The Evolution of Claims Management

The mechanics of claims management haven’t changed much in decades. But the forces acting on them have.

Traditional methods—manual inspections, paper records, fragmented systems—are showing their age as new challenges pile up.

Natural disasters are becoming more frequent, more severe, and more expensive. In 2024, the U.S. recorded 27 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters, contributing to $183 billion in total damages.

At the same time, repair and labor costs are surging. Between 2020 and 2022, home repair replacement costs jumped 55%, outpacing overall inflation. Car insurance premiums are also feeling the squeeze—up 75% since 2020, largely driven by material costs, labor shortages, and supply chain delays.

Delays and inefficiencies in the claims process aren’t just operational problems anymore; they’re financial risks.

The insurance industry is responding with new tools and smarter workflows, and aerial imagery—particularly drone imagery—is emerging as a central piece of that modernization effort in claims management.

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Current Challenges in Claims Management

The current challenges aren’t just creating noise—they’re dismantling core assumptions about how claims get handled. Let’s break down where that pressure hits hardest.

The traditional claims management model isn’t just inefficient—it’s increasingly incompatible with today’s financial and operational realities. The combination of rising costs, lagging processes, and evolving litigation risks has put direct pressure on the key performance indicators (KPIs) that insurers rely on to measure financial health and customer satisfaction.

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Escalating Severity and Volatility in Claim Costs

Economic and social inflation have converged into what some actuaries now describe as a structural shift—not a passing phase. Logistics delays have made even routine claims more expensive to resolve. At the same time, the legal environment is producing outsized liability settlements.

• Claims severity is projected to continue climbing in 2025, with "nuclear verdicts" (>$10M) and "thermonuclear verdicts" (>$100M) at record highs.
• Litigation costs have driven a 57% increase in liability claims over the past decade, with 27 court cases exceeding $100 million in 2023 alone.
• Commercial casualty losses reached [$143 billion in 2023](https://www.artemis.bm/news/swiss-re-says-social-inflation-exceeds-economic-inflation-in-growing-us-liability-claims/#:~:text=Driving home the scale of,exceeding natural catastrophe loss costs.), surpassing global natural catastrophe losses that year.

For claims teams, this means pricing risk has become harder, reserve development more uncertain, and average claim values more volatile—putting direct pressure on profitability metrics.

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Delays Driven by Supply Chain and Labor Constraints

Slow claims don’t just frustrate customers—they cost more. Supply chain breakdowns and labor shortages are turning repairable events into replacements and dragging out timelines across the board.

• A 2025 J.D. Power study found that average time to settle a property claim is now 44 days, the longest since the metric was first tracked in 2008.
• Prolonged delays inflate both administrative overhead and business interruption liabilities, especially for commercial lines.

The longer it takes to resolve a claim, the more expensive it becomes—both in operational costs and in lost customer trust.

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Fraud Exposure and Manual Oversight Gaps

Manual inspections are still widespread, but they come with blind spots. Without scalable, verifiable data, fraud detection becomes reactive and inconsistent.

• [5–15%](https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-and-statistics-insurance-fraud?) of all claims involve some form of fraud, and under economic stress, those numbers typically rise.

Fragmented oversight of Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) compounds the risk. Many insurers still rely on outdated systems that limit visibility and introduce “claims leakage”—avoidable losses due to inaccuracy or inefficiency.

These structural inefficiencies don’t just create friction—they translate directly into excess payout, lower margins, and audit risk.

In short, the industry is facing a multi-front squeeze: unpredictable losses, delayed processes, rising fraud, and legacy systems. Against that backdrop, operational efficiency isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a survival metric.

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The Limits of In-Person Inspections

One of the biggest bottlenecks? The traditional site visit—still the default method for too many carriers.

For years, in-person site visits have been the backbone of insurance claims management. Adjusters travel to properties, take photos, and write reports on the ground. That process is familiar—but it's also slow, expensive, and increasingly hard to scale.

There are still edge cases where field visits make sense—complex structural damage, or remote regions with limited connectivity—but those exceptions are becoming fewer. What’s more apparent is where the traditional model breaks down:

• Delays are built in. Scheduling, travel time, weather, and access permissions all create lag.
• Costs add up. Adjuster hours, mileage, lodging, and per diem expenses drive up the per-claim cost.
• Data quality varies. Human assessments are subjective.
• Fraud risk increases. Without time-stamped, verifiable data, insurers are more vulnerable.

In a world of growing catastrophe losses and rising claim volumes, relying on this model alone isn't just inefficient—it’s a strategic liability.

That’s why insurers are rethinking how claims get assessed and resolved. The shift toward digital tools—especially aerial and drone imagery—isn’t about eliminating human expertise. It’s about equipping teams with faster, safer, and more objective ways to understand what’s happening on the ground.

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Aerial Imagery’s Operational Edge

For claims management teams, time and accuracy aren’t just benchmarks—they’re cost centers. Aerial imageryintroduces real efficiencies that are hard to match with boots-on-the-ground inspections:

• Fewer site visits. High-resolution visuals reduce the need for field teams in many scenarios.
• Faster cycle times. Carriers using aerial data report up to 40% faster resolutions.
• More objective assessments. Visual records help mitigate dispute and fraud risks.

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Choosing the Right Aerial Imagery Tool: A Strategic Trade-Off

Choosing the right aerial imagery tool isn’t just about tech specs—it’s about matching the method to the mission, and understanding what each platform really costs in time, dollars, and flexibility.

Satellite Imagery

Best for broad-scale analysis, but limited in detail and timeliness for individual claims.

Fixed-Wing Aircraft

Effective for planned regional surveys, but expensive and rigid.

Drone Imagery

Purpose-built for claims management:

• On-demand deployment
• High-resolution damage visibility
• Cost-effective at scale
• Low emissions footprint

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What’s Coming Next

Drone imagery is just the beginning. The next frontier in claims management includes:

• AI-powered analytics for automated assessments
• Live drone feeds for real-time triage
• Data fusion from IoT and GIS to drive smarter risk models

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Where This Leaves the Industry

Every insurer is looking for ways to protect margin, speed up service, and navigate volatile risk landscapes. Aerial imagery, particularly drone-based claims inspections, is proving to be a competitive edge.

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Ready to Modernize Your Claims Workflow?

Want to see how Spexi helps insurers make faster, smarter wildfire decisions?

👉 Book a demo or schedule a wildfire imagery consultation today.

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