The future of home inspections is here and it’s in the hands of…the homeo
wner, according to leaders of two firms that have developed DIY systems now b
eing used by prospective insureds across the country for pre-policy property surveys.
“Do-it-yourself inspections are here!” said Craig Locante, head of survey
business for EXL Survey and Business Control, who spoke at the Insurance Inn
ovators USA conference in Nashville last week. “It’s not a matter of ‘if,’ but ‘How can I implement it?'”
EXL is one of the largest of several companies that now offer apps to facilitate computer or smartphone-based inspections. EXL has
teamed up with TruePic to produce software that is used by three of the top five pers
onal lines insurance companies in the United States to get homeowners involved, Locante said.
It works like this: The insurance carrier emails or text-messages the
policyholder with a link to the app. The property owner answers several questions in
a survey, then shoots photographs of the property, inside and out.
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The photos are verified by TruePic’s artificial intelligence softw
are, which can quickly determi
rom the internet or includ
e the neighbor’s house (which may have a newer roof, for example), explained Craig Stack, co-founder and president of TruePic.
Locante
“If it’s a picture of a picture, that can be detected,” Stack told the audienc
e. And AI can find location metadata to ensure the images were shot at the policyholder’s address.
And while some insureds may initially be reluctant to share photos of an existing water stain on a ceiling or a tree limb hanging over the house, Locante said most are happy to participate
in the process – especially when they hear that the DIY approach avoids some of the cost and all of the intrusion of a physical inspection by a home inspector.