Companies like DJI are tweaking their drones for property surveying that works for construction and insurance, while auto insurance companies are leaning on self-service apps to make estimates. According to the WSJ, this is a part of rising customer satisfaction with insurance claims over the last few years as measured by JD Power. It's also something I unexpectedly got a closer look at earlier this year when I ran into a deer.

Using my insurance company's app I sent in pictures (including the one shown above) the next day and within a few hours had an estimate that I could take to repair shops. It didn't do much to speed up the process, unfortunately, as part shortages kept my car in the shop for over a month. Also, my photos of the outside of the car didn't reveal the damage to internal parts like the radiator and turbo mount, which may have caused more back and forth later, but weren't much of a factor in how much time the repairs took. It was more convenient than needing to arrange an appointment with an agent, but it still shows that some things are better done by an expert.