Drones never took off...

Like I expected back in May of 2017 when I ran a bit of a test. 14 homes on one street were inspected in about 15 minutes. Below are some notes from the experiment as well as from a conversation with a property/safety inspector I know. I'm still certain drones can and should be used more when it comes to inspecting the insured property. And, much of this has nothing to do with claims.

Thesis; if we can do drone inspections in bulk we can drive the cost down to make more off of existing risks,

First, we identify a street. In this case, ______ave

What is the breakdown of companies? In this case, it is Regional, Big National, Property only Mutual

Ideally, we dive into the years insured. How does this correlate to claims? When do most claims occur in a lifecycle? Does it happen in the first three years? Later?

How can we identify home improvements? How important is the lighting? Are close trees the problem or are clogged gutters?

How do we get reports to companies? How many photos make sense?

What is the sales case? Simple value add. lets you be proactive instead of reactive. lets you potentially funnel business from personal to commercial lines. Helps with remarketing. Saves inspection time.

CONVERSATION;

That is exactly the thesis I am backing myself into. For this test, we have several streets that we have 5 if not 10 homes insured. Now, these happen to be with 1-5 companies but WE have them insured. So how do we make that work?

Each company has different concerns but most overlap.  

Do we bring in a person on the ground, like you, before, after, or in conjunction with a drone?

I would say that a LCR would be good to have in conjunction with a drone. The only real benefit of a drone is views of a roof in real-time. There is a growing trend to utilize google earth/bing imagines for things like distance to woods/brush, waterways, trees, and high-risk occupancies.  

What checklist are companies asking for? Can we make sure our 20 personal line property options have the same form/questions?

Each company has a different approach/checklist in regards to loss control surveys. I mainly deal with commercial properties but concerns for personal lines would include much of the same concerns. Items that come to mind would include tall trees near the risk, pools, dogs (breed & type), distance to fire hydrants or fire department, and history of sinkholes/flooding. We could easily make a generic form that would cover most carriers.  

How do we make it so the inspections make sense for sales/marketing, underwriting, and claims?

I'm not sure how we make sense for sale/marketing purposes. I think a good start would be calling them something other than an inspection. I find that risks don't enjoy/dread the idea of an inspection. The loss control reports for underwriters are great to show how risky it is for them. If you can send in a report with an application and take the cost/concerns off the carrier they may be more willing to send more policies your way. I don't have a strong background on how things behind the scenes work so it's hard to give a fair answer. I often wonder how loss control reports are used in conjunction with claims if they are at all. I have considered reaching out to carriers before while investigating fires at work but I don't think they would disclose them but it would be helpful especially in the commercial world.  

What is the dollar figure that works? Can we make it hourly or some sort of guarantee per trip...similar to when you go in for overtime.?

This is also a tough question because the lower the fee the lower the quality report. The majority of the loss control world is flat fee driven but speaking from experience if I have an hourly job and a flat fee job both due at the time day, the hourly always wins out. There's a new approach up and coming now that utilizes a "bid" system where LCR's bid on the job and then they are awarded the loss control survey. I don't know how well it's working or how well it will pan out. I think hourly would be best but it's hard to say without seeing the true scope of it.   

My expectation is that I'll be there for the inspection trying to see it from my eyes but also the trained drone pilot who is not trained on the insurance side. You also see it from other sides. Can I get it so you may work in conjunction with a home inspector?  

The ideal person would be a home inspector who is also a loss control representative. I think we are heading in the right direction. I feel like there is something there just haven't hit the nail on the head yet.  

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