(Image source: Tractable.)
Tractable, a London-based developer of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for accident and disaster recovery, has announced the launch of AI Property, a new solution that assesses damage to buildings caused by hurricanes, floods and other natural disasters. Debuted in Japan in partnership with MS&AD Insurance Group (Tokyo), the solution is now available in North America.
Alex Dalyac, Co-Founder and CEO, Tractable.
AI Property allows anyone with a smartphone to quickly and easily assess the external condition of a damaged property through a mobile-friendly web-based app, by taking photos and submitting them to Tractable’s artificial intelligence platform, which mitigates the challenge of having appraisers onsite to assess damage in the wake of disaster, according to a vendor statement.
The AI, which has been trained on a large database of claims and damaged property, makes an immediate assessment of the amount of damage it sees and relays this to the homeowner’s insurer, the statement says. Whereas in a major natural disaster that process can take several months, with AI property now it can happen as quickly as in a single day, Tractable asserts.
“Climate change is leading to more frequent and severe natural disasters. Hurricanes leave households without a proper home to live in,” comments Alex Dalyac, Co-founder and CEO, Tractable. “By allowing homeowners to immediately self-assess their homes via AI augmented damage appraisal, insurers can intervene faster and at greater scale, to help their customers at their time of greatest need.”
Tractable reports that it has been working in Japan with MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc., to use AI Property to help homeowners in Japan during the country’s 2021 typhoon season. The vendor says that the technology has already been used to process real claims from October’s Typhoon Mindulle, resolving them as quickly as in a single day.
After a typhoon, MS&AD policyholders can use the AI to take pictures of high frequency, wind-related damage to a fence, wall or other outdoor area with their smartphone and send them to their insurer for assessment. MS&AD and Tractable expect to expand AI coverage to include indoor damage, such as water leakage and smoke, the vendor says.
Currently MS&AD will use the AI only for wide-area disasters such as typhoons, and the estimates calculated by AI will be verified by humans. “Insurers deploying the AI first and over the largest number of cases will see it learn and attain full automation the fastest,” the Tractable statement says.
Help During the Greatest Moment of Need
“We are proud to be the first major insurer in Japan to be using AI to help homeowners after a natural disaster,” says Ikuo Kudayama, Senior GM, Claims Division at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc. “When a typhoon occurs, the devastation is such that assessing everyone’s homes quickly is not always immediately possible. With AI, we use tomorrow’s technology to help our policyholders today, ensuring we help them as much as possible at their greatest moment of need.”
“We will continue to expand our services to meet various customer needs, and realize true customer orientation,” says Akira Yano, GM in charge of Natural Disaster Measures, Claims Service Division at Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, a subsidiary of MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings Inc.