Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) or drones are more and more being called into the insurance industry to natural and manmade disasters to evaluate the impact area, inspect assets, manage risk, and evaluate claims efficiently, accurately and most of all safely.
With such diverse and practical applications, it’s no wonder that some insurance industry leaders are eager to implement UAS programs. In order to get the program up and running quickly, some are opting to buy commercial-off-the-shelf UAS to do important tasks they are often not suited for. More importantly, many often overlook the most important component in a UAS, a well-trained pilot.
Members of the insurance industry are required to undertake continuing education in various subjects in order to maintain their state licenses. UAS pilot training should be of a similar professional quality well beyond FAA’s Part 107.
With the advent of UAS, thousands of companies have entered the marketplace hoping to sell their devices and/or services to commercial operators and companies. Thousands of individuals around the country are openly using UAS, with numerous others doing so discreetly. But who fosters the proper integration of UAS into these insurance organizations?
In some cases, that falls to commercial companies without any insurance industry background. Others end up having to utilize hobbyists turned entrepreneurs. Part 107 certification has lowered the barrier to entry for the technology and created tremendous opportunities, but receiving certification requires little more than passing a multiple choice only exam that's designed for a 16-year-old high school student. It falls well short of the standardized proficiency which the public expects from the men and women who we depend on.
After all, learning to fly figure 8's or an obstacle course around a park may teach you good maneuvering skills, but it doesn’t teach you how to evaluate the impact area of a disaster, inspect complex building facades or rooftops, and evaluate claims efficiently, accurately and safely.
No one wants to find out in the midst of a crisis that his or her UAS training has not prepared them for the situation at hand. To insure this never happens, when acquiring training for you or your company, look for a company that has practical training and experience in the insurance industry and UAS for the unique applications that you require like commercial and residential property, infrastructure and utilities, agriculture, automotive and more.
But most importantly ensure the company and the instructors have solid training and experience in the insurance industry and integrating UAS. A company that’s instructors actually have utilized drones for pre and post loss such as risk engineering, natural disaster monitoring, inspection, risk assessment, claims adjudication and fraud prevention.
