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Liberty Mutual has drones, and they're not afraid to use them
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What's your point, Hilary?
What's your point, Hilary? Oh right, dornes are invasion of privacy blah blah
Pish tosh and poppycock
No, I was thinking it was an interesting use of the technology. But don't let that stop you, Shirley.
who is Hilary?
the BBJ reporter is Greg Ryan.
There
Are no sharks in dorne
The drone isn't working alone
Somebody has to pilot the drone to do the property survey. Then someone has to look at the footage and make the assessment of how much to pay out in the claim.
What makes this such an excellent idea? Reducing the adjuster's physical risk. If the adjuster does not have to physically enter a damaged property or a disaster area, the adjuster won't turn their ankle tromping through debris, break something when a floor gives way underneath, get caught in a ceiling collapse, or tromp around an area that is still smoldering or awash with debris. They also don't experience any number of toxic exposures that can occur in the aftermath of a fire or other disaster.
Don't forget
Less driving
Yeah
Until there are traffic jams and collissions in the sky that rain chaos and destruction on the hapless pedestrians beneath
Just make the drones self
Just make the drones self aware so that they have a sense of self preservation. It's not like anything bad will happen. Now where is Sarah Conner?
Already happened, kinda
California Firefighters Forced To Call Off Missions After Drone Interference
Basically...yup.
Basically...yup. Probably worse than a bird strike. The LM drone FTA weighs 55 lbs. Hobby drones weigh less. Still, it's like hitting a bucket of joint compound.
doesn't look like less driving
From the article:
So, someone has to be nearby, presumably on the ground. I also expect that these are going to be relatively short-range drones, probably launched (and flown) from a vehicle near the site, rather than from a far-off command center.
Yes, and drones also make
killing so much easier!
Very different drones!
Fortunately (or unfortunately, if you're a supervillain), you can't buy Predator drones at Walmart. Yet.
Really?
You obviously didn't see that piece in the news where a kid from Connecticut just programmed his home drone to fire a nine millimeter handgun with startling success.
So when the air is filled with drones in this country, those who wish to do us harm will also know how easier it is to kill from afar as we do.
America. Better killing through technology.
Wow...
I hadn't heard that! I'll see if I can freak out some insurance companies by telling them about it. Thanks!
true
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/23/obama-drone-program-anniversary...
Any chance do these disasters
Any chance do these disasters include such claims as disability from work-related injuries ? I'm guessing that type of thing is the unstated reason for this push since their given reasons seem rather unplausible. I've never heard of insurance company adjusters piloting planes to assess storm damage, TV commercials notwithstanding.
As a technology researcher for insurance...
...my experience has been that when insurers talk about using drones, they really do want to start with disaster claims. It's an easy way to try drones out, and it's not as controversial as doing something like workers' comp claims or anything involving people.
I know that insurers are thinking about using drones in lots of ways, but workers' comp claims are pretty far down on the list. The big-ticket applications that I'm hearing about now are things like roof and bridge inspections, either after some kind of damage (hail, lightening, massive amounts of snow) or when the insurance company is figuring out how to underwrite a policy for a structure. (English translation: how much money the insurance company will charge the building owner and how much protection the owner gets in return.) Those are easy to figure out how to do, and it's easy to figure out how to make or save money from them.
I've heard companies thinking about maybe someday finding some way to apply drones to workers' comp, but I haven't heard any good ideas yet. There are some limits to the technology that get in the way of the kind of surveillance I think you're talking about, and I'm hoping that as the technology develops, legislation/regulation develops too. There's very little out there on drones in commercial use right now. The only thing I've heard that sounds remotely possible is using drones to check out a workplace that's difficult to inspect to make sure working conditions are safe, like a chemical plant or a mine or something like that.
Now, insurance companies and wearable devices? That's the one that worries me.
One more thing - insurance adjusters don't fly planes to assess storm damage because there are lots of people who will do it for them. There are a couple of tech companies out there that sell aerial imagery or accept commissions for custom work - they own the tech and they do the flying themselves, then they sell the data and the images. They can also use satellite imagery - I heard about adjusters comparing satellite images of a neighborhood before and after Hurricane Sandy to figure out which piles of rubble belong to whom (and therefore what they have to shell out for).
Thanks for the insight into
Thanks for the insight into this topic. Although... I'm not buying it. If an insurer wants to inspect a property, any property, they do so (or they don't write the ticket.) Never heard of a situation otherwise. If someone built it, someone can go there to look at it no matter if it's heaven high or hell deep. If you want to be insured, then let our agent see the doggone place - it's that simple. On the other hand a gumshoe can't just go traipsing onto private property with his camera; he has to sit in his car on the street with a telephoto lens and wait for them to come into view. But the air is no man's land. You can't stop anyone from taking aerial pictures because you don't own the air space. If I was an underwriter (i'm not, btw) why would I pay for a visit by an adjuster, a drone pilot, and a photographer when I could just tell my adjuster to just go to the site and do the job I'm paying him for ?
Willing to be you are 100%
Willing to be you are 100% right... anybody getting workmans comp better not bend down to pick up the morning newpaper........................
Doubtful if effective
Unless the catastrophe has comletely destroyed the house an adjuster will still need to enter the structure to determine the full extent of the damage. If the insurer is able to use drones to reduce the amount of the claim then they are using them to cheat the insured. Not that any insurance company or adjuster would knowingly seek to cheat a claimant but these things happen.
Goes both ways
A claims adjuster recently told me about two times he used the same drone. One was to deny a claim for a lightening strike to a building (he showed the pictures and it really wasn't a lightening strike), but the other was to figure out what happened in a really, really serious car accident. Turns out the driver wasn't at fault.
Not saying you're wrong, though, in terms of general philosophy. Look up the definition of "claims leakage."