Support/FAQ

John Foord Analytics is a comprehensive, global and simple to use online platform to help owners, insurers and advisors estimate current reinstatement costs for fixed assets across their portfolio.

John Foord, founded in London in 1828, specialises in the valuation of commercial and industrial buildings, civils, structures, plant and equipment.

As a truly independent advisory firm, delivering advice of the highest quality that minimizes risk is central to our purpose. Our focus is to build trust and transparency with our clients, the insurance and financial markets and wider society.

We support insurance companies, re-insurers, brokers and owners by assessing current reinstatement costs, indemnity values and actual cash values.

The traditional method for arriving at accurate reinstatement costs, as provided by John Foord, is to carry out a detailed site survey or on desk assessment. This approach has its benefits and is often the only viable approach for complex or unique locations.

However, many clients and their advisors have more straightforward assets and want a simple way of quickly assessing whether values need more detailed analysis or whether current values are within an expected range.

John Foord Analytics, a subsidiary of John Foord Group, is a cloud-based platform giving clients real-time access to accurate reinstatement costs by applying AI and machine learning to millions of data points on similar assets.

John Foord Analytics provides clients with an estimated reinstatement cost for their locations based on a number of typically easily accessible details on the location.

John Foord Analytics integrates sophisticated proprietary modelling algorithms with decades of unique valuation and cost data, as well as third party databases, to arrive at reinstatement cost assessments.

Users choose an industry category, input the location, then enter a number of key details on the subject facilities. The platform produces a reinstatement cost estimate which the user can download as a report.

We are rolling out new industries continually and, depending on your subscription package, we can accelerate delivery of specific industries to suit your needs.

The platform applies the latest in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies across a range of tools hosted on Microsoft Azure to ensure data integrity, cyber security, rapid response times and global solution scalability.

John Foord Analytics uses decades of John Foord valuation data collected across tens of thousands of individual locations. The platform also integrates third party data sources such as government indices, public records on occupancies, as well as construction material and equipment cost information.

The platform is designed to allow you to download a report in Adobe PDF format on each assessed location. You can share this with colleagues and other parties subject to the terms of your subscription.

Based on Microsoft Azure infrastructure, the John Foord Analytics platform uses the latest cloud security features to ensure that your data is protected. We have also designed the platform to require minimal client information so that only essential data is required and stored.

John Foord Analytics integrates sophisticated proprietary modelling algorithms with decades of unique valuation and cost data to arrive at reliable reinstatement cost assessments. The modelling algorithms are continually validated by subject matter specialists. The platform’s underlying technology works by analysing thousands of similar locations and millions of other data points.

We estimate the accuracy of the estimated reinstatement cost produced by John Foord Analytics to be within 5% of values produced by traditional site survey inspections and analysis. This is within the tolerances usually acceptable to insurers for declared values.

We therefore believe that the highest accuracy level is suitable for declared values at risk but it should be noted that a specific location may be an outlier to the models so care should be applied, particularly if a location is known to be unusual or has multiple occupancies. Users may also wish to verify if their current policy or coverage needs to reflect the value of spares or stocks and other elements which are not currently included in the figures produced by John Foord Analytics.

We believe that the John Foord Analytics platform allows owners, insurers and advisors to have access to the best possible current information on the likely reinstatement costs of an asset or facility.

These values may be included in a risk engineering report, but we would request that the source of the value is credited, and we would also suggest that it is made clear this value was arrived at using modelling and not through a detailed site inspection.

As with all valuations, the results produced by the John Foord Analytics platform reflect the circumstances, economy and assets at the date of the assessment. Clearly these factors can change over time, sometimes rapidly.

In particular, facilities that contain large elements of materials or equipment sourced from multiple countries and, foreign exchange movements can have a significant influence on costs over a short period of time.

That said, we believe that the estimated reinstatement costs produced by John Foord Analytics are reliable for the duration of a standard insurance policy terms of 12 months.

The John Foord Analytics platform allows owners, insurers and advisors to have access to the best possible current information on the likely reinstatement costs of an asset or facility. We would not have launched this product if we did not feel that the results were robust and reliable. However the platform is not designed to replicate the service and level of follow up support supplied by traditional valuation firms such as John Foord. If further analysis or support is needed beyond the reports produced by the John Foord Analytics platform then we would recommend a discussion with the John Foord valuation team at enquiries@johnfoord.com.

This is a global platform designed to produce assessments wherever in the world your assets are located.

The platform is designed to constantly learn and evolve using newly imported data, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies. This means that the models are updating continually. In practice, once detailed information on a location is entered, it is unlikely there would be a material movement in estimated reinstatement costs for a particular property within a six to twelve month period. As Covid has shown however, situations can change rapidly and the advantage of the John Foord Analytics platform is that users can verify costs continually in an economic way.

The platform requires a small amount of easily accessible information on each location. Different levels of data input drive different levels of accuracy on the platform, such that the “Feasibility” report requires less than 10 core pieces of information on the subject facility.

If you are unable to source the key data please contact the helpdesk on your options for John Foord Analytics validating or inputting data on your behalf.

Please contact us if you have a large volume of information to enter. We offer a service to facilitate the uploading of large datasets. Depending on the scale this may incur additional charges but, if a charge is necessary, we would discuss these costs with you in advance.

Not only do we have extensive information on many industries and locations from our decades of valuations, but we are also constantly developing ways to pre-populate data in the platform, for example using Google and other available resources. Please contact us if you have a specific requirement or question on this point.

Contact us today at analytics@johnfoord.com and we can get you started. Sign up is easy and quick.

We do not currently offer Business Interruption estimates within John Foord Analytics.

We do not currently offer Estimated Maximum Loss or Probable Maximum Loss estimates within John Foord Analytics, but we are developing enhancements to the information provided by the platform and we intend to expand the services offered by the platform in due course.

We believe that the John Foord Analytics platform allows owners, insurers and advisors to have access to the best possible current information on the likely reinstatement costs of an asset or facility.

These values may be included in an underwriting submission, but we would request that the source of the value is credited, and we would also suggest that it is made clear this value was arrived at using modelling and not through a detailed site inspection.

If you do not have an address for the facility being assessed, try entering the facility name in the “State/Region/Address” field since the platform may be able to identify the location from this.

If this does not indicate the location, select country and enter the state/region, choose a location on the map and select one of the addresses shown close to the subject property.

There is an option during the entry process for a new assessment to save your progress and data if you need to return to this later. The saved drafts will show on your dashboard and you can continue your progress from there.

Once you run an assessment you will have the option to download the detailed report from the assessment results page. This can also be accessed from your dashboard.

We have a pipeline of new industries we are working on but are open to suggestions from clients on which industries and sectors would be most beneficial.

If you have a question on your subscription please contact your corporate administrator handling your John Foord Analytics account.

If you have a question on your subscription please contact your corporate administrator handling your John Foord Analytics account.

John Foord Analytics is designed to be a simple cloud-based estimation tool that is easy to use and comprehend. We currently do not offer support services, such as commentary on specific values, within the subscription packages.

However, if you have a technical issue with your subscription please contact your firm’s account manager.

If your question relates to the values for a specific location, you can request a proposal for a detailed site survey or on desk assessment by contacting your corporate administrator handling your John Foord Analytics account.

If you cannot find the answer to your question on the operation of the platform here, then please contact us for technical questions at helpdesk@johnfoord.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

You have access to a dedicated John Foord Analytics account manager. Please contact your corporate administrator handling your John Foord Analytics account.