“We have been waiting for the release of drone capabilities in helping with claim handling,” says Will Hallmark, State Farm agent in Fairfield, Texas. “I feel that it is going to allow us to get a more in depth visual of the damages during certain types of weather related losses.”
State Farm has been granted the first national waiver to any company in the U.S. by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The national waiver allows State Farm to conduct drone operations over people (OOP) and flights beyond the pilot’s visual line of sight (BVLOS) through November 2022. Previous waivers State Farm was granted were limited to a short time frame and to specific geographic areas impacted by hurricanes.
Hallmark also sees the potential for speeding up claims handling in certain situations, such as major wildfire, flood and other disaster type situations where claims associates are not able to access damages to properties. “I think it will be a win/win for policy holders in situations like hurricanes or other major catastrophe situations.”
Making drone technology has been a team effort, according the State Farm Senior Vice President for P&C Claims Robert Yi. “The waiver will provide our claims specialists with another way to efficiently help customers. We can use drones to assess on-the-ground damage and deploy resources. This is a huge win for our customers and demonstrates we’re recognized as a leader in drone technology.”
Current FAA regulations restrict pilots from flying drones beyond their visual line of sight and over groups of people. In a catastrophe situation, access to the impacted area may be challenged by water, debris and damage to infrastructure. The national waiver will also open up new innovation opportunities for State Farm by allowing longer-distance flights.
“There are many possibilities for the use of drones but FAA regulators need to be assured that operations can be conducted safely” said Mark Blanks, Director for the Mid-Atlantic Aviation Partnership (MAAP) at Virginia Tech. “State Farm had a compelling proposal for how drones could improve their customer experience and an unwavering commitment to safety. MAAP had the operational expertise and the research experience to help them navigate the approval process and collect supporting data. This success shows how powerful it can be when industry and academia collaborate to break new ground.”
Local agent Hallmark is proud of this achievement. “State Farm is constantly looking for ways to improve the claims process to make things easier on our policy holders,” he says.
About State Farm:
The mission of State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm and its affiliates are the largest providers of auto and home insurance in the United States. Its nearly 19,000 agents and approximately 65,000 employees serve approximately 83 million policies and accounts – approximately 81 million auto, fire, life, health and commercial policies and approximately 2 million bank accounts. For more information, please visit http://www.statefarm.com
