Aerial drones can help insurers ‘meet customer expectations quickly,’ SMA reports

An insurance consulting firm is predicting an increased “momentum” in the use by insurers of unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, while some insurance carriers are also testing driverless cars in order to determine how the technology will redefine risk.

Boston-based Strategy Meets Action (SMA) recently released a report titled Emerging Technologies: Reshaping the Next-Gen Insurer. The report is based on a study of nine technology areas, with participation from 88 insurance companies and 20 companies outside the industry.

“Nearly 51% of insurers plan on investing in drones/aerial imagery over the next three years which seems high given that only 8% are developing strategies for use of this technology,” wrote Denise Garth, partner and chief digital officer at SMA, in the report.

“The use of drones and aerial imagery can assess a property, particularly a roof, during the underwriting process, providing relevant information to assess the risk,” Garth wrote. “In addition, it provides a picture of the property prior to any loss, helping to avoid fraudulent claims.”

After a catastrophe, aerial imagery and drones “can identify and evaluate larger numbers of damaged properties more rapidly and safely, helping to close claims promptly and meet customer expectations quickly,” according to the report.

“As drone and aerial imagery usage begins to emerge in the marketplace and customers begin to see the value, the momentum for drone use will build across many businesses, including insurance,” Garth noted.

Other technologies included in the report were 3D printing, wearable devices, gamification, artificial intelligence, semantic technologies and the “Internet of Things,” which “is defined as a network of trillions of physical things with embedded technologies that communicate or sense the internal or external environments of that physical thing, including people and animals.”

SMA also studied insurers’ involvement with driverless cars.

“Some insurers are testing and working with driverless vehicles and getting first-hand experience and insights on how risk will be redefined, reassessed, or potentially redirected to manufacturers,” Garth wrote. “Furthermore, this work is helping them outline the implications for today’s conventional auto insurance as well as the opportunities for tomorrow’s next generation of auto insurance as autos transition from today’s to cooperative and then to driverless/autonomous vehicles.”

With all of the technologies studied in the report, SMA recommends insurance carriers “quickly begin to develop strategies, experiment, and invest in these technologies today.”