After a catastrophe hits, mobile units filled with adjusters are on site to evaluate property damage. Flash forward five years and an insured may never meet the property adjuster handling his or her claim. Instead, a drone is sent to evaluate damage within hours of it occurring. Claims are closed at breakneck speed as adjusters handle a much higher volume. Insurers see fewer workers’ compensation claims as adjusters remain safely ensconced in their cubicles.
While this scenario may seem too futuristic to imagine, according to industry experts it’s a very real possibility that insurers will be using drones in a number of ways within a few years.
Currently in the U.S., drones are used to enhance public safety, support agriculture, help the environment, monitor the climate and mitigate and monitor disasters. That’s according to the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), an industry group that has been lobbying the FAA to make changes to its regulations to free up air space for unmanned vehicles and allow for greater government and commercial uses of drones. Internationally, drones are used by several countries to assist in law enforcement and help monitor weather and disasters.
