Here’s another reason to hate drones.
Insurance companies across the country are now using drones to aerially monitor their customers’ homes and determine reasons to cancel their home insurance, The Wall Street Journal reported.
That’s what happened to Cindy Picos, who told the Journal that her insurer used a drone to take photos of the roof of her California home before deciding to drop it.
“I thought they had the wrong house,” Picos told the Journal. “Our roof is in good condition.”
To prove it, she underwent an independent inspection that found her roof had 10 years of life expectancy left, the newspaper reported. His insurance company nevertheless confirmed its decision to cancel his plan, citing the aerial photos, which it refused to show him.
While it may seem dystopian, insurance companies have drones, manned aircraft and high-altitude balloons for aerial surveillance, providing almost complete coverage of the country, the Journal reported.
But the technology is imperfect. Businesses have abandoned customers due to outdated or distorted images. In one example cited by the Journal, a photo that initially appeared to show fallen tree branches was actually just shadows.
Despite the problems, technology is evolving rapidly. At that rate, properties could be monitored daily in high definition, the Journal reported.
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