Eyes in the Skies: How Insurers Are Using Airborne Tech to Inspect Your Home

Your homeowners insurance company may have inspected your roof recently, even if no one knocked on your door.

​Insurers across the country are using drones, aerial photos, satellite images, and artificial intelligence (AI) to check homes before issuing or renewing policies. This means old tools like ladders, tape measures, and Polaroid cameras are becoming less common. Remote technology can spot aging roofs, overhanging tree limbs, debris, chimney issues, and other risks.

Homeowners often don’t know their insurer inspected their property until they receive a letter requesting repairs or warning that the insurer won’t renew the policy.

​As this trend grows, regulators are starting to pay attention. Last year, Massachusetts told insurers that aerial images alone shouldn’t decide if a homeowner keeps coverage. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is also looking into how insurers use artificial intelligence in underwriting.

“This catches people off guard all the time. I see it in my agency every week,” John Espenschied, owner of Insurance Brokers Group in Missouri, told Insurify.

A new way of inspecting homes

Remote property inspections have grown quickly with insurers seeking faster, cheaper ways to assess risk, especially as disasters and repair costs rise. Remote reviews are now a regular part of underwriting in many cases.

“The inspection has quietly gone from a person with a clipboard visiting your property to constant, passive surveillance you never see,” said Marcus Williams, a financial analyst and personal finance writer at BanksMobile, told Insurify.

Williams added that insurers can now evaluate virtually every roof in the country using aerial imagery and AI-driven analysis. Insurers can make underwriting decisions “without anyone setting foot on the lot.”

The NAIC says about 70% of home insurers are using, developing, or testing AI and machine learning for underwriting and property inspections. State Farm was the first insurer to receive Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval to test drones commercially in 2015.

That said, a State Farm spokesman said it doesn’t use drones to photograph or record customers’ homes. But it does employ third-party aerial imagery from manned aircraft and satellites to help understand property conditions and assess risk.

“Aerial imagery is just one of several tools used in the evaluation process; it provides supplemental information, does not replace a full and thorough review of the property, and underwriting decisions are never based solely on this imagery alone,” State Farm said in a statement to Insurify. “In limited circumstances, aerial imagery can be used to start the claims process for customers.”

Travelers, a major home insurance company, employs more than 700 drone operators. They have used a special tool to map nearly the entire country using high-definition photos, which they compare with images taken after natural disasters.

Why homeowners are surprised

Homeowners frequently don’t discover their insurer inspected their home from above until weeks later. This delay often makes the procedure seem surprising.

“Yes, carriers are using drones, satellite photos, and AI to look at homes without stepping foot on the property,” Espenschied said. “They are mainly looking for roof condition, debris, tree limbs, and general upkeep. The problem is homeowners often have no idea it even happened until they get a letter saying, ‘Fix this, or we cancel.’”

Williams said that’s consistent with what he’s seeing nationally.

“The homeowner’s first clue is usually a letter demanding a new roof, tree trimming, or debris removal within 30 to 60 days, or announcing non-renewal outright,” he said.

Massachusetts regulators say insurers have the right to use aerial imagery when underwriting homes. But in guidance issued this spring, the state’s Division of Insurance cautioned that cosmetic roof conditions visible from aerial photographs shouldn’t, by themselves, be grounds for canceling, declining, or non-renewing coverage.

The division also said insurers should conduct additional underwriting review — including a physical inspection when appropriate — if aerial images don’t clearly establish a property’s condition.

Public advocates concede the aerial inspections are legal but believe consumers are entitled to some accountability.

“Obviously because of the negative impacts that can occur based on those images, it is important that there be legal protections for insurance applicants or policyholders who can be adversely affected,” said Joel Laucher, preparedness advocate with United Policyholders, a nonprofit California consumer advocate.

United Policyholders supported a failed national initiative that the National Coalition of Insurance Legislators was considering to regulate aerial inspections. Laucher said he’s encouraged that states will individually pick up the measure.

“There is not an initiative to prohibit the photos,” he said. “Just to govern their usage so as to achieve objective, fair results and to give the insured the opportunity to correct any issues if warranted and possible.”

Helpful — but not perfect

Experts say remote inspections have made underwriting more efficient, especially after severe weather when insurers must check many properties. Still, they believe these tools work best when used with other review methods.

“I find these tools to be useful in the sense that they can help insurers determine which property needs additional review, but they’re not perfect,” said Alex Adekola, founder and CEO of ReadyAdjuster. “You still need humans to do an additional walkthrough because an overhead image of a roof could definitely show signs that it’s aging, but you can’t always distinguish if that is cosmetic wear or the type of damage that will affect the homeowner’s insurability.”​

What homeowners can do: Challenging an insurer’s findings

Policyholder attorney K.C. Williams III said homeowners shouldn’t assume an insurer’s conclusions are always correct just because it used advanced technology.

“The concern is whether the information they are relying on is accurate, current, and complete,” Williams said. “Many homeowners don’t even realize their property has been reviewed until a letter arrives requiring thousands of dollars in repairs or warning that their policy won’t be renewed.”

If homeowners don’t agree with an insurer’s assessment, Williams suggested asking for the photos and reports the company used. Homeowners can then compare these with current photos or an independent inspection to better challenge the findings.

“Homeowners shouldn’t assume the insurer’s conclusions are correct simply because the information came from sophisticated technology,” he said. “Ask for the photographs, reports, and other information the company relied on.”

What’s next: Don’t ignore the letter

Espenschied said one of the biggest mistakes homeowners make is waiting too long to respond.

“Don’t ignore those letters,” he said. “You usually have a short window to fix the issue and send proof.”​

He also recommends working through an independent insurance agent whenever possible.

“We can send updated photos, explain the situation, and sometimes buy you more time,” he said. “Going solo makes it harder.”

In one recent case, Espenschied said an insurer flagged a client’s home for roof damage after an aerial inspection.

“In reality, it was just shadows from trees,” he said. “We sent new photos and got the cancellation pulled back. Without that push, he likely would have lost coverage.”

As remote inspections become even more common, experts caution that an insurer’s first assessment isn’t always final, and that homeowners should pay attention to the process and respond if necessary.

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