Drone Advancements in Claims Investigations

Picture this: a homeowner files a claim for roof damage after a hurricane. Instead of waiting days for an adjuster to climb a ladder and manually document the damage, a drone can capture high-resolution aerial images in minutes. What once took hours of risky, time-consuming work can now be handled safely from the ground with measurements precise enough to reduce disputes and speed up payments. According to recent industry reporting, using drones for property inspections can cut inspection time by up to 50%. In claims investigations, drones are a practical tool reshaping how routine property claims are triaged, investigated, and settled.

Value of Drones in Claims Investigations

In claims investigations, drones allow adjusters and claims teams to get fast, consistent, timestamped views of damage without sending anyone up ladders or into unsafe conditions. That capability is valuable for homeowner claims, commercial property, wildfire damage, disaster zones, you name it. In all of those contexts, speed, safety, and objective evidence directly influence cycle time, cost of resolution, and customer satisfaction.

Practical benefits include:

• Faster inspections: aerial imagery and orthomosaics captured in minutes rather than days.
• Safer operations: fewer boots on wet, unstable, or damaged structures.
• Stronger evidence: geotagged, timestamped photos and 3D models that support estimates and dispute resolution.
• Better fraud signals: aerial views make it easier to validate timelines, map damage extent, and spot inconsistencies between claim narratives and visual data.

Many carriers and vendors report meaningful improvements from their drone programs, including lower loss adjustment expense, better adjuster productivity, and shorter turnaround for underwriting and claims. In an Amazon Web Services case study, insurers saw about a 30% reduction in loss adjustment expense and a 40% faster underwriting inspection turnaround.

Regulatory Changes

Most insurance drone programs today operate under FAA Part 107, the rule that opened the door for routine commercial drone use. But Part 107 has some limits: drones must stay within the pilot’s line of sight, and for years they couldn’t legally fly at night or over people without special permission. The FAA eased some of those rules in 2021, making it possible to fly at night or over people in certain situations, but line-of-sight restrictions and airspace limits still hold back large-scale use.

Now, the regulatory landscape is shifting. The FAA and U.S. Department of Transportation are working to normalize Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, which is the capability that allows drones to fly farther than the pilot can see. This is often referred to as the upcoming Part 108 framework. In 2025, the FAA even released a draft rule to set up a clear system for BVLOS approvals.

The growth is already visible. According to a June 2025 Department of Transportation Officer Inspector General audit, BVLOS approvals surged from 1,229 in 2020 to 26,870 in 2023, a more than 20-fold increase. The audit also highlighted thousands of real-world BVLOS flights under FAA’s BEYOND program and the Partnerships for Safety Plan.

For insurers, this regulatory evolution matters because it directly changes the scale and speed of claims operations:

• Scale: Insurers could eventually run aerial surveys across entire neighborhoods, not just single properties.
• Speed: After a storm, routable BVLOS flights could map out damage in hours, giving adjusters a head start on triage.
• Vendor use: With more predictable rules, carriers can better integrate drone imagery into their claims systems and streamline vendor partnerships.

It’s not perfect yet. Many BVLOS flights still need human spotters on the ground, and some programs are behind on performance goals. But the direction is clear: the FAA is building a pathway for routine BVLOS operations, and once that’s in place, the way insurers use drones will look very different.

Expanded Applications in Claims Investigations

As FAA rules evolve and technology advances, the role of drones in the insurance industry and claims investigations is expanding dramatically. Two drivers are making this possible: BVLOS operations under the FAA’s proposed Part 108 framework, and the rise of AI-powered analytics that make imagery smarter and more actionable.

BVLOS makes the following applications possible:

• Catastrophe mapping at scale: Instead of dispatching dozens of local pilots, insurers could send drones on routable BVLOS flights to map entire neighborhoods in hours after a storm or wildfire. That means faster triage, quicker payments, and less time wasted on inaccessible sites.
• Regional risk monitoring: Carriers could survey large portfolios of properties across counties or states to flag roof deterioration, vegetation overgrowth, or other hazards before they become claims.
• Systematic underwriting surveys: BVLOS makes it practical to inspect hundreds or thousands of properties on a recurring basis, turning underwriting inspections into a scalable, repeatable process rather than a one-off expense.

AI and analytics add:

• Automated triage: AI tools can scan drone images to classify damage as high, medium, or low severity, letting adjusters focus on the cases that matter most.
• Fraud detection at scale: Analytics can compare new drone imagery against historical photos, weather records, or claims data to spot inconsistencies that suggest staged or exaggerated damage. This can help insurers protect both their bottom line and policyholders.
• Predictive risk insights: By combining aerial images with machine learning, insurers can detect trends like roof wear, encroaching vegetation, or solar panel defects, insights that support smarter renewals and risk engineering.
• Better SIU targeting: Instead of chasing every suspicious claim, SIU can use AI-flagged anomalies to focus resources on the cases most likely to involve fraud.

We’re entering an era where drones don’t just take pictures, they deliver actionable insights that reshape how insurers handle claims, underwriting, and fraud.

Drones are already reshaping claims investigations through delivering faster inspections, safer operations, and clearer evidence for both estimates and SIU investigations. The next wave, powered by routine BVLOS flights and smarter analytics, will make aerial data scalable and fully embedded in national claims operations.

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Check out our sources:

Amazon Web Services. “Bees360’s Drone-Assisted Property Inspection Solution on AWS Helps Insurers Save 30% on Loss Adjustment Expenses.” Amazon Web Services, May 2023, https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/bees360-case-study/.

U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General. FAA Has Made Progress in Advancing BVLOS Drone Operations but Can Do More To Achieve Program Goals and Improve Data Analysis. Report No. AV-2025034, 30 June 2025, https://www.oig.dot.gov/sites/default/files/library-items/FAA%20BVLOS%20Drone%20Operations%20Final%20Report_6.30.2025.pdf.