Insurance Claims Adjusters Benefit from Property Line Overlays and Aerial Images

Recent natural disasters, hurricanes and wildfires for example, have created wide areas of devastation and an abundance of insurance claims. In 2017 The National Flood Insurance Program experienced the second highest amount of claims in its 40-year history with over $10 billion in claims. During the same time-frame California’s wildfires set a record $12.6 billion in insurance claims after experiencing four of the state’s twenty worst wildfires in history – all in the same year.  Meanwhile, some critics say global climate change will continue to generate more extreme weather, worsening insurance claims.  

Processing Insurance Claims After a Disaster 

So how do insurance claims professionals take inventory of these claims after such catastrophic disasters occur? How do insurance claims professionals process hundreds of thousands of insurance claims at once when the properties they insure are burned down, under water or otherwise unrecognizable? And when street signs and landmarks are missing or unrecognizable are claims adjusters wandering around cities, struggling to identify property parcels, to confirm property losses? 

GIS  Tools Help Provide Aerial Images, Property Lines and Property Data to Insurance Claims Adjusters 

Property data, imaging and technology that were not available just a few years ago have become instrumental in developing efficiencies in how insurance companies respond to catastrophes. Using aerial images provided immediately after a disaster strikes, combined with a property boundary overlay, insurance companies can determine which of their customers have been affected and apply resources accordingly. In addition, GIS technology delivers property lines and parcel data and when combined with GPS technology in mobile phones, can guide claims adjusters to the correct property when typical street signs, landmarks and structures are missing. Using the parcel data on our LandGlide® application, the property address and claims adjuster’s location can be confirmed with owner’s name and mailing address, by coordinates on the phone. 

When insurance companies utilize the suite of new technologies available, before adjusters even arrive at a property to assess the damage, claims experts can process claims checks using before-and-after images from aerial photos and pictures uploaded by customers. Although insurance is a product everyone hopes they never need, by using the latest digital tools, insurance companies can help customers get their lives back on track sooner. 

For more information about how our property lines and national parcel database can help professionals in the insurance industry visit our solutions page on the ReportAll website or the insurance industry page.