How Kin uses aerial imagery

Insurance companies have always relied on information to help them figure out how much it costs to insure your property. That’s why insurance applications often ask about your home’s roof and foundation, as well as other features like its size and security systems. The more data they have, the more accurate your quote.

But our carrier partners gather even more data through aerial imagery. The information they receive from this technology not only makes it easier for homeowners to get insured, it also makes the claims process faster – especially after a major disaster.

Aerial imagery makes it easier to get insurance

Getting home insurance can be difficult, especially for people in catastrophe-prone states. Just ask homeowners in places like Florida, where premiums seem to always be going up. The problems Florida has seen appear to be happening in other states, too.

Our commitment to helping homeowners in these areas led us to carriers with data-collecting solutions beyond the common application questions used throughout the insurance industry. These carriers partner with an aerial imagery and geospatial data service provider. 

The imagery they get from our provider reveal important details about the homes people hope to insure that help clarify the homes’ risks. For example, our partner carriers can:

• See if the roof is missing shingles or otherwise looks in need of repairs.

• Determine if the home has any attractive nuisances, like trampolines or swimming pools.

• Measure the roof’s pitch.

Capturing this level of information to decide if a home meets their underwriting criteria means the carriers have a better understanding of just what kind of risk the home presents. The result? The carriers can often say yes to homes when other insurers can’t.

Using aerial imagery to handle claims faster

Claim handling is where home insurance companies really prove their worth. Aerial imagery is how our carrier partners make sure policyholders are quickly taken care of when they need help the most. 

Our response to Hurricane Ida is a good example. During that storm, the aerial imagery our carrier partners shared with us allows us to send wellness check text messages to our customers after the storm passed. Once customers responded to the wellness check, the carriers were able to quickly review damage and get the claims process started.

Since Ida, we’ve worked with our partners to refine the process so that we were able to support more than 50% of total claimants within the first 5 days of Hurricane Ian recovery, many of whom were able to file their first notice of loss via text.