Kane County woman says Allstate threatened to drop insurance over Google Earth photos CBS Chicago Sep 26, 2025 >> CONSUMER ADVOCATES LIKE AMY BACH SAY INSURERS ARE INCREASINGLY TURNING TO DRONES AND AERIAL SURVEILLANCE FOR UNDERWRITING. >> WHAT LEGALLY CAN. INSURANCE COMPANIES DO WHEN IT COMES TO USING DRONES? >> IT’S UNREGULATED. THEY CAN TAKE THE PICTURES WHENEVER THEY WANT. THEY DON’T HAVE TO GIVE NOTICE TO THE HOMEOWNER. >> THE PRACTICE ALREADY HAPPENING ACROSS THE COUNTRY, INCLUDING TO THIS MASSACHUSETTS HOMEOWNER. >> IT WAS VERY INVASIVE BECAUSE THEY HAD TAKEN A PICTURE OF MY HOUSE WITHOUT ME KNOWING, WHICH WAS REALLY KIND OF CRAZY. >> EXPERTS SAY BY THE END OF THE DECADE, TO EXPECT MOST INSURERS TO BASE THEIR UNDERWRITING ON DRONE TECHNOLOGY. THE IMAGES ARE OFTEN REVIEWED BY ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BUT THE TECHNOLOGY CAN GET IT WRONG. >> THERE HAVE BEEN A LOT OF MISTAKES. >> CASTILLO FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE STATE. >> THAT YOU HAVE A LOT OF TREES IN THE AREA. >> DAYS LATER, HER INSURANCE COMPANY DROPPED THE ROOF REQUIREMENT WITHOUT NEEDING ANY PROOF. >> I DID EMAIL THE AGENT AND I LET THEM KNOW I WAS GOING TO BE SPEAKING WITH CBS AND THAT I HAD FILED A DEPARTMENT OF INSURANCE. THERE WAS NO LONGER A STIPULATION FOR ME TO KEEP MY INSURANCE, AND THAT MY POLICY WAS GOING TO RENEW LIKE NORMAL IN NOVEMBER.
My letter to reps:
Insurance companies shouldn’t be allowed to use Google Earth or Google street view images or automated AI and LLM to make decisions on coverage or rates. Google sources are often outdated or blurred or otherwise inaccurate, and it’s well understood by now that LLMs and AI is incredibly unreliable and prone to putting out disastrously spurious results. We need policy to put the stops on shoddy insurance practices like this.
Please feel free to copy or repurpose for your own letters to reps.