Coverage Takes Flight: Insurers Launch Programs To Use Drones In Claims Handling And Underwriting

Insurers have taken to the skies!  Unmanned aircraft systems, or drones, are, in the estimation of the Federal Aviation Administration, "the most dynamic growth sector within the aviation industry"—and insurers are in on the action, with some of them recently having taken steps to use drones in their business operations.

In the past month, at least four insurers—AIG, USAA, Erie Insurance Group, and ADM Crop Risk Services—have obtained approval from the FAA to operate drones to assist in their claims, risk assessment and underwriting practices, and for research and development into future deployment of the remotely controlled craft. State Farm also won such approval earlier this year.