Pandemic put spotlight on virtual home inspections

Virtual home inspections, necessary during the pandemic, remain popular because of convenience.

When you buy home insurance, the amount of coverage you purchase should be the amount that it would cost to rebuild the home. Insurers have generally used home inspections to help determine home value. But since the pandemic hit, travel restrictions prevented on-site home visits.

Instead, insurers turned to virtual inspections – a convenient alternative to provide you with peace of mind that your home is properly insured.

Virtual inspections have changed the way a home inspection is completed. Rather than coordinating an on-site home visit with an inspector, you simply upload your home photos to an app on your smartphone that walks you through the process. The inspector reviews the photos provided, conducts supplemental research and completes an interview – if needed – to finalize the inspection report.

Virtual inspections offer the advantages of:

Safety
Ease of coordination
Security
Fast turn-around time
Attention from a high value home specialist, if needed
Expertise from loss prevention and replacement cost specialists

And because no travel is involved, the virtual inspection is more eco-friendly. Despite the challenges the pandemic presented, it also created new service opportunities, including virtual home inspections: a new way for companies to do business.

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Coverages described here are in the most general terms and are subject to actual policy conditions and exclusions. For actual coverage wording, conditions and exclusions, refer to the policy or contact your independent agent.