Could AI save your homeowners insurance? Utah startup says yes

SALT LAKE CITY — As insurance companies abandon entire ZIP codes due to climate risks, one Utah-based startup says artificial intelligence could help homeowners stay covered while lowering their premiums.

Alisa Valderrama, CEO and co-founder of FutureProof, outlined her company’s AI-driven approach to climate risk assessment during the 2025 Ivory Prize Summit, where FutureProof was named a top 10 finalist. The company uses technology to evaluate individual properties’ resilience to natural disasters, allowing homeowners to reduce insurance costs by improving their homes’ defenses. FutureProof plans to expand its own insurance company nationwide, including in Utah, this year.

Blanket Risk Assessments

Traditional insurance companies use broad geographic data to assess risk, leading them to withdraw from entire regions rather than evaluate properties individually.

“Good risk is being left on the table by the industry, which in turn causes the industry to just fully exit from large swaths of the country,” Valderrama said.

FutureProof addresses this by training AI models on comprehensive policy and claims data, eliminating the need for what Valderrama calls “coarse risk assessments.” The technology analyzes property-specific features to determine individual risk levels.

Utah faces multiple climate-related risks, including floods, earthquakes, wildfires and wind damage. Valderrama explained how FutureProof’s approach differs from traditional methods.

“We can actually look at a given property and say, ‘Yes, this is a risky zone,’ but if this given property has done everything right or even most things right, hopefully we’ll be able to write an insurance policy for that property owner and if others are writing in that same zone, we can probably win on price and offer a lower priced quote because we’re going to be able to account for all those property features in a way that is much more robust from a data science perspective,” she said.

How Homeowners Can Lower Their Risk

Property owners can take specific actions to reduce their risk profiles in FutureProof’s model. Valderrama cited measures required for Firewise community certification as examples of effective risk reduction strategies.

Mountain communities like Park City are already addressing the issue. The Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau partnered with Premiums for the Planet to host a webinar on the topic in September.

What’s Next for AI-Driven Insurance

The insurance industry has been slow to adopt granular, property-level risk assessment and pricing at scale, according to Valderrama. No major players currently offer this type of technology. However, a wave of tech startups is emerging to capitalize on the insurance crisis.

FutureProof Insurance Agency has partnered with more than 20 insurance carriers to develop more precise pricing, risk selection, real-time quoting and portfolio management. The company plans to begin fundraising in December to raise $20 million to enter select markets with its own insurance products.