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Let me get this right. The eagle view measurements are more accurate than those of someone who climbed the roof and measured it?

Uhhh-Ohhh! What have we here? Is the brave new world technology revealing some inherent flaws in their justification for existing? First off, Bozo, roofers and adjusters will always, and I mean ALWAYS measure a roof differently. Why is that? Is it because of the greed and anti-greed factors each faction espouses? Of course. Is it because the carriers want it measured to the exact inch for ridge and rafter? Of course. Will roofers always round up to at least the next foot? It goes without saying. Is this where you get your 8-12% variance? If so, you have justifed your business model based on the inherent error of believing in the validity of the roofers psychology rather than the actual tape measured dimensions. Then to bray about your techs 2-4% varience as so much superior shows your argument to be hollow.

Next we have your admission the images you peddle are not current and will be 6 months to 2 years in age. From an historical perspective, that's nice. But, we ain't interested in the old days. We are concerned with the current construction when the loss occurred. And, how much do you charge for this dog & pony show? What with all the technology and overhead, it sure won't be as cheap as having the roof accessed, assessed, adjusted, and the settlement effectively sold on the spot to the Insured.

The Insured, why as the Insured been left out of the equation here. Don't they deserve some respect and accuracy from us? What is so wrong with doing them the job right? Yeah, I know, bend the nickle till the buffalo poops. I digress.

Folks, in my eyes, this whole deal is yet another twist on the old snake oil peddler from eons past. Roll the wagon into town, drop the sideboards, play the banjo, sing a little song, sell some bottles of Dr Feelgood's Miracle Snake Oil Elixir to the assembled crowd! Yes, a few in the crowd will be suckered into plunking down their silver dollars and later loudly testify to their neighbors how wonderful it is to be cured of the lumbago and the quivers. Or, so they preach out loud. After the hangover the next morning tho, the suckers quietly avoid social contact and hope the effects of tincture of iodine, coal tar, morphine and cocaine in that little bottle will pass without ill effects. So too, in these modern times, the carrier executives that swallow this pitch will soon have quietly moved on to yet another profit saving scheme and the left over trolls will have disposed of yet one more worthless saga in their companies history.

Snake Oil, it's all just Snake Oil.

Ol' Ghost

That's right, Larry! Snake oil peddlers were always the best salesman and you can see their legacy in the infomercials on TV. Vince Offer doing Shamwow and the Slap Chopper. Billy Mays and all his spots. Ron Popiel and the Ronco products. All are inheritors of the marketing techniques of the Snake oil peddlers of the past. So too are we trying to sell our products and services to whomever our customer is. In this case the customer is the carriers executive claims honcho. He/She is on a tighter budget each year, who knows, these guys sound like they just invented the better mouse trap. Being human, he/she is drawn in to the sale by the power point with all it's pretty pictures and action figures and the ever present pitch, "WE CAN SAVE YOU MONEY!"

That is the 'hook'. Once that mental imagery is set in the brain, just as the banjo and song of the past did, the closing of the sale begins. In effect he says,  " Nothing up my sleeve, Presto!" The roof image is focused to the highest resolution and the magic wand calculates a figure, 34.67 squares! "As a new customer, we are offering a special discount for the premium service at the basic service rate for a 6 month subscription." The hook is set and the reel slowly pulls him/her into the 'sold' net.

That evening the honcho lies in bed thinking back on the day. "I bought something and I saved money, I wonder what my boss will say tomorrow?" Meanwhile the peddler sips his bonded bourbon thinking of the next pitch down the road, and giggles.

Ol' Ghost

This argument is as hollow as the auto/casualty adjusters cry 50 years ago that you could not work a large liability loss from a desk. The measurements are acurate when the photo was taken. Embrace change people, thin the ranks and 10% will ALWAYS rise to the top and get their just fee's. Thanks for ranting this promotes FICUS TREE@

Posted By Tim_Johnson on 16 Aug 2008 07:33 AM
Travelers is letting their staff use this sytem on steep / high roofs. They do require the adjuster to go out and do a footprint measurement.

Hey Tim, It will give you the pitch as well. Our company does about 100 to 130 roofs per month and we use Eagleview on a regular basis. Of course you do have to make sure you have the right house but we never have a problem. The one thing you want to keep in mind as adjusters is this: If part of a tree, even a limb, it can throw the measurement off and second, it takes a couple of days to get the report back so if your adjusting a house you have to wait to finish your claim unless you pay extra for the rush. In my opinion its better to just get up there and measure it by hand. Now if its a 12/12 2 story I myself opt for the EV. No roof is worth a life and plus the medical bill is a hell of alot higher then 50 bucks!

Posted By timsethna on 22 Apr 2009 09:18 PM

Posted By Tim_Johnson on 16 Aug 2008 07:33 AM
Travelers is letting their staff use this sytem on steep / high roofs. They do require the adjuster to go out and do a footprint measurement.

Hey Tim, It will give you the pitch as well. Our company does about 100 to 130 roofs per month and we use Eagleview on a regular basis. Of course you do have to make sure you have the right house but we never have a problem. The one thing you want to keep in mind as adjusters is this: If part of a tree, even a limb, it can throw the measurement off and second, it takes a couple of days to get the report back so if your adjusting a house you have to wait to finish your claim unless you pay extra for the rush. In my opinion its better to just get up there and measure it by hand. Now if its a 12/12 2 story I myself opt for the EV. No roof is worth a life and plus the medical bill is a hell of alot higher then 50 bucks!

Im with you Ray, we figure 10% on gable and 15% on hip roofs. It seems though every ins company is different. I know Allstate has been using 8% across the board here in NC but they will figure for dump fees and other small things. It at least gets you to about 200 to 220 a square which is ok.

I've used Eagle View quite a few times for steep & complex but for up & over it's easier and hella-cheaper to do it yourself.  As far as everyone talking about satellite they do NOT use satellite pics to measure they use a service called pictometry that does flyovers of areas from low flying airplanes.  The pictometry group gives them high resolution images (I think Eagle View uses the 6" or 4" - good enough to see shingle outlines but not make out material though I hear that's available soon?).  I saw a sample once of what theyll be offering: you could see the soccer ball in the back yard.  Pretty frikin scary.

Yeah their regular turn is 2 days but like someone said you can pay extra $$$$$ and get it in 3 hours and theyre open 7days.  I know I sound like a commercial but after first having this hate relationship withem after allstate and farmers crunched my estimates I've grown to like them.  Yes you definitely gitta make sure they measure the right house.  Their techs are pretty knowledgable to deal with but their regular customer service folks are kinda lame and need to learn more.  I got transferred to their corporate reps once by accident and he was awesome.  THey use geocoding for everything and it's not 100% accurate here in USA so you gotta always make sure.  I had one measured once that was 10 blocks away.  Looked correct on google maps and their online thing (which uses google & bing) but they use government geocodes NOT addresses.  THey fixed it though within a few hours.

Am I a fan?  Not really but if I have to go up on a complex 10/12 in springtime in OK City Ima just gunna call these guys.  They include a waste chart too. Ive been doing this for 25 years and never had anything come back except when the adjuster had their report.  each time i battled a bit but yes it turned out I was wrong (on all but ONE) so yeah I kinda hate them for that.  If your in a city or high population area theyll prob have pics for the house.  But if your in the country I say forget 'em.  Less than 9 or 10/12 forget 'em.  MOre than 10/12 its easier to use them.

We were using them in Knoxville last month writing Hartford. They were about a week out. We still had to mark a test square, use a pitch gauge and a Haag thickness gauge. Rumor has it that when 27.3 rolls out when you get an assignment it will come with an eagle view, skytek or geo-estimator report. You still have to verify damage, pitch and thickness. For $30.00 you can't beat the service.

Wrong house. Incorrect measurements, we have seen it happen quite a lot here in Ohio. All technology is great...when it works. Don't you just hate when you are at a store and the power goes out and they won’t sell you anything, because the cashier can't add or count change? Technology does boost production, but it's “dumbing” us down.