‘It’s SO Unethical.’ My Home Insurance Used Satellite Imaging On My Home
My insurance company is using satellite imaging to “assess” my home and I think it’s incredibly unethical.
Less than a year ago I signed up for home insurance through MAPFRE. A close acquaintance of our family was an insurance sales representative for them and I was open to switching insurance companies so I did in March of 2023.
This month I received a letter in the mail notifying me that my home insurance would be cancelled on March 21st, 2024. Cancelled? Why? I called MAPFRE because I thought the letter was a scam. I got on the phone with a representative. They put me on hold and when they finally came back they said, “Yes, you were notified by letter that you are at risk of losing your home insurance due to satellite imaging used to look at your house.”
“What does that mean, satellite imaging?” I asked the rep.
“It means that we used Google Earth to assess your home. When the images were taken on Oct 3, 2023, you had some tree branches coming over your roof. If you don’t get them taken down, you will lose your home insurance with us.”
Home Insurance Satellite Imaging Should Be Illegal In My opinion
I was shocked to hear that an insurance company used satellite imaging. MAPFRE never sent a human person out to our home to access the branches. If they did, a real human would notice that the branches barely came over onto our roof. But instead, Google Earth’s imaging of our house was enough for them to tell us that we’d lose our insurance.
Now, we have to spend our hard-earned money to get not one, not two, but three trees pruned or taken down. It is costing us thousands of unexpected dollars to get them removed.
I have to “take care” of three threes near my home thanks to satellite imaging taken from MAPFRE Insurance. It’s not fair. And it certainly isn’t right. But what can be done about it?
I find this sort of “assessing” incredibly unethical and I also find it lazy. What happened to the days where human employees would come and introduce themselves? Similarly, I have filed two insurance claims with MAPFRE. One was because we had black mold growing underneath our sink. The other time, a wind storm knocked our shed door right off its hinges. Instead of sending a MAPFRE employee out to assess, they made us upload pictures and file an entire report ourselves.
It begs the question, why are Americans paying so much for home insurance if the homeowners are the ones doing the majority of the work? And if it’s not the homeowners then it’s satellite imaging found on Google Earth.
As a public figure, I don’t want images of my home online. And I also don’t want insurance companies that I already pay way too much for, to work in this manner.
I Am Sadly Not Alone In This Treatment
I thought I was the only one going through this problem with their insurance company. According to an article I read in WCVB, I am definitely not the only person in Massachusetts dealing with this issue.
In the article, it explains that Worcester resident Athena Haddon got a letter from Travelers Insurance claiming that she needed to completely replace her roof because of satellite imaging taken of her home. Travelers told her that because she hadn’t replaced her roof in fourteen years she had to or she’d lose insurance through them. She’s never had a leak and she always does the proper roof upkeep, but it didn’t matter.
Like me with MAPFRE, no one from Travelers came to actually access the roof in person.
Where Do We Go From Here?
I think this conversations lends itself to a larger problem in America and this is it: human jobs are being replaced by AI and computers and it’s not okay.
Wake up and look around. Everything is being taken over by artificial intelligence. Just when you think you can trust an insurance rep to come and assess damage, they don’t anymore. They are using lazy techniques to force Americans to spend more of their hard-earned money. It’s not ok.
I’m not sure where we go from here. I asked the MAPFRE insurance rep if this was a common practice now and she said it’s “very common.” We just have to accept this as the “new normal.”
Related:
How much is a speeding ticket in Massachusetts and how bad does it increase your insurance?
How much does a speeding ticket cost in Massachusetts?
Here’s the rule of thumb:
$50 is your starting fine. Add $10 for every mile you’re over the speed limit. Then add another $50 flat fee.
So if you’re pulled over doing 80mph in a 65mph zone…
$50 + $150 (15 over x $10) + $50 = $250 fineAgain, this is just a rough rule of thumb. So… many… variables.
How much does a speeding ticket raise your insurance in Massachusetts
According to research by Bankrate, the average cost of car insurance in Massachusetts increases by 32 percent after a single speeding ticket. The national average is a 21 percent increase so OUCH MASSACHUSETTS! Just don’t speed. Save your money.
