What is the minimum drone imagery collection requirements for both residential and commercial building to be used for claims and underwriting processes?
A typical UAS imagery mission will require 30 - 50 separate images.
Imagery should cover the structure’s entire roof in a manner that provides clear and convincing evidence of the roof’s state of repair, including, but not limited to, evidence of damage, or lack of damage, to roof materials, fixtures, equipment, etc.
Just like an Adjuster on the ground, there should be imagery of the address, front, right, back, and left sides of the structure and any appurtenant structures.
Imagery should include at least one high level view of the entire property/structure looking straight down or nadir.
There should be oblique / Birdseye views of the roof structure flown in a circular pattern around the house.
A high-resolution grid pattern or lawn mower pattern need to be flown over the structure.
If the UAS is flown manually, the pilot needs to take the time to get all the needed photos and when possible as many up-close photos as needed.
Underwriting departments primarily utilize Images to conduct risk reviews as they relate to extending coverages, specific to:
Verify roof shape and roof covering
Measure story heights and the approximate square footage of a building
Identify additional features on structures that are not as easily identifiable through other sources, such as air conditioning units, skylights, roll-up doors, and permanent storm shutters.
Claims departments primarily use drone imagery to appropriately assess damages and identify the number of impacted policies following a catastrophe to determine the number of staff and/or resources (i.e. adjusters) needed to handle the level of loss.
What additional imagery do you collect for insurance companies? Please answer in the comments.