Warning: Texas Insurers May Be Using Drones to Check Your House

Homeowners in Texas are facing insurance cancellations for a surprising reason: drone inspections.

A growing number of Texas insurers are using drones to cancel policies or deny coverage.

Austin’s KUT News recently interviewed homeowners and insurance industry watchdogs while reviewing hundreds of complaints and state filings. They found insurers were increasingly using aerial footage to analyze a home’s specific risk.

A few years ago, insurers started using drones to inspect properties after a disaster. It sped up claims processing and made things safer and easier.

Today, however, insurers are increasingly using drones for general underwriting decisions.

In one case highlighted by KUT News, Austin homeowner Tracy Gartenmann received a surprise cancellation email from her insurance company, Travelers, in January 2025.

In that email, Travelers claimed trees were too close to Tracy’s roof, increasing the risk of insuring the home. As proof, Travelers attached two overhead images to the email.

Tracy was skeptical at first, only to later realize the email was legitimate.

Travelers gave Tracy two months to trim the trees or lose coverage. She eventually trimmed the trees, sent images to Travelers, and received a renewal notice just days before her previous policy was set to expire.

How Insurers Use Drone Footage

Insurers initially used drones to inspect homes after a natural disaster – like a hurricane or forest fire. It made it safer and easier to inspect properties and process claims more rapidly.

As Mark Friedlander of the Insurance Information Institute explained in an interview with HuffPost, however, insurers are now using drones to make underwriting decisions for properties:

Property insurers have been using drone technology for many years in assessing damage from natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires to process claims quicker. The technology is now being used by many national and regional insurers to inspect the exterior condition of homes in making underwriting decisions for the property.

In other words, insurers are using drones to both inspect properties after a disaster and decide whether or not to insure a property – say, when you apply for insurance or are up for renewal.

In fact, as KUT News reports, one aerial surveillance company used by insurers purportedly “has eyes on 99.6% of the country’s population.”

In other words, insurers have likely already used aerial surveillance to check your home.

How It Works

Here’s how insurers typically use drone footage:

1. Insurers partner with third-party aerial imaging technology companies, then receive aerial footage of policyholders’ properties. CAPE Analytics is one of the industry’s largest companies, for example, and has aerial imagery of much of the United States (Nearmap is another major provider).
2. Some insurers use computer models to inspect photos and flag problems – like overhanging tree branches, missing shingles, or other hazards. Other insurers review footage manually.
3. If your insurer spots a problem, your insurer could warn you to fix the problem. Or, your insurer could cancel your policy or fail to renew it.

Is It Legal?

Across the United States, homeowners have filed thousands of complaints against insurers for the use of drone footage.

Many homeowners feel violated when an insurer uses drone footage.

But is it illegal?

Insurers argue they have the right to inspect a home at any time. Because of that right, insurers are also allowed to look at your home with a drone or satellite.

Is It Accurate?

Insurers may have the right to inspect your property at any time – including with drones or satellites.

The bigger issue, however, is accuracy. KUT News highlighted two instances where insurers used inaccurate aerial imaging data to cancel a homeowner’s policy:

San Antonio Homeowner Receives Cancellation Warning for New Roof in “Poor” Condition: KUT News highlights the story of one San Antonio homeowner, for example, who received a roof replacement warning from his insurer: his insurer warned him to replace his roof immediately because it was in “poor” condition. Otherwise, they’d drop coverage. That homeowner’s roof was only five or six years old. A visual, in-person inspection could have shown the roof was fine.

Nationwide Cancels Policy Because It “Reviewed the Wrong Aerial Report”: In another situation, a homeowner in Austin filed a complaint with the Texas Department of Insurance after a cancellation warning from Nationwide because of a roof in “poor” condition. That roof was only one year old. Nationwide argued the roof was in poor condition because it was discolored, ultimately leading Nationwide to cancel the policy. Later, Nationwide admitted they made a mistake because they “reviewed the wrong aerial report.” In other words, Nationwide may have been looking at an outdated image of the roof – or another home entirely. Nationwide, like State Farm, uses CAPE Analytics.

Insurers acknowledge that in-person inspections are more accurate. However, drone and satellite inspections are cheaper. Insurers can analyze thousands of homes in a fraction of the time – and continue to inspect them for damage over time.

Insurers May Not Need to Provide Inspection Reports or Images

Making homeowners even more uneasy is the idea that insurers may not need to provide inspection reports.

In other words, an insurer could use aerial footage of your home to deny coverage – and you have no idea what the insurer is seeing.

Some homeowners have been warned by their insurer of a faulty roof, for example, only to discover the roof needed a quick scrub.

Without receiving an inspection report, however, it’s difficult to determine what the insurer is seeing. This could also allow insurers to cancel a policy without good reason – and without repercussions from the unknowing customer.

Some States Issue Warnings on Drone Surveillance by Insurers

Some states are pushing back against insurers’ use of drones, citing consumer privacy and overall fairness.

Maryland Department of Insurance Commissioner Trinidad Navarro, for example, recently announced guidelines aimed at protecting consumers, preventing unfair business practices, and avoiding unfair renewals and cancellations – all while still allowing insurers to use technology to save money.

Commissioner Navarro cited the increasing use of drones as the reason for the guidelines – especially when cancelling or non-renewing policies over “cosmetic” issues that have little impact on the risk of the home.

There are also general laws against the use of drones for certain purposes.

As HuffPost explains, there are a variety of federal, state, and local laws governing the use of drones – and some of these laws prohibit drone users from conducting surveillance that violates an individual’s property. However, many of these laws do not apply to licensed businesses.

Is Your Insurer Using Drones?

Some insurers argue they do not use drones for underwriting decisions – only for claims processing.

Theoretically, drones keep costs low for insurers in a space where many other costs are rising. Insurers can then pass savings onto policyholders as cheaper premiums.

In reality, however, drone surveillance makes many homeowners feel like Big Brother is watching – and that’s an uncomfortable feeling in your own home.