Insurers Use Satellite Imagery To Set Coverage

Satellite Today has learned that an insurance company in California is using satellite imagery to determine whether to renew coverage to certain clients in high-fire-risk areas who may need to file claims following any wildfire activity. In one particular instance, the insured party was told their policy would not be renewed based on satellite images showing their house to be too close to brush.

This could be an interesting issue to watch. For the satellite-imaging business, insurance companies could prove to be a fertile market, especially in areas of high wildfire risk and other locales that face regular threats of recurring natural disasters. On the other hand, this could raise the ire of the insured as well as consumer advocates with questions of whether the images are used without any real investigation by the insurance companies to see if there are any other mitigating factors other than proximity that would lessen the risk.