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Insurers typically allocate over USD 100 million annually for property inspections. To remain competitive, many insurers have started to forgo manual inspection processes or resort to less effective alternatives. Property inspections are crucial for identifying structural risks and unsafe environmental factors that can influence insurance premiums before issuing or renewing home policies. Skipping these inspections can lead to insurers taking on excessive risks by not fully understanding the properties they are underwriting.
An industry report forecasts that by 2025, more than 40% of businesses reliant on physical experiences will enhance their financial performance and outpace their competitors by embracing virtual experiences. Beyond simple digitization of financial interactions, companies are increasingly looking to streamline costly and time-consuming manual processes through virtualization. Recent disruptions from COVID-19 have also shifted customer preferences towards virtual business transactions for safety and convenience.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), an AWS Premier Consulting Partner and Managed Service Provider (MSP) with a Financial Services Competency, has developed a virtual inspection solution leveraging Amazon Web Services (AWS). This adaptable solution caters to various inspection scenarios, including home insurance evaluations, auto claims damage assessments, and mortgage inspections. Through video feeds from customers’ mobile devices, TCS utilizes machine learning (ML) models to automatically detect and highlight risks and damages. By incorporating third-party data and location-based insights, the TCS solution delivers impartial recommendations.
This article outlines the TCS virtual inspection solution, presents its architecture, and discusses the potential advantages for insurers.
TCS Solution Overview
The TCS virtual inspection solution comprises two key components:
- A frontend mobile/web application that utilizes the device’s camera for capturing live inspection video.
- A cloud-hosted remote inspection application that facilitates remote inspections and supports backend services for mobile app interactions.
Mobile/Web Application
An Android mobile application enables users to scan identity documents and manage both self and remote inspections. The app incorporates augmented reality (AR) features for scanning valuable items, which can then be added to an inventory list.
Key features of the mobile app include:
- Instant quotes for properties by locating them within the app, based on data from third-party sources and insurer systems.
- Smooth user enrollment via ID scanning to auto-fill customer forms, enabling one-touch verification and enrollment with insurers or mortgage providers.
- Self-inspection capabilities allow customers to walk through their property while verifying the floor plan, with data auto-retrieved from third-party sources like ATTOM for U.S. geography or CoreLogic on AWS Marketplace.
During the self-inspection process, ML models and AR technology automatically identify risks, damages, and safety features, providing inspectors with enhanced information to evaluate the property. If necessary, inspectors can opt for a remote live inspection using a unique one-time URL generated for review.
Additionally, customers can scan valuable items for add-on insurance when purchasing home insurance. The solution identifies these items and presents various models and prices from shopping sites, allowing customers to verify and add their valuables to the inventory.
Remote Inspection Central Application
The cloud-hosted remote inspection central application offers REST APIs that integrate with both mobile devices and inspection portals. This system employs machine learning to detect risks, safety features, and damages. It features a flexible microservice architecture, allowing service providers to select various backend services tailored to their needs.
Key features of the remote inspection central application include:
- Live video streams from customers’ devices are analyzed using ML models to identify objects and highlight them in the inspection portal. Inspectors can tag areas of interest manually, and the system can assess damage types for claims.
- The application uses satellite data to gather property-related information based on the address, including property type, garage count, roof type, and even the presence of solar panels or pools.
- Integration with government and third-party property data sources allows the solution to fetch essential information, including market value, construction type, and more.
- The system collects geographic risk indicators from national databases, such as proximity to hurricane paths, gas pipelines, and earthquake epicenters. It also identifies protective measures like the nearest fire station.
- A comprehensive recommendation report is generated, summarizing identified risks.
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