Risk management information system
Software · Cloudbreak team · Updated October 29, 2026 · 9 sources
How it works
Risk data usually sits in many places: claims with insurers and third-party administrators, policies with brokers, property values in spreadsheets, contractor certificates in email. An RMIS pulls these into one database, so the risk manager can see the whole program and answer questions such as which locations drive losses or which certificates have lapsed.
A typical system holds:
- Claims and incidents: claim details, parties, notes and financials, often imported on a schedule from a third-party administrator (TPA) or insurer.
- Policies: what is insured, with which carrier, at what limits, and where the gaps are.
- Exposures and property values: buildings, contents and vehicles on the property schedule, the data behind the annual statement of values sent at renewal.
- Certificates of insurance: incoming contractor and tenant certificates, with alerts before they expire.
- Loss runs and reports: claim histories valued as of a set date, plus standard and ad hoc reports.
IRMI lists the core capabilities of an RMIS as data collection and consolidation, data analysis, reporting, report circulation, remote access by outside users and cost allocation.3
RMIS vs claims system
An RMIS reports on claims; a claims system administers them. An organization that adjusts its own claims, paying them and tracking litigation, needs the second kind.
In IRMI's 2001 breakdown, an RMIS collects and analyzes exposure data and produces reports, while a claims management information system also handles claim adjusting: payments, litigation tracking and allocated expense. IRMI says it is wrong to call a system that administers claims an "RMIS."3
Example
Kitsap County, Washington, issued a request for proposal for a hosted RMIS on January 29, 2020. Its risk program shows how much one system has to track:4
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Risk management staff | 6 |
| Owned and leased buildings, facilities and structures | About 150 |
| Insured scheduled property values | About $307.9 million |
| Property deductible | $50,000 |
| Contractor insurance certificates received per year | 800 (average) |
| Incidents logged per year | 150 (average) |
| Workers' compensation claims per year | 85 (average) |
| Liability claims per year | 75 (average) |
Where you'll see it
- Property renewals: the statement of values sent to the insurer or broker can be built from the RMIS property schedule.
- Requests for proposals: public agencies list the claims, policy, property and certificate data an RMIS must hold, as Kitsap County and the East Bay Municipal Utility District did.4,5
- Idaho: state agencies must report property schedules (buildings, contents, vehicles) in the RMIS and keep them updated.6,7
- Tennessee: the state requires an annual property valuation from each agency and collects that data in an RMIS.8
Questions
- What is the difference between an RMIS and a claims system?
- An RMIS collects and reports on risk data; a claims system also adjusts claims, makes payments and tracks litigation, as IRMI's 2001 breakdown puts it. As a rule of thumb, insured corporations and public entities use an RMIS; TPAs, self-administered public entities and corporations with large retentions use a claims system.3
- What data goes into an RMIS?
- Claims and incidents, policies, property and other exposure values, certificates of insurance and loss runs. Claims data is often imported from a TPA's or insurer's system.
- How much does an RMIS cost?
- IRMI put RMIS site licenses at $75,000 to $150,000 or more in 2001, against $250,000 to $500,000 or more for a claims system, before user licenses, customization, implementation and training.3
- Who uses a risk management information system?
- Risk managers at companies, public entities and other organizations with many locations or claims. By IRMI's rule of thumb, corporations, insured public entities and other insured organizations use an RMIS. State risk programs in Idaho, Tennessee and Texas run one for their agencies.3,6,8,9
Cloudbreak
Cloudbreak keeps every policy, statement of values and loss run in one place per property, tracks renewals, and watches every building against storms with its proprietary predictive storm engine, built with AI and backed by meteorologists.
Sources
Written by the Cloudbreak team. Numbers, dates and rules cite the published sources below.
- 1. International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): risk management information system (RMIS)
- 2. International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): IRMI Launches RMIS Review
- 3. International Risk Management Institute (IRMI): Information Systems: Which Type Is Right for Your Organization?
- 4. Kitsap County, Washington: Request for Proposal 2020-107: Risk Management Information Software
- 5. East Bay Municipal Utility District: Request for Proposal for Risk Management Information System (RMIS)
- 6. Idaho Department of Administration: Agency Resources: Reporting Property Values
- 7. University of Idaho: APM 05.02: Property Coverage
- 8. Tennessee Department of Treasury: State Insurance Services: Risk Management
- 9. Texas State Office of Risk Management: Risk Management Information System (RMIS) Frequently Asked Questions