Your Next Allstate Inspector Might Be a Drone

New submitter cameronag writes: Following on the heels of EasyJet's plan to inspect planes with drones, insurance giant Allstate has received FAA clearance to test drones for insurance inspections. The company plans to use drones to inspect roofing, weather damage, and collapsed structures, among other things, and says the technology will ultimately speed up claims processing.

Comments

Can we stop conflating drone with AI

[softwaredoug]

In the event of a catastrophe, physical access to a neighborhood might be restricted by local authorities or by debris. In this situation, a drone could potentially help claims professionals serve customers in spite of those restrictions.

So we'll fly over your town to figure out insurance claims NOT we've programmed an AI to replace hordes of insurance adjusters

Re:Can we stop conflating drone with AI

[antiperimetaparalogo]

People nowdays use this general term ("drone") for any remotely guided unmanned aircraft/helicopter/etc, but i think this term should be used for the special military case where a remotely guided unmanned aircraft/helicopter/etc kills people IF we examine the term etymologically (and now my dear barbarians prepare for one more of my usual Greek language "things"): the English "drone" comes from the German "treno" which originates from the Greek "thrinos" (meaning -with my bad English-: what you feel -e.g., sad, sick- and how you act -e.g., crying, beating youself, wanting to die-... when a loved one is dead!).

Re: Can we stop conflating drone with AI

[antiperimetaparalogo]

Not sure if joking. Sounded entirely bullshit to me, I checked Wiktionary which actually places it as coming from drone in the sense of a bee which is entirely different in each language.

I know one source isn't enough to conclude bullshit but it was devoid of the sense of superiority that you displayed and my experience is that people who think they're smart are generally idiots.

I don't know if i am an idiot (i may be), and i admit that (between funny and serious) my comment had a spirit of Greek over "barbarians" (i do it all the time in Slashdot!), but i was not joking about the etymology - i can't write the German "treno" word exactly (it's an "e" with a line above!), nor the Greek "thrinos" (Slashdot and unicode are not friends yet!).

Re:Can we stop conflating drone with AI

[desdinova 216]

why not both?

Obligatory

[Anonymous Coward]

What's the difference between a drone and an Allstate insurance agent?

One's a machine-like contraption utterly devoid of humor and personality, and the other is capable of autonomous flight.

Allstate unit

[rossdee]

Will it use the codename "Snake Doctor"

Speed up claims processing?

[russotto]

Just how long does it take to stamp "DENIED" on a claim, and how does a drone make it faster?

Re:Speed up claims processing?

[rmdingler]

Just how long does it take to stamp "DENIED" on a claim, and how does a drone make it faster?

Doesn't matter.

They'll sugarcoat your rejection with the voice of Dennis Haysbert channeling Barry White,

and you'll cheerfully acquiesce.

Re: Speed up claims processing?

[FlyHelicopters]

This! In the nearly forty years I've had home owners insurance, I've never had a claim approved.

You need better insurance... :)

I've owned my house about 10 years and had a roof claim, they paid it without complaint and put a new roof on my house. They replaced the gutters as well.

Re: Speed up claims processing?

[Harlequin80]

Seriously what the fuck is wrong with your insurer?

I've have water damage after a storm over whelmed my gutters repaired, roof damage from a falling tree repaired, smashed windows from hail repaired and water damage after the power shower pump in our roof exploded repaired. Oh and all were separate instances.

Re: Speed up claims processing?

[Overzeetop]

You don't need a better insurance company, you need a better lawyer.

Re: Speed up claims processing?

[ai4px]

Back in 1989 in Charleston SC many houses were damaged by hurricane hugo. The roof would get ripped open and the rain would pour in. Insurance companies were denying claims to water damage by saying the people didn't have flood insurance... but the water damage wasn't from flood, it was secondary because the roof was ripped off. Many of those insurance companies went out of business. Word spread and no one would touch them with a 10 foot pole. Now we have an oligarchy of insurance companies. Tangentially.... As evil as people say Wal Mart is, the fact of the matter is after Hugo they sold generators and other supplies at a loss in order to help.

Re: Speed up claims processing?

[adolf]

> hurricane hugo

That was a disaster. The insurance companies, like Allstate, couldn't afford to pay all of the claims so they lied and cheated their way out of the vast majority of them. When Hugo hit, I lived between Florence and Conway. All of the homes in our neighborhood had damage. About a fourth were so damaged they were later torn down. The head of our HOA worked for Allstate, so most of us in the neighborhood had Allstate since he was a great guy. After Allstate refused to pay a single valid claim, he ended-up leaving town. The town him and his wife were from, where both sets of his children's grandparents live, and where he had a business he had grown for over thirty-five years. While we all hated how Allstate screwed nearly the entire neighborhood out of our houses, Allstate screwed his family out of their lives.

You're in good hands, with Allstate.

Allstate ... Again?

[sonamchauhan]

Didn't Allstate show up yesterday with a silly patent?
                                  http://tech.slashdot.org/story...

First an overly broad patent (wait until a toilet seat manufacturer patents 'diagnosing- while-enthroned'). Now this.

Thought I don't think there's anything wrong with using a drone for this, as long as inhabitants (i.e. owners and renters) of a covered property have a choice in the matter. But its likely someone in Allstate is already dreams of a fleet of cheap unmanned drones in every Allstate building, sent off on frequent 'combat missions' to increase premiums and reduce claims.

Looks like someone's funded Allstate's Technology department a bit too well.

Re:Awesome

[thinkwaitfast]

Back in the day, insurance adjusters used ladders an took 35mm pictures Then the polaroid camera came out and everything changed. Well, not really.

following cars

[bugs2squash]

so will the drones just follow anyone who has allstate insurance around spotting reasons not to pay claims ?

Speeds up claims

[rsilvergun]

with the added benefit that claims work can be done completely overseas where ever labor's the cheapest. Can we _please_ have some protectionist policies back?

Re:Speeds up claims

[Tailhook]

No. The sellout will continue until you live in a subsidized trailer. Anything else is injustice and racism.

Insurance companies already use satellites to deal with claims. I know from recent experience that Travelers settles roof damage claims based on satellite imagery in an automated estimate system, and the results are so reliable that contractors take these jobs at face value. The 'adjuster' looks around for 15 minutes, pencil whips the claim and it's over.

Re:Speeds up claims

[Harlequin80]

Umm or it could be "I really don't want to climb a ladder to look at your storm damaged roof. I'm going to fly this drone with a gopro attached to have a look"

Re:Speeds up claims

[adolf]

Insurance companies already use satellites to deal with claims. I know from recent experience that Travelers settles roof damage claims based on satellite imagery in an automated estimate system, and the results are so reliable that contractors take these jobs at face value. The 'adjuster' looks around for 15 minutes, pencil whips the claim and it's over.

No. No, they don't.

We're light-years away from near-real-time satellite photography for such small purposes as figuring out a single insurance claim, not to mention that the resolution is always piss-poor from space.

What we can do today is use existing aerial photographs taken from multiple angles, shove them into a computer, and automatically generate a 3D model of a roof which is accurate enough to generate a precise bill of materials to replace that roof. [citation]

What this means is that instead of an adjuster climbing a ladder and using a tape measure and math, he can instead do a rough visual inspection ("yep, your roof is fucked") from the ground and clickity-click his way to an estimate of the job.

What drones add to this is the ability to see damage on (e.g. flat) roofs not visible from the ground (which keeps adjusters off of ladders), while potentially supplement existing aerial photographs.

PFfft.

[jd2112]

Allstate Drones? Booooring. I want to hear about the teleporter that State Farm uses to transport an agent to you when you sing their jingle!

Jobs

[the_Bionic_lemming]

If you're thinking about being a pilot and flying helicopters for a living, you might want to rethink your investment in your future.

Major corporations want to stop paying for that - and the needed construction/hospital/fire jobs will be stacked with folks that have experience and migrating to that because of losing their jobs to joystick flying 401 bs in India.

We fly drones in the United States that are in Iraq and Afghanistan - Allstate and others will similarly offset all drone flying to other countries.

Moving Further Down the List

[kevinatilusa]

• Factory Workers
• Grocery Baggers
• Salespeople
• Fast Foot Counter Workers
• Insurance Inspectors
• Truck Drivers

The reality

[les_91406]

This tech doesn't replace insurance inspectors, it replaces insurance inspectors on ladders. Keep in mind the flight time of a typical small UAS equipped for aerial photography/inspection is 10-20 minutes. The inspector brings it to the claim site, flies it over the object of interest (roof?) and combines the aerial photos with those he takes from the ground. And the inspector needs to be trained to fly and maintain the UAS properly. Not exactly a plot to put insurance inspectors out of work.

Re:The reality

[cold fjord]

I think it could also be highly useful when disasters strike, like a tornado or hurricane taking out a town.

How about I save you $5000

[bobjr94]

and just email you pics from my cell phone. Roof pics? Selfie stick

And

[no-body]

my next toy might be a shotgun....

Look on the bright side

[Overzeetop]

Well, at least if you hit it the US Code limits your prison sentence to less than 20 years, so you've got that going for you.

Bad Idea

[dcw3]

My roof was just replaced a few weeks ago due to hail damage. The initial inspection involved my contractor, and State Farm inspector climbing up there for roughly 30 mins. While a drone might be great for the photos, it's not going to be able to touch things, or hold a discussion, which can be necessary in cases like mine. One of several examples...I have a couple hundred square feet of copper on the front of my home, and that had been oxidized. The inspector initially told us they were paying for a new "metal" roof. We told her it was copper, and had to prove it to her by going back up and scraping a small portion.

Who's Insurance?

[MagickalMyst]

So what happens when an 'insurance drone' accidentally crashes into your house and causes damage?

Is it their fault because it is their drone? - or is it your fault because it was your house that they were inspecting?

It seems obvious, but insurance companies seem to have a way to weasel themselves out of anything and assign the blame (and the bill!) to the customer.

Re: Awesome

[tehcyder]

Now they'll claim things are fine and they owe you no Monet

Your insurance company uses Impressionist paintings instead of cash?

Water

[Etherwalk]

It can, however, be used to go over a community and note which houses have water sitting on the roof...