UAV Imaging captures the evidence a claim is decided on. Roofs nobody should be walking, hail and wind damage across a whole property in one dated record, storm and flood extent while it is still visible, and industrial loss scenes that are unsafe to enter. We document; the adjudication stays with the people who carry it.
What we capture for claims work
Roof and structure damage
High-resolution imagery of a roof, including steep, tall, iced or fire-weakened structures, without a ladder and without anyone standing on a surface of unknown integrity. Close-range capture of slopes, flashing, penetrations, mechanical units and edge conditions, delivered as an organised set rather than a folder of frames.
Hail and wind events
Whole-property capture in a single flight, dated and geo-referenced, so damage is documented consistently across every elevation and slope rather than sampled from wherever a ladder could reach. On agricultural files, the same flight covers full fields — our agriculture page covers crop damage documentation in more detail.
Storm, flood and overland water
Extent mapping while the water is still where the claim says it was. An orthomosaic and surface model of the affected area give a measurable record of extent and, where the terrain supports it, of flow — considerably stronger than a set of photographs taken from a road.
Fire and industrial loss scenes
Scenes that are structurally unsafe to enter can still be recorded thoroughly from the air, and internally with a collision-tolerant aircraft where an interior record is needed without entry. Our confined-space inspection service covers the internal capability.
Large and commercial property
Warehouse and industrial roofs, multi-building sites, tank farms, solar arrays and yards, where the size of the asset is the reason a ground inspection is slow, partial and expensive.
Pre-loss and condition-of-record capture
The most useful flight for an insurer is often the one before the loss. A dated baseline capture of a roof or a site turns a later argument about pre-existing condition into a comparison instead of an assertion.
What lands in the claim file
- Dated, geo-referenced high-resolution imagery, organised by elevation, slope or area
- Full-property orthomosaic showing the whole asset in one measurable image
- Digital surface model, with measurable extent and area where the file needs it
- Thermal imagery where moisture, heat or electrical anomalies are relevant, captured with a radiometric sensor rather than a colourised camera
- Annotated imagery with locations marked against the property, not just described
- Before-and-after comparison where a baseline capture exists
- Flight metadata — date, time, location and aircraft — so the provenance of the imagery is on the record
Why aerial capture holds up in a file
- Coverage is complete rather than sampled. Every slope and elevation is recorded the same way on the same day, which removes the "you only looked at the accessible side" argument.
- It is dated and located. Imagery carries its own capture metadata, which is a materially different evidentiary position from an undated photo of uncertain origin.
- It is measurable. Areas and extents can be derived from the model rather than estimated from a photo.
- Nobody climbs. A fall from a damaged roof is a worse outcome than any claim on it, and removing the climb removes the exposure for the adjuster, the contractor and the insurer.
- It is reviewable remotely. A desk adjuster, an engineer and a contractor can all work from the same record without three separate site visits.
What we do and do not do
UAV Imaging is a data and imaging operator. We fly, we capture, and we deliver an organised, dated, measurable record.
We do not adjust claims, we do not determine cause and origin, and we do not issue an opinion on coverage or on whether damage is attributable to a particular event. Those judgements belong to your adjuster, your engineer and your restoration professional, and keeping the roles separate is what makes the imagery useful to all of them. Where a file needs an expert opinion, we supply the record the expert works from.
We also fly with consent and access arranged. Aerial imagery of property carries privacy considerations, and we work to a documented capture, handling and retention practice rather than an ad-hoc one — see our post on data ownership and retention on drone jobs.
Speed matters more here than in most work
Claims evidence has a shelf life. Water recedes, snow arrives, tarps go on, and a contractor starts work. The single most valuable thing an insurer or adjuster can do is get the capture scheduled early in the file rather than after the first inspection raises a question.
Two practical notes. Weather is a genuine constraint immediately after a major event, and an honest operator will say so rather than fly a survey that produces unusable imagery. And airspace is worth checking at first contact, not on the morning of the flight — our post on airspace near Alberta airports and aerodromes explains why that check is cheap early and expensive late.
Credentials
- Transport Canada certified RPAS crews on every flight
- $5M aviation liability insurance
- Radiometric thermal and collision-tolerant interior aircraft available where the file needs them
- Documented data handling, retention and confidentiality practice
- Edmonton-based, working across Alberta, with multi-day deployment for catastrophe-response volume