How surprised will you be when you see an insurance drone circling your Texas home?
Here is the thing: insurance companies paid out billions of dollars worth of hail & storm insurance claims so far this year. For example, here are some of the claims in Texas:
- San Antonio got hammered with grapefruit-sized hailstones up to 4.5 inches in diameter that knocked out windows.
- Wylie, Texas, was hard hit with softball-sized hail that shattered car and home windows.
- The Dallas-Fort Worth metro has been hit with thunderstorms that produced hail to the size of golf balls and tennis balls.
After getting hit with thousands of Texas homeowner claims, the insurance companies figured that it was about time to jump on the drone bandwagon. Apparently, during the aftermath of a storm, roofers are scrambling to provide estimates on the damage. Adjusters were running at full speed to keep up with the demand. Insurance companies were drowning in unsettled homeowner roof damage claims.
The solution?
One insurance company decided to think outside of the proverbial box. Allstate came up with the idea that drones could do the job faster than humans in assessing roof damage. Could robotic drones do the job of an adjuster doing a roof inspection?
As a test, they used drones to inspect and take aerial photographs of homes that were inspected by roofers already. To avoid the FAA requirements of needing a drone spotter, they used quadcopters smaller than 55 pounds controlled by someone with a drone certificate. These photographs were converted to 3D visualizations that helped the insurance company assess the damage.
Apparently, the results were exciting enough for plans to be made to use drones in the future. Their goal is that drones can speed up their Texas claims process. This will save customers time as well as money for the company.
If this catches on and works as expected, don’t be surprised if other insurance companies follow suit. So keep your eyes open. Look to skies.
The drones are coming to Texas. Look out!