SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Nearmap, a global leader in location intelligence solutions, today announced the release of an inaugural report, The Next-Gen Risk Readiness Index: P&C Insurance. The report reveals the emerging risks property and casualty (P&C) insurers face, and how technology is helping them evolve risk management amid challenges like climate change, fraud, and inaccurate property assessments. To develop this report, Nearmap surveyed senior decision-makers at U.S. P&C insurance companies.
A majority of P&C insurers recognize the transformative potential of AI-derived insights from aerial imagery, particularly in the face of escalating climate change risks. AI-derived insights from aerial imagery are defined as capturing frequent high-resolution aerial images and using AI detections to provide detailed property assessments – with attributes such as roof condition or hail risk – ultimately enhancing the property risk information available to insurers.
Key findings from the survey include:
Climate Change Drives Demand for Innovative Risk Management
The report highlights the growing pressure on P&C insurers to adapt as risks increase. According to the survey, 69% of P&C professionals agree that severe weather is disrupting the industry, leading to increased claims and financial losses. Additionally, two-thirds (67%) of P&C insurers believe that technologies like AI-derived insights could significantly reduce the volume of fraudulent claims, further emphasizing the need for advanced risk assessment tools.
Plane-Based Imagery Maximizes Efficiency and Privacy
P&C insurers rely heavily on aerial imagery, with 90% of insurers using plane-based or drone-based options. However, there is a clear preference for plane-based imagery due to its ability to balance detailed property insights with customer privacy. While drone imagery raises privacy concerns for 59% of insurance professionals, they say plane-based imagery provides a less invasive approach. Despite the advantages of plane-based imagery, many insurers are missing out on its full potential by limiting its use to either claims or underwriting, rather than leveraging it across the entire policy lifecycle.
AI-Derived Insights: Insuring Once Uninsurable Properties
The report reveals a compelling opportunity for P&C insurers to leverage AI-derived insights, which provide the detailed property risk information necessary to expand coverage to new markets and to once uninsurable properties. Almost two-thirds (60%) of insurers agree that embracing AI-derived insights would allow them to insure homes and businesses in high-risk, once uninsurable areas, such as those prone to wildfires or flooding.
Bridging the Readiness Gap
Despite clear benefits of AI-derived insights, the report identifies a significant readiness and adoption gap. While 18% of P&C insurers are using AI-derived insights from aerial imagery, 36% are considering adopting, 33% had no plans to adopt it, and 12% are unsure at this time. However, this paradox presents a tremendous opportunity for insurers to understand the capabilities and ROI of this technology, helping them become more risk ready.
“Every state is now a CAT state, and every carrier is now a CAT carrier,” says Dave Tobias, General Manager, Insurance at Nearmap. “Looking ahead, our industry must accelerate its adoption of technology—not only to price more effectively, but to empower insureds as active partners in risk management. By embracing predictive insights and proactive solutions, we can shift from a reactive to a ‘predict and prevent’ mindset that benefits everyone.”
To download the full report and learn more about how Nearmap is empowering the future of P&C insurance, visit: https://nearmap.com/go/the-next-gen-risk-readiness-index-p-c-insurance.
About Nearmap
Nearmap is the location intelligence provider that professionals rely on for consistent, reliable, high-resolution imagery, insights, and answers to create meaningful change in the world.
The Betterview and ImpactResponse platforms by Nearmap are integrated technology solutions built for insurers applying proprietary AI and computer vision to high-resolution aerial imagery and geospatial data — generating highly accurate property intelligence. With Nearmap, insurance companies have on-demand insights throughout the policy lifecycle that increase quoting speed and accuracy, optimize underwriting efficiency, enhance property risk mitigation, and expedite claims. Nearmap is the only full stack provider of location intelligence — from camera, to capture, to processing — as utilized in the Betterview and ImpactResponse platforms.
For more information, please visit www.nearmap.com/solutions/insurance.
About the Survey
Nearmap worked with award-winning global public relations firm MSL and independent research consultancy Reputation Leaders Ltd. to conduct primary research with insurance carrier workers concerning the impact of aerial imagery, emerging risk, and AI in the insurance industry. The online survey with 174 senior workers in insurance carrier companies who work with the property and casualty risk function ran between August 29 – September 16, 2024. All the workers were based in the U.S. They had at least three years of industry experience, a good understanding of the emerging risks impacting the P&C insurance sector, and at least a basic understanding of AI. In addition, five leaders in the P&C insurance industry were invited to take part in one-to-one in-depth interviews recruited by Nearmap.
