Allstate rolls out state-of-the-art hail mobile centre to assist Colorado auto customers

Allstate Insurance announced last week that it is employing its new mobile drive-in inspection centre to respond to auto customers hit hard by the hailstorm earlier this month in the Denver area.

The mobile assessment centre (MAC) is its latest tool in catastrophe response and will be employed by Allstate’s National Catastrophe Team to deal with the vehicle dents, dings and other damage left in the wake of early June’s hailstorm.

The giant, hail inspection centre on wheels is filled with high-tech cameras that scan the vehicle, identify hail damage, and use software to calculate the dent count and severity of hail damage with increased speed and accuracy, notes a statement last week from the company.

Vehicles are driven into the MAC hail unit and the damage is assessed in a matter of minutes. The system then compiles the information and provides a detailed report that is used by adjusters to complete a claim, the company notes.

MAC “is going to elevate the way we take care of customers following a disaster,” Mark McGillivray, senior vice president, Allstate Claims, suggests in the company statement. The tool “allows for an almost touchless process for evaluating damages, settling claims, and getting customers back on the road as quickly as possible,” McGillivray points out.

Related: Four events accounted for majority of estimated cat losses in April: Allstate

Allstate catastrophe personnel first tested the technology last year. The initial test following a hail event in South Carolina produced positive results showing accuracy in identifying and measuring vehicle hail damage.

U.S.-based Allstate Corporation reported in late May that four wind/hail weather events accounted for more than 90% of its estimated catastrophe losses for April. At that time, it estimated cat losses for the month were US$273 million, pretax (US$177 million after tax).

The Allstate brand’s network of small businesses offers auto, home, life and retirement products and services to customers in the United States and Canada.