Fury as home insurance companies cancel coverage after secretly taking pictures of owners’ properties using drones, high altitude balloons and even manned airplanes
Insurance companies have been accused of canceling coverage after surreptitiously capturing images of homeowners’ properties using drones, high-altitude balloons and even manned aircraft.
Cindy Picos, a resident of Auburn, California, said she was dropped by her home insurer, CSAA Insurance, after they obtained aerial photos of her roof, as reported by WJ.
She was even denied access to view the photos, saying in frustration, “I thought they had the wrong house.” Our roof is in great condition.”
Her experience echoed the feelings and anger of other homeowners, including Marilyn Smith and CJ Sveen, whose policies were rejected after the insurance company monitored their homes via drones.
It is not uncommon for insurance companies to use technology such as drone surveillance and high-altitude balloons to detect risks, sometimes without the owner’s knowledge.
Insurance companies have been accused of canceling coverage after surreptitiously capturing images of homeowners’ properties using drones, high-altitude balloons and even manned aircraft.
Cindy Picos, a resident of Auburn, California, said she was dropped by her home insurer, CSAA Insurance, after they obtained aerial photos of her roof
Her experience echoed the feelings and anger of other homeowners, including Marilyn Smith and CJ Sveen, whose policies were rejected after the insurance company monitored their homes via drones.
Geospatial Insurance Consortium, a company that provides aerial imagery and geospatial information to insurers, says its aircraft imagery program covers 99 percent of the U.S. population.
“Across the country, we have seen a dramatic increase in reports of consumers being dropped by their insurers based on an aerial photo,” said Amy Bach, executive director of consumer group United Policyholders.
In Picos’ case, CSAA claimed its roof had reached its end of life, but an independent inspection found it had at least another decade of life left, she said.
The insurer refused to reconsider their decision and Picos was never given the opportunity to view the images.
A spokesperson for CSAA said the company has updated its policy to allow homeowners to view images upon request. DailyMail.com has contacted the company for more information.
Other Californians’ policies were canceled under similar circumstances. For example, Smith and her husband drained their pool after their grandchildren grew up and said they were no longer using it.
In response, AAA Homeowners Insurance said they noticed “deferred maintenance” on the pool and were unable to renew their insurance.
It is not uncommon for insurance companies to use technology such as drone surveillance and high-altitude balloons to detect risks, sometimes without the owner’s knowledge
Other Californians’ policies were canceled under similar circumstances. For example, Smith and her husband drained their pool after their grandchildren grew up and said they were no longer using it
Smith said she spoke with officers after receiving the shocking notice of non-renewal, who told her the denial was clearly related to the pool in her backyard in Oakley.
“She just flat out said because the pool was empty,” Smith said. ‘I don’t understand what their problem is. Because you empty a swimming pool and save water.’
Another resident Sveen said his insurance had not been renewed due to ‘clutter’ in his front garden. and a fourth homeowner was told his roof had “exceeded its normal lifespan.”
“Apparently they have some photos and noticed some clutter,” Sveen said. ‘I find that insulting. How dare you judge me for my stuff!’
Sveen uses his yard as a workshop and said AAA denied his request when he asked to see the photos or videos they had taken.
“There was no chance to mitigate the situation, clean it up or do anything, you were just fired,” he said.
The rejections come just months after State Farm and Allstate announced they would not write new policies in California due to wildfire concerns.
Some companies have been accused of using aerial images to clear out customers they don’t want, the WSJ reported.
Sveen, who lives in Oakley, California, was told they would not renew his policy because they took photos and videos showing debris in his yard.
Sveen uses his yard as a workshop and said AAA denied his request when he asked to see the photos or videos they had taken
Nichole Brink, who left her job as an agent with Farmers Insurance, said: “It’s like they’re using anything as an excuse to get people off their books.”
Others with insurance brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher said their firms have seen “an unprecedented level” of non-renewals.
DailyMail.com has contacted both companies for more information.
“The technology is way ahead of any consumer protections,” said Douglas Heller, director of insurance at the Consumer Federation of America.
“Part of the industry’s strategy is to avoid any situation where consumers can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to this type of spyware approach to underwriting and assessment,” Heller said.
Neil Pearson, a consultant who works with imaging companies, said the use of aerial imagery will only become more detailed and frequent.
‘It could be interesting from a privacy point of view because… a building can be monitored daily at high resolution. It’s a bit Orwellian.’