An angry Florida resident has revealed how home insurers “spied” on him twice and raised his premium or reduced his coverage.
Despite living near hurricane-prone Daytona Beach, Mike Arman hadn’t filed a homeowners insurance claim in 52 years.
So he was surprised when, two years ago, his company told him it didn’t want to renew his policy and then canceled his coverage, claiming there were problems with his roof.
Arman, the city of Oak Hill’s economic development director, found replacement coverage, but then the price skyrocketed, he said.
In both cases, the insurers had taken aerial photographs of their roof and used them to change the coverage.
This comes amid growing reports of insurance companies “spying” on customers with drones, causing homeowners to lose coverage unaware that their properties are being watched from above.
Insurance companies using drones is a growing tactic in the industry
According to Arman’s broker, the first insurer had taken a satellite image of his roof and decided that it “looked damaged.” Real estate agent.com reported.
“The photo looked like it was taken in 1936,” Arman told the outlet, despite the roof being only six years old of its typical 20- to 30-year lifespan.
When she asked for someone from the insurance company to come and look at the roof in person, she was told that a home visit was not an option.
This was despite the head office being located just three miles away, Arman told DailyMail.com.
Three months later, Arman’s policy was cancelled, even though he had provided proof of the roof’s age.
“At one point, I submitted photos from Google Earth showing roofers replacing the roof,” Arman told DailyMail.com.
“Their response was that their satellites were better than Google’s.”
She found a replacement policy with Citizens, a state insurer of last resort, and hired a home inspector who said her roof was in good condition.
But when it came time to renew his policy, Arman learned that Citizens had also taken photos of the roof.
“The citizens did not use a satellite, but a drone,” he explained. “And the photographs were taken from very high up, not even close to the roof.”
Arman, who is a pilot, said he estimated the photos were taken from at least 400 feet up.
He said the company required a $250 inspection and eventually renewed his policy, but with a 25 percent price increase.
Mike Arman revealed how home insurers “spied” on him twice and raised his premium or reduced his coverage
Despite living near hurricane-prone Daytona Beach, Mike Arman had not filed a homeowners insurance claim in 52 years.
“Policy holders in Florida have no protection from predatory, arbitrary or capricious decisions by insurance companies,” Arman told DailyMail.com.
“Part of the problem is that insurance companies don’t know much about homes or how they’re built. They rate homes primarily on their location, not on how well they’re built or what materials they’re made of.”
They also don’t seem to take into account historical losses, he said, beyond denying people have ever experienced a loss of any kind.
And Arman is not alone. Insurers are increasingly using satellite images and drones to monitor homes.
A California woman claimed last month that her home insurance company spied on her with drones while she was doing renovations and then used the footage of the “mess” to cut her coverage.
Joan Van Kuren said she was stunned when CSAA, her insurer for nearly 40 years, made the drastic decision to drop her as a client because of the “dangerous” construction mess they found in her yard.
The Modesto, California, resident had been renovating her home for more than three years, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to remodel her kitchen, bathrooms and entryway, she said. CBS News.
But she said that once most of the work was completed, CSAA sent her a letter citing “hazards” and unsanitary conditions on her property that were a liability.
“(The company) said they flew a drone over the house,” he said. “It almost seems like someone is looking out the window, you know, when they tell you they flew a drone over your house and watched it.”
California homeowner Joan Van Kuren said she was stunned when her home insurance was canceled after the insurer took aerial images of her home without her knowledge.
Van Kuren said she was shocked by the insurance company flying overhead, saying it “almost feels like someone is looking out the window.”
CBS News said that after contacting CSAA, the company said it does not fly drones specifically, but does use aerial imagery captured by satellites and third-party fixed-wing aircraft.
Cindy Picos, of Auburn, California, also said CSAA Insurance dropped her after obtaining aerial photos of her roof.
Nichole Brink, a former Farmers Insurance agent who resigned from the company in protest of its surveillance policies, said The Wall Street Journal In April, the insurer was turning away clients over aerial images that were two or three years old.
She claimed the agency was sending out non-renewal notices for everything from trampolines to moss on the side of a house.
“It’s like they’re using anything as an excuse to get people off their records,” Brink told the outlet.
Some argue that the insurance industry needs better regulation to control the level of surveillance that companies can carry out.
“Insurance regulations need to be updated,” Albert Fox Cahn, founder of the privacy think tank Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told Realtor.com.
“State legislation has not caught up with technology.”
Experts said homeowners have certain rights if their homes are inspected by drones, including the right to request that the images taken be scanned for errors or misunderstandings.
Auburn, California, resident Cindy Picos said her home insurer, CSAA Insurance, dropped her after obtaining aerial photos of her roof.
Nichole Brink, a former Farmers Insurance agent, has resigned from the company in protest over its surveillance policies.
Cahn advises Americans to fight back if they face non-renewal of their insurance by their insurer due to aerial surveillance footage.
He asks to see aerial photographs, demands to know exactly what the problem is and requests an opportunity to remedy it, he said.
Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute, a research group funded by insurance companies, disagrees that aerial surveillance constitutes “spying.”
He told Realtor.com: “It’s a much less intrusive way to inspect your home than sending a person out to your property.”
Aerial photography is more accurate and safer than human inspection, he said.
He stressed that most insurers will inform customers what day the monitoring is scheduled and give them the opportunity to remedy problems and appeal non-renewals.
“Talk to your insurance agent,” he added. “Tell them, ‘I understand my insurance company might be doing an aerial inspection. What can I do to avoid problems and what are they looking for?'”
‘Be proactive. Don’t wait for a letter telling you your policy won’t be renewed.’
