct preventative measures taken and the right support staff engaged to address issues? These are missed opportunities to not only reduce insurance claims, but also to improve safety in the home. With the right support, many homeowners would take these actions happily. But without guidance, they often go overlooked. Home Care Patterns: What Can We Learn About Behavior and Risk? Just as important is understanding the context: What’s the general condition and age of key systems like HVAC, plumbing, or the roof? Has the homeowner recently completed work or maintenance on the home? Are there signals that the homeowner is actively engaged in keeping the home safe and well cared for? Has the homeowner been able to find the correct service providers for tasks? None of this data needs to be invasive or overreaching. When structured and shared with care, it paints a fuller picture that benefits both insurer and insured. It enables smarter risk engagement, personalized service, and, ultimately, fewer claims. What We’re Seeing in the Field At Rafter, we’ve completed hundreds of in-home assessments, and the patterns are consistent:

The Cost We Keep Paying  Each year, the U.S. property and casualty (P&C) insurance industry pays out over $100 billion in residential claims. Fires, water damage, windstorms, and theft represent not only financial losses but deeply disruptive experiences for homeowners. What’s striking isn’t just the scale of the problem, it’s how much of it could be avoided.