When it comes to assessing damage in dangerous situations—after floods, fires or storms, for instance—there may be better technology today than sending a man or woman with a camera up a tall ladder onto a damaged and unstable roof. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s an insurance adjuster’s best friend: a drone.
Erie Insurance, headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania has begun using a drone to assess damage. The company’s drone has been used to survey a customer’s roof following repairs. It was then used for another claim related to a tree falling on a property.
"We see drones as a happy marriage between technology and the human touch," says Gary Sullivan, the vice president of property and subrogation claims for Erie Insurance. "We can use drones to do what drones do best—getting clear and detailed images of property damage in difficult to access areas—and that, in turn, enables our claims people to do what they do best—taking great care of our customers with personal service, and helping them get their lives back to normal as quickly as possible."
Sullivan says he thinks drones could change the way the claims process is handled in the future. He said drones can help adjusters assess potential property damage without exposing themselves to risks such as steep roofing and the like.
Following is an interview with Julia Nene, media relations specialist for Erie.
IBA: When and how did the idea of using drones first come about?
Nene: We are always seeking to leverage the latest technology to improve our business and better serve our customers. We were among the first insurance companies to seek and receive permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to use drones. We received our exemption in April, and we’re now the first insurance company we know of to have used a drone in an actual claim.
IBA: Your press release only mentions two times you have used a drone to look at property damage. Have there been more times? How many?
Nene: We’ve used drones twice so far, yes, but that’s just a start. We’re keeping our eyes out for more opportunities to use them.
IBA: Does someone on staff operate the drone, or do you subcontract it out?
Nene: There is always a trained crew made up of Erie Insurance employees including a licensed pilot (who actually manipulates the drone) and an observer (who keeps his or her eye on the sky, looking out for any potential obstacles). There may also be a claims adjuster on site (who provides guidance to the pilot as to the images that are needed to properly and thoroughly assess the damage).
IBA: How do you handle privacy concerns?
Nene: Our intent is to only capture images of property damage to help improve our claims process. A drone generally would be looking at and seeing the same things that our claims adjuster would see—it’s just that the drone will capture better images from different angles that will help us get a more accurate view of the damage, which in turn will improve the estimates that we write. And, we will always seek a customer’s permission before using a drone on his or her property. We want our customers to be comfortable with its use.
IBA: Will drones help you assess damage more quickly?
Nene: Definitely. Consider impassable streets and downed power lines after a natural catastrophe such as a tornado. With the drone, we can get to our customers’ damaged property quickly, without having to worry about limited access on the ground, and safety risks. The sooner we can get in and assess damage, the sooner we can settle claims and help make our customers whole again so they can move on with their lives.
IBA: Once you iron out any bugs, this seems like a natural, something that could revolutionize how damages are assessed. What do you think?
Nene: We see drones as a happy marriage between technology and the human touch. We can use drones to do what drones do best—getting clear and detailed images of property damage in hard-to-reach areas—and that, in turn, enables our claims people to do what they do best—taking great care of our customers with personal service. We’ve built our reputation over our 90-year-history on providing personal service to our customers, and that is not changing.
IBA: Is this still experimental on your part, or are you moving as quickly as you can to make this a normal procedure?
Nene: We’re off and running – we received approval to use drones from the FAA in April 2015, tested them and trained all summer, and used one in an actual claims occurrence in September. Like I mentioned above, we envision eventually having a couple of drones in each state where we operate, located near where we have the greatest number of property damage claims, or the greatest likelihood for property claims (such as areas where damaging storms are common).
It’s fun to be on the cutting edge of using this technology. As far as we know, Erie is the only insurance company to have used a drone in an actual claim. We did have a few small learnings. For example, the first time we launched the drone, it was early morning and there was still dew on the ground, so when we landed it, the camera lens got a bit of water on it. But other than relatively small things like that, there were no surprises.
