Brit uses aerial imagery to accelerate Hurricane Ian claims payments

Brit has used proprietary machine-learning algorithms in combination with high-resolution aerial imagery to accelerate the accurate identification of property damage in the wake of Hurricane Ian. As a result, Brit has successfully issued claims payments directly to insureds within days of the storm.

Using its algorithms and aerial imagery, Brit was able to make its earliest claim payment in response to Ian on Friday. This represents a life cycle of natural catastrophe impact to payment to settlement of about one week, while many traditional adjusters are facing challenges in gaining on-the-ground access due to flooding and other emergency conditions, Brit said.

“This shows that virtual claims adjusting in real-time is a reality for the London market,” said Sheel Sawhney, group head of claims and operations at Brit. “By bringing together the industry’s premier geospatial imagery, our own machine learning capabilities and market-leading payment technology, we have been able to make payments to our customers only a week after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida.”

Brit has worked with the Geospatial Insurance Consortium (GIC) since April 2019. GIC is a nonprofit organization that captures post-event aerial imagery for first responders and insurance companies. Using GIC images and Brit’s machine-learning algorithm, the company’s claims team has a virtual claims adjusting platform that can expedite payments in locations that can’t be immediately serviced by field adjusters in the initial aftermath of a catastrophe.

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“At Brit, we continue to advance the way we manage claims and are committed to paying our end clients faster,” said Mike Barry, head of global property claims at Brit. “This includes investment and innovation in virtual claims adjusting as well as a complete transformation of our loss funding and payments technology. Catastrophes are a high-urgency, high-visibility event for the market, and our focus is always on helping dislocated families and businesses that are impacted.”

Brit is also pursuing Hurricane Ian claims payments that would utilize the Future of Lloyd’s Faster Claims Payments (FCP) service. FCP allows delegated claims administrators to make payments on request, drawing down on Lloyd’s managing agents’ funds directly.