Whoopee! Another added expense taken from to my ever dwindling fee schedule. Let me see, I now pay for a computer, adjusting software, ever rising gas prices, ever rising room prices, ever rising meal costs, and now I get to add a, $1000.00 plus before licencing, drone that I can only use in the event of a catastrophe. Not to mention, I can also worry that the insureds neighbors may report that I’m spying on them. Yet, the fee schedules have either remained the same, or gone down. Gee thank you so, so much.
Will drones provide anymore of a reliable inspection than Eagle View? Will they have the capabilities to measure the area, gauge the pitch, count the number of layers, chalk out the damaged area, or determine if the sheathing is sound? In the event of bad weather, just a ladder inspection would still be more reliable, and can be conducted when the drone couldn’t fly.
Sorry USAA, This looks to me like an added expense that won’t even do do half of what is needed to do a proper adjustment of a roof claim.
Unless of course, your true agenda here is to take this away from claims adjusters hands, and do the roof claims in house. looks like a slippery slope to me; however, that is another subject.
It’s not as bad as you might think. I own a few drones. I haven’t used them in my insurance business. I guaranty you’ll have a ton of fun learning to fly them and they don’t require a licenses unless you use FPV gear. As far as people worried about spying, the only questions I’ve ever gotten are:
1. How much is it?
2. Where can I get one? (ans:hobby store or online)
3. Is it hard to fly? (ans: not with practice)
4. Is that really a drone or is that just a toy? (ans:whatever you say it is)
5. Can I fly? (ans: always no)
6. Can someone get hurt? (ans: they can, but retail aircraft are almost imbecile proof)
Remember you’re talking about a Cat storm. People aren’t worried about the Quadcopter with the camera. They want to know about their money, whether they got enough coverage and how long it will take to get a check. So if you can settle claims faster with a drone, why not?
Besides, you’ll be the coolest adjuster on the block. Just think, about how the customer will feel when you walk up to their house and show them a video on your laptop; all because you launched a drone and flew it for 2-10 minutes. Keep in mind, it takes a person to fly them.
With that said, is using a drone to help settle claims such a bad idea?
As drone regulation becomes clearer, it will be interesting to see what sort of applications it will be used for. Package delivery is the obvious one, but others such catastrophe assessment by insurance claim assessors is high on the list as well. Currently, after a large hurricane, hail storm or tornado, insurance providers send of their claim service team who climb up on ladders to attempt to assess the damages done by natural disasters. With the ability to send up a drone to video or snap photos would be quicker and safer for the claim service men and women. Seems like a win-win to me as customers will get money faster to make the repairs, claim assessors reduce possible falls off ladders, and insurance companies likely get better assessment of the damage with more comprehensive visuals from above. However, will the drone regulation differ for commercial use like this (customer approved flight over private property at low levels) versus package delivery that may require higher flight over only public property? It will be interesting to see if regulation differentiate between different types of commercial usage as well as pre-empt new uses that are not necessarily obvious.
Whoopee! Another added expense taken from to my ever dwindling fee schedule. Let me see, I now pay for a computer, adjusting software, ever rising gas prices, ever rising room prices, ever rising meal costs, and now I get to add a, $1000.00 plus before licencing, drone that I can only use in the event of a catastrophe. Not to mention, I can also worry that the insureds neighbors may report that I’m spying on them. Yet, the fee schedules have either remained the same, or gone down. Gee thank you so, so much.
Will drones provide anymore of a reliable inspection than Eagle View? Will they have the capabilities to measure the area, gauge the pitch, count the number of layers, chalk out the damaged area, or determine if the sheathing is sound? In the event of bad weather, just a ladder inspection would still be more reliable, and can be conducted when the drone couldn’t fly.
Sorry USAA, This looks to me like an added expense that won’t even do do half of what is needed to do a proper adjustment of a roof claim.
Unless of course, your true agenda here is to take this away from claims adjusters hands, and do the roof claims in house. looks like a slippery slope to me; however, that is another subject.
Dan,
It’s not as bad as you might think. I own a few drones. I haven’t used them in my insurance business. I guaranty you’ll have a ton of fun learning to fly them and they don’t require a licenses unless you use FPV gear. As far as people worried about spying, the only questions I’ve ever gotten are:
1. How much is it?
2. Where can I get one? (ans:hobby store or online)
3. Is it hard to fly? (ans: not with practice)
4. Is that really a drone or is that just a toy? (ans:whatever you say it is)
5. Can I fly? (ans: always no)
6. Can someone get hurt? (ans: they can, but retail aircraft are almost imbecile proof)
Remember you’re talking about a Cat storm. People aren’t worried about the Quadcopter with the camera. They want to know about their money, whether they got enough coverage and how long it will take to get a check. So if you can settle claims faster with a drone, why not?
Besides, you’ll be the coolest adjuster on the block. Just think, about how the customer will feel when you walk up to their house and show them a video on your laptop; all because you launched a drone and flew it for 2-10 minutes. Keep in mind, it takes a person to fly them.
With that said, is using a drone to help settle claims such a bad idea?
Wow. A great example of “glass half full – glass half empty”.
As drone regulation becomes clearer, it will be interesting to see what sort of applications it will be used for. Package delivery is the obvious one, but others such catastrophe assessment by insurance claim assessors is high on the list as well. Currently, after a large hurricane, hail storm or tornado, insurance providers send of their claim service team who climb up on ladders to attempt to assess the damages done by natural disasters. With the ability to send up a drone to video or snap photos would be quicker and safer for the claim service men and women. Seems like a win-win to me as customers will get money faster to make the repairs, claim assessors reduce possible falls off ladders, and insurance companies likely get better assessment of the damage with more comprehensive visuals from above. However, will the drone regulation differ for commercial use like this (customer approved flight over private property at low levels) versus package delivery that may require higher flight over only public property? It will be interesting to see if regulation differentiate between different types of commercial usage as well as pre-empt new uses that are not necessarily obvious.