Insurers are already using aerial imagery in underwriting, inspection, rating and catastrophe risk assessment. But before they go any further, they must also address transparency.
Mere disclosure of the use of this imagery isn't enough, experts say. Regulators will demand accountability, and policyholders may balk at both the privacy implications of a mile-high view and at the concern that aerial pictures are only surface-level.
State Farm, for example, uses fixed-wing aircraft technology to fly over affected areas to take pictures. The company emphasizes that it does not use drones to take photos or videos of customers' homes.
"Our claim associates will complete an inspection regardless of aerial imagery, and no denials are made based solely upon imagery," said Jeff Legner, vice president of property and casualty claims at State Farm.
Even though they do not replace inspectors, they provide value that customers appreciate, Legner said.
Street-level images "assess damage quickly, often before it's safe for customers to return home," Legner said. "This helps us gauge the size of the damage and respond faster, so we can support customers through what can be a stressful time. By combining these views with maps and other data, we're able to serve customers better from the start of their claim through its end."
Craig Isaacs, vice president of actuarial and underwriting modeling at State Farm, explained this technology is also being used in underwriting. These images can show the full property and its boundaries, roof condition and the exterior, other structures and nearby features that could impact risk.
"This helps us understand the property up-front so we can offer policies that better match price to risk," Isaacs shared. "As technology improves, aerial images are one of many tools that will help us understand risks even better and make applying for insurance and filing claims easier for customers."
Insurers must be clear about how imagery affects their decisions, according to Kumar Dhuvur, co-founder and chief product officer at ZestyAI.
"In most cases, aerial imagery falls under insurers' standard disclosures around third-party data used in underwriting and rating," Dhuvur said. "But the industry conversation has moved beyond disclosure alone, toward transparency, explainability, and regulatory accountability. That's where the bar is rising."
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is also looking at
Near Space Labs' co-founder and CEO, Rema Matevosyan, highlighted the importance of transparency both from a regulatory and customer perspective.
"We believe more transparency is a good thing for everyone. Not only does better data improve the bottom line for home insurers, it also means homeowners are receiving decisions made on real conditions, not on outdated assumptions that could lead to non-renewals or mispriced policies," Matevosyan shared. "The more policyholders understand that, the more trust gets built into the system."
