The homeowner was shocked when his insurance dropped him, despite 15 years of being a customer without any claims, for a home not in a fire zone.Just as California's wildfire season gets underway, homeowners insurance is becoming more and more scarce. Some companies aren't writing any new policies, while others are dropping longtime customers. Among them is a Bay Area man who was told he lost his insurance -- based on photos taken by a drone over his property.
But CSAA later told Sveen it did not use a drone, and "the company does not perform surveillance on insured properties using drones." In a letter, it said it may review "proprietary aerial imagery" to assess risk. The company told sister ABC station KGO that the images may be captured by "fixed-wing airplane or satellite."We flew our own drone to see for ourselves how it looks from up there.
In a reply, the insurance company said images showed, "debris that resembles wood and cardboard, a grey truck with debris in the bed, a tan vehicle with debris on top" -- and a dilapidated car, likely the '66 Chevy he hopes to restore.The company also said in its reply: "While you may have had your insurance with the company for many years, paid your premiums and not filed claims, those factors are not considerations when evaluating property risk.