Property Inspection After Snow and Ice Storms

After last week’s ice and snow storm, most of the country has been left to dig out from under the freezing effects.  Most people don’t realize this but, ice can expand between 9 and 11 %.  When ice can’t naturally expand, the pressure imposed on the surroundings can rise dramatically.  Take for instance a water main break.  The water inside the water main doesn’t have to freeze for a break to occur.  Water in the ground can freeze and exert pressure on the exterior surface of the pipe by transmitting it through the dirt.  In similar ways, roofs can be damaged and pavement can be cracked.  Property owners should take the time to inspect their properties after thawing has occurred to determine if any damage is present.  If damage is encountered and depending on the extent of the damage, decisions will have to made on the best time to have the damage repaired,  how the damage will be repaired, and by whom.  Property owners should not take unnecessary risks, especially around electrical service.  Obviously, if the property owner cannot climb on the roof or enter a crawl space then they will have to find someone who can do the inspection for them.      

Using Drones for Claims Investigations

 

The insurance claims industry has been publishing articles claiming to increase the use of drones for investigating property claims. Travelers Insurance Company was recently highlighted in an article in Insurance Journal magazine titled “Travelers’ Drone Program is Changing the Way its Claims Reps Do Business”, dated May 11, 2017.  In the article, Travelers is teaching claims adjusters to use drones to inspect property instead of physically going to the property and doing the inspection.  Where roofs are concerned, there is an obvious safety benefit.  However, the move is to eliminate sending an adjuster altogether thereby eliminating the expense of travel and on-site adjusting time not to mention is reduction in claim handling time.  What about auto claims and water damage claims and fire claims?  If a drone can be used to assess the damage without sending an adjuster to the scene, then the cost savings to the carrier will be very beneficial.  However, whatever cannot be seen by an adjuster now will not be seen by a drone either.  Hidden damage in roofs, vehicles or structures will present the same problem that it does today.  That is, what is not viewable and is not accounted for will have to examined and dealt with when the damage is discovered.  This further implies that roofers will be submitting estimates for additional work.  Similarly, auto mechanics and body shops will be submitting estimates for additional work when hidden damage is brought to light in their respective jobs.  Building contractors will be doing the same thing when they discover problems in structures that will have to be addressed before the building is ready to be reoccupied.  As tempting as drone technology is to insurance carriers; there are restrictions regarding flight over certain areas.  The FAA prohibits flight over certain populated areas and as a matter of safety, they are restricted within a certain distance from airports.  There are also concerns of privacy and whether or not a carrier might be spying on a customer.  Furthermore, can the photographic data be used to intentionally deny coverage to a customer as well as support a claim? Reports of carriers intentionally denying or shorting customers on their settlements is not unheard of and will continue.  Drone technology will facilitate this process.  After all is said and done, drone technology still has a ways to go before it is fully accepted as a common way of doing business.