Farmers Insurance Introduces Mobile Robot for Catastrophe Claims, Property Inspections

Farmers Insurance (Woodland Hills, Calif.) has announced plans to use a digitally controlled mobile robot to assist with in-field catastrophe claims handling and non-catastrophe property inspections, with the aim of helping to improve the safety and efficiency of both while becoming one of the first national property/casualty insurers to deploy a robotic quadruped. Created by Boston Dynamics (Waltham, Mass.) and customized for Farmers, the robot--named "Spot"--will be used by Farmers claims personnel as early as fall 2021 to help assess damage from catastrophes such as hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and wildfires. Farmers reports that Spot will be equipped with a variety of sensors and cameras, including a 360-degree camera and site documentation software to help reduce the time required to capture data and augment the in-field claims review process. The robot may also help Farmers claims adjusters collect critical data and assist with claims handling optimization to serve impacted customers more efficiently, according to a statement from the insurer. In addition to utilizing Spot for in-field claims use, Farmers says it will explore applications that could help first-responder organizations during scenarios such as post-event search and rescue operations, accessing areas to assess danger for first responders or others, and/or pre-inspections to assess safety for anyone in the general vicinity.