Insurtech startup releases commercial drone package for property insurance inspections and claims

Insurtech startup Betterview, a service provider for capturing and analyzing data from drones, has announced a commercial drone inspection package for insurers.

Betterview has launched a pre-assembled commercial drone inspection package for insurers. Credit: Betterview.

The pre-assembled package, which is available in Canada, includes a DJI drone, software and training to “provide and out-of-the-box solution to capture, organizes and analyze imagery of buildings and properties,” Betterview said in a press release earlier this week. “Betterview’s goal with its inspection package is to make it easier for insurers, inspection and claims adjusting companies to adopt drone technology.”

“The launch of Betterview’s drone inspection package for insurance was driven by market demand,” reported Dave Tobias, chief operating officer and co-founder of Betterview. “Over the last year as the use cases of our software expanded within insurance, our clients started asking us more and more about providing a hardware and software solution. With our new insurance inspection kit, we’ll be with you every step of the way, whether you need help onboarding staff, assistance with drone hardware or have questions about report output,” explained Tobias.

Among other items, the insurance inspection kit provides a choice of drones from drone manufacturer DJI as well as: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Part 107 certification training (for small unmanned aircraft); a tablet and drone service kit; software for workflow and data management; artificial intelligence image analysis and professional reporting tools; and 3D maps, measurements and digital surface models.

In addition, Betterview will also quickly ship replacement equipment if there is ever a problem, the startup reported. “This service removes the complication of figuring out what to do if something breaks and needs service and also ensures that inspectors, risk engineers and claims adjustors can get back to work with little to no delay,” the release said, adding that the model “makes upgrading to the latest hardware a seamless experience” so that Betterview’s customers no longer have to worry about being left behind when a “new, better” drone hits the market.

“We are extremely pleased to have announced the release of Betterview’s insurance inspection kit,” said David Lyman, CEO and co-founder of Betterview, in the release. “The combination of our services, full stack software solution, and hardware from DJI will eliminate the need to deal with multiple vendors, and more importantly, make it easier to implement drone technology.”

As the recent hurricanes that affected Texas and Florida have shown, “one of the biggest benefits of drones is their ability to expedite the claims process and help claimants get their lives back to normal,” Lyman continued. “With our insurance inspection package, we’ll immediately take care of getting FAA clearance or obtaining waivers to fly in controlled airspace when a catastrophe occurs. For example, the hurricanes in Texas and Florida caused a significant amount of damage to properties in controlled airspace by airports. Our staff was able to get FAA clearances, usually within 24 hours, allowing our clients to capture real-time, high-resolution imagery for analysis and claims resolution,” Lyman concluded.

Founded in late 2014, Betterview is a software platform and service provider for capturing and analyzing data from drones. Betterview, with its network of more than 4,500 drone operators worldwide, has inspected more than 9,000 properties for over 90 insurance customers. Betterview streamlines the inspection process by using drones and software to capture a comprehensive set of aerial building imagery, data and expert analysis.