@@neilkurzman4907 Every house, with or without a few stacks of tyres outside, 'is' a fire risk. I look around the room I'm in now and it has wooden furniture, several bookshelves from the ground to the ceiling and 2 sets of curtains from ceiling to floor. Never mind the rugs and wood burning stove. That's a room 'filled' with flammable materials. This particular insurance company 'looks' at this man's tyres and an old car that almost certainly doesn't have any fuel left in it (which makes it safer than a new car), and deems them dangerous. Yet what do they see when they observe wooden fences, trees, dry grass, the presence of a barbeque and other wooden structures like a garage or shed in other customer's gardens? All these are a fire risk. The next customer on their list might be a manic prepper with 300 gallons of highly flammable fuel stacked neatly and covered by a tarp, this in their tidy and well-maintained garage surrounded by nicely planted Petunias and a well-mown lawn. They wouldn't know. Thing is - this particular customer could have had 'all' these 'risky' things inside sheds/garages, and the insurance company would never have known. But plenty of other people 'do' have things just like this - and much, much worse besides - in their garages, sheds and homes. Never seen a 'Hoarders' programme? They can be neat on the outside, and filthy to the point of downright dangerous on the inside. Hoarders have been killed by their habits. Their homes are the worst of fire risks. Insurance companies should not judge by what they see in people's gardens, unless they have better knowledge than what can be filmed from a drone. They should go round there, if they were unsure. Talk to him, reason with him, advise him. Don't cut him off like that. Instead they are acting like a Homeowner's Association.
At the end they brought up why it’d be legal, but I thought most states had laws saying even if youre licensed, you cannot fly over ANY building unless it’s private property and you’re given permission
@@John-pp6xy that'd be rather idiotic. Like what, drones cannot fly over cities or basically any urban location is a no fly zone? Well good luck stopping people from doing so. As for existing laws, it's extremely varied over states, some states it is fully legal to fly drones over private property and take footage as long as it's not entering limits of trespass or nuisance. Other states you need permission to fly over private properties else considered trespass. Also rules vary based on whether it's a "Flying for work" and "licensed" or "flying for fun" along with the size of the UAV in question.
How quickly people forget that any industry that corporate America is involved in is ALWAYS about money and profit. The benefit to customers is much smoke and mirrors to obscure that it’s all about maximizing profit.
It's all about the solar panels on the roof. Insurance companies are spooked by them all of a sudden. They just used the junk as an excuse because penalizing people for green energy in todays political climate is bad PR.
@@AB-vc7ox greed of capitalism always leads to the government taking over the services also known as socialism. This is the result of the tax cuts initiated since the Eisenhower years
Never filled a single claim in 15 years - that right there describes how ridiculous home insurance is. You pay and pay and pay and pay but then out of the blue they cancel you for no good reason.
I say cancellation for anything but nonpayment should result in a default judgment against the insurance company so they have to pay back the premiums minus any claims or some percentage of the premiums paid over the years. I also say that they should never have redefined who owns the airspace over private property. It used to be recognized that it belonged to the land owner and couldn't be invaded like that.
😂 barley paying out my ass in 7 years I have had 3 cars stolen and 1 hit by driver let turn on red arrow. The total I paid for those vehicles was $3600. Insurance paid out over $17k. Mostly because I know how to shop for the right car. So I hot the best deals
@@Islandcitymedia Auto is pretty streamlined. They typically dish out what ever the ACV is of vehicles, especially in theft or wrecks. Homeowner policies is where people get ripped off.
@@Islandcitymediaon the flip side there’s way more people that have given into insurance and never filed a claim. Of course insurance companies forget about every Penny you paid them
@@stevenmorookian8676 Deny, ignore, and gaslight. They make it super frustrating for the homeowner to the point where they don’t follow through with the claim either.
We need to just make it a public service that's covered by our taxes. Government has to step in whenever there's a really big disaster anyway so we're just subsidizing these hangers on they're just partying on our money in the long run why should we fund their lifestyles?
He didn't even get a chance to speak to any one, No chance to clear out what the insurance deemed "a hazard". As it normal should go is like this: "Hi I'm insurance [X] We like to inspect your property for hazards, as per our policy to inspect once every [Y] years of insurance" Insurance company deems certain assets in his backyard to dangerous, please remove/store elsewhere. You got [Z] weeks to comply, else we have to cancel the insurance. Home owner removes items, insurance makes a second checkup...succeeds. And we can go on. But this is just ridiculous, from 1 photo they deemed this guy a lost cause. And goodbye. And the fact they keep hiding the proof of evidence makes me suspicious they are actually infringing on some legal boundaries.
@sailesh9684 Insurance is not a regular business like a restaurant. It is a politically entrenched entity that preys on people's fears in order to extort money on a regular basis and then use every means of lawfare to refuse to pay out when they are supposed to.
It has to be illegal for them to take action like this in the manner they did. At the very least, something that should be overturned as it has to violate some consumer law
Bad publicity? You mean *GOOD* publicity! Let the risky customers go off and sink the poorly run insurance companies while the safety conscious customers of the well run insurance company benefit financially with lower premiums.
@willrivers1819 You're free to start up your own insurance company if you think you're smarter than them. Or maybe they'll hire you for your outstanding business knowledge. *Good luck!*
All insurance companies are starting to do this. They're on the hook for untold amounts of money and have every right to protect their interests but conducting inspections which is clearly stated in the policy agreement. He violated his policy by having a junked up yard plain and simple.
It is, at least it is in Australia, we have privacy laws that stop strangers snooping into your property unannounced and drone laws that forbid anyone flying over populated areas. Even our electricity meter reader must give something like min 7 days warning that they are visiting. I'm not sure if America even has laws from what I see everywhere online.
@@Zebra.LionfishUS laws are written to favor big businesses. This is the result of lobbying. You can only blame the people for not voting for someone to help the people. They continue to fight over left vs right wing politics and not what really matters.
This is what happens when Americans refuse to vote 3rd party. Both sides of the duopoly work for corporations, not the people. Yet the people refuse to withhold their votes
If you're denied credit, by law you're entitled to know why - this insurance denial should be no different. I hope the insurance company gets sued and compelled to disclose the evidence
@@kerryedavis Have you seen the robots patrolling the streets of China? The drones of Australia? The Smart homes in Canada have already killed. The next generation of prisons in Australia and Sweden are frightening. There was an incident in Japan where a robot killed a couple Engineers.
As someone that has been in insurance for about 20 years, I know insurance companies will inspect a home, then send out an underwriting letter advising the homeowner if there is a deemed risk onsite with a time limit, (roughly a month or two) to rectify the situation. I ALSO know that 90% of homeowners I have dealt with do not read the notice, or think it is junk mail and throw it away.
we were insured by State Farm for 29 years. A pipe Burts in the bathroom and flooded the kitchen. State Farm sent their own guy to assess the damage and did the repair. After the repair was done. They cancelled our insurance. almost 30 years of paying monthly and filed 1 claim. They have no problem collecting money from us for 29 yrs then when it comes to actually use our insurance, they grudgingly paid and dropped us
Unmitigated climate change. By my estimate: we have about 7 years to phase out fossil fuels. Every year we delay takes 2 years off of the transition time (due to how "carbon budgets" (to constrain global warming to 1.5C (1/3 of an XKCD "ice age unit")).
If insurance companies can just cancel their policies at a moments notice then we should have the right to opt out of mandatory insurance. Why pay thousands for insurance if when you finally need it they won’t insure you?
You, personally, may be fine with no homeowner's insurance. However, if someone is holding a mortgage lien on your property, that person/bank (financial institution) might insist on homeowner's insurance, ostensibly to protect their investment.
@@kenc2257 That's one reason why I paid my house off in 5 years, it was THE thing I put every extra dollar on every month, I paid the mortgage off in full and got rid of the insurance both in 2005
@@TheSouthIsHot but how does it protect you from anything if your insurance provider has the ability to drop you at a moments notice? They could just cancel your policy before they have to shell out any money
The fact that the insurance company issued no "order to cure" tells you that they wanted to cancel him no matter what, probably red lining certain areas, which is against the law.
It's illegal if they are actually doing it based on race or other prohibited criteria but they are still allowed to redline based on legitimate risk factors. This is according to the FHAct.
They have a reputation for redlining areas if risk goes up, and canceling whole areas. If his house was suddenly considered to be in a high fire risk area, they probably cancelled everyone in the area for made up reasons. They do this every year in Florida right before hurricane season.
That didn't happen. He had coverage for years when the place was trashed. Insurance did a recent exterior assessment and dropped the policy. They did this also in the interest of other policy holders to control rates and risk. It is good business practice.
It's wild to pay thousands of dollars a year over decades, never make a claim, and then have the insurance company dump you without ever paying out a single penny. It feels like you should at least get a percentage of it back.
As someone from Florida, I've had 4 insurance companies cancel on me in a year and a half. I've had 7 insurance cancerizations on two rental properties also in Florida. I have never made a claim. I am currently paying over 15k a year for 3 houses that are just normal well kept homes. They want your money, they don't want to pay when you need them, and they don't want to take on any risk what-so-ever.
@@palapaquete2 Free Enterprise means nothing when insurance companies are allowed to collude. In most states, switching home insurance is not something lightly done.
Insurance companies are free to protect against high risk users just like anyone else. I'll tell you what, if the car was housed in a garage and the tires actually had covers on them, he probably would not be in this mess. a mess.
This story needs to be distributed nationwide! This is so wrong. A complete violation of privacy. Did anyone read the fine print on their policy that gives permission to take aerial photos of your property?
The new Third Reich right here in our "democracy." Book banning, censorship, can't teach historical truth in schools, women can't make decisions on their own bodies and how many children they have and now insurance companies spying on us. Not looking good. And half the country thinks a dictatorship is just fine.
This is bad enough but I could see a day where car insurance companies make it a requirement for all customers to have a gps tracker installed in their vehicle in order to get service.
I had a man knocking on my door, trying to look inside the windows, and attempting to unlock my driveway gate from an unmarked vehicle. I had no idea until I called my insurance agent that they went out for a policy overview of the yard. They had my number on file…why not just call instead of trying to gain access to my backyard?!!
It’s called spying. Kind a like your parents did to you when you were a child . It was wrong then and it is wrong now. Trust is hard to come by nowadays.
In California, it's illegal to enter a person's property without consent. If the employee succeeded, you could press charges for trespassing. An employer cannot impose/coerce an employee to break a law. It is illegal to solicit another person to commit a crime. Either the employee needs to file legal action against their employer, or the employee is complicit with the crime and should receive legal action.
@@zachm241 Yeah that's not how trespassing laws work bud. You first have to be trespassed from a property which is a warning before you can be arrested for trespassing.
After having AAA insurance (auto and home) for decades, I got cancelled after the Paradise fire many miles away from my house. I keep trees and shrubs cut back for defensible space, but this was strictly a zip code or other metric cancellation. We are not even in a “high severity” fire zone. Like all insurance companies, good at collecting premiums, but bad at taking care of their customers.
You can't do that but you can video them through their windows and video their cars in the parking lot. Anything you can see from a public space is fair game. Same for this drone view of the property.
This is a silly comment. The insurance company used a drone to find risk at their customer's property. You going into their office has nothing to do with looking for an insurance risk. Silly you.
@@cathynewyork7918 Not true. The insurance company could be violating the law. Maybe their break room is unsanitary and needs to be corrected. There could be expired food in the fridge. An employee could be being mistreated. All of those are not only insurance risks (because they need insurance to operate as a business), but it could be violating the law. What if they are mishandling the files, and causing harm to customers? Silly you.
@@erich6860 Your suggesting that the homeowner go into the insurance company offices in retaliation for them filming his property is silly. The homeowner had a junk pile in his yard that was a fire hazard, and probably kept his house that messy as well. Legitimate to cancel his insurance. SILLY of you to suggest he go into their offices. Much smarter for him to stay home and clean his yard so he can get new insurance. Silly you. Live in the real world.
@@cathynewyork7918 No I am suggesting that if the insurance company can justify what they did, then their customers can justify it for the same reasons. Until we know what is going on behind those office doors, they can be just as suspect. For someone who like to call people silly, you still seem to be missing the point. The insurance company used a drone to look into his yard behind a privacy fence. So, if they can justify violating the privacy of their customer, then I suggest the customer can violate their privacy. Do you understand yet?
My dad lost his insurance due to "weeds" in the yard. It was ornamental grass and sunflower stalks next to a patio he built. The guy showed up unannounced and trespassed without permission to get into the backyard. Dad cleared it out and they still wouldn't reinstate the insurance. So he said fine and signed up with another company. For a cheaper price. I swear some house insurance is like cable companies. The longer you're with them the worst the service and rates become. And the only way to get better coverage is to shop around every so often.
100% true, loyalty in the insurance business is completely one-sided. The only time you get the benefits and the nice guy attitude from the company is when they want to get you as a customer. That’s why I get new car insurance every year Sometimes it changes by hundreds of dollars.
We live in Florida and after Ivan hit my parents filed a claim for a new roof. Shortly after they got dropped by State Farm and the reason listed was “livestock exposure.” My mom called and asked what that meant because we don’t own any livestock. When they couldn’t answer that part she asked are we in danger from livestock, are we in a stampede zone or something because none of neighbors owned livestock either. They never gave her an explication of what it meant and simply told her it was final and there was nothing they could do but it was most certainly NOT because they filed a claim for a new roof after a hurricane because that’s against the law in Florida…
Had a house insurance that tried to drop us over a swimming pool. Was an above ground pool that would have taken a water truck to fill it in a day. Their issue was that the walls were leaning in. We had the pool set up for winter, which we would drain about three quarters of the water, and the walls would lean in. When the pool was full, the water was actually what held the walls up. Even after explaining, they insisted it was an issue. When did home insurance start being run by HOA
Anyone think that the insurance company found out that their drone operator or sub contractor didn’t comply with FAA rules and regs, that is why they tap danced on where the pictures came from? I hope that tv station knows the rules.
I just took a FAA drone course and have been awarded my Part 107 sUAS license and There are no FAA rules against a drone flying over someone’s house in this case , or generally for that matter unless there are residents standing outside in their yard, then by law you have to alert them, and in certain cases obtain a waiver to cover yourself. Its more of a courtesy to alert nearby residents but not required by FAA per say.
This happened to my parents a few months ago. A drone took pics of my house, that is under construction and they miss IDed the address as my parents that live next door. Nationwide Canceled there home insurance after 40 years of coverage with them and refused to even consider reinstating it or even listening to them that it was not there house. they have never filed a claim ever just crooked.
That's crazy. If someone would take drone photos of other peoples yard here in Germany or even just fly over houses (without talking photos) they'd already have several lawsuits because of disregarding privacy protection laws.
Good to know at least one country enforces laws for the good of the citizens. Here in the US they have made us all Guinea pigs. 🙄Companies now have more rights than human beings here.
Dude you have satellites that do the same thing. Germans make fun of people in the US suing everybody and it wouldn't work here... it wouldn't work in Germany either at best you'd have somebody get a warning and a fine and you'd lose a ton of money. Stop the nonsense.
Travelers claimed significant damage to our roof and demanded we replace it within 35 days right before Christmas in New England. Roofer said they were full of shit but they refused to reconsider. We talked to a broker and ended up saving a couple hundred a year with a new company. I reported the incident to our Department of Insurance and got basically the same useless response. The whole system is a scam.
Same thing in California. Back in the 70s my uncle was told his guaranteed 15 year, still perfect and very expensive roof needed to be replaced because the CITY had a ten year limit on all roofs! Some roofing company paid a bribe, bet on it.
@@SewingBoxDesigns If I don’t get an official confirmation from the city that such a ridiculous statute actually exists, I’m gonna be calling a BS on the guy that’s trying to enforce it. If it’s a real thing, have the city council investigated for extortion and racketeering.
We saw this attitude from insurance companies that tell you that if you put a telemeter in your car you can get a discount. What it really was was a way for the insurance company to build evidence for cancellation of anyone that is in the wrong actuarial column, but was not classified as a risk by the actuary.
I did it.. worst 90 days of driving in my life.. saved $4 on my bill (not joking).. Eventually I hit a deer and my son hit a deer within 2 years of each other.. Dropped us
Only a matter of time before that's a requirement to get insurance. The internet age has made us get so damn used to being spied on that I doubt most people would even bat an eye.
So if a random neighbor used their drone to spy on neighbors it's illegal, right? But if a company does it with no warning, expectation, and no proof of damage or issue, it's......okay? What? How? How is flying a drone over someone's private property to gain information without their knowledge legal?
Insurance is such an unbelievable scam to start with. The nerve of this company to claim that the number of years one has been a customer and not filed a claim has no bearing on their consideration to continue to take your money is incredibly arrogant and needs to be punished! If society ever falls (even further) apart, I suggest that anyone employed by the medical, home, or auto insurance industry leave your ill-gotten gains on the table and run for your pathetic lives!!
Why pay him back? He paid them, they provided a service. They decided to no longer provide the service and in turn no longer request payment. This is how literally everything on the planet functions.
@@jsmith-u5i no one understands common sense anymore. It's all irrational emotional responses to absolutely everything. Only an irrational person would think even though you were given 100% of the service you paid for the entire time you paid that you're somehow entitled to a refund. These are the same people that eat an entire pizza then go to the restaurant and demand a refund because it was "not edible".
that's not only an invasion of privacy but they're also turning into an HOA which they have no jurisdiction on. i would demand my money back from them. they were never going to pay a claim to begin with. total scam.
It's not technically an invasion of privacy. Anything you can see from a public place is fair game to be looked at and video'd. You have to make you own privacy with fences and covers. This guys issue is he turned his yard into a junk yard.
@quademasters249 how would they know if they have the correct property. If i google my address it shows my neighbors an my address is between 2 cities
@@deadpool1966 Maybe note the street name and house number? It's not like the drone operator is many miles away. I imagine they parked in the neighborhood and drive the drone over the house. They could have parked in front of the house and launched it. I was looking at a relatively expensive drone. Claimed range is 2 miles but, it depends on lots of factors.
You don't get your money back when your insurance term ends. That's not how it works. They sent him a notice of Non-Renewal, which means his term was up.
@@deadpool1966 one man's junk is another man's treasure! What right does anyone have to make that call. It's not like it was pulled off trash and blown out tires. They looked usable to me.
We built our home in 2012, we have always paid more for the best home owner’s coverage. Not a single claim until Aug. 2020 when a rare Deracho (Land Hurricane) hit almost the whole state of Iowa. It was a constant battle with insurance agents over the contractor estimates ( and per them we got multiple) We pay so much money to guarantee our homes or automobiles are covered and when we DO need it, they fight you tooth and nail!
*Derecho. Sorry you're having so much trouble, but it echoes the problems I've had with supposedly the "best" homeowner's coverage company in my state - State Farm. They make it such a pain to deal with them and their deductibles, we only have insurance for catastrophic loss. We simply don't call them for small stuff up to $20k (thousands over our deductible), it's not worth the hassle.
Always go with a public adjuster when dealing with insurance companies. Insurance companies will always try to cut corners, and not pay for what they are responsible for.
Interesting. I had trees removed from my property. Some were close to the home and had to come out for a new ATT septic system, mandated by county law that required this special system, others were just overgrown and a fire hazard. The property had not been cleared in many years. When I asked my insurance if they could give me a discount for doing the work I was told no. Even though the fire risk was significantly reduced, I still pay the same rates. But if they snoop around with a drone they can drop you. We need to revolt against this BS
@@nukepuke932 Why are you bringing other issues into it. That makes no sense at all. Insurance companies are doing quite well and yet they want to spy with drones and drop peoples' policies for "clutter in yard".
If you can, shop around to a different provider. You can almost always get a better rate by switching to someone else after renovations, your current insurance doesn't give af because they're already getting your money. Source: Property inspector. (Also yes, outside clutter can give you a worse rate, it's a question most companies ask on a survey.)
Sounds like they lost a good customer. He's a do it yourself type of person who probably does all the maintenance on his house and doesn't need to pull like a roof replacement scam.
That's exactly the opposite of what an insurance company wants, you made electrical changes to your house and that caused a fire? Yeah you're not covered, should have used a licensed electrician from the start
You appear to have misunderstood the business model of insurance. They do not want to ever pay anything. DIY maintenance is not maintenance, it's risk, it directly increases the likelihood of a claim being submitted. Similarly, all of that debris and clutter directly increases risk. An insurance company wants nothing to do with such people. Insurance companies only wanr to deal with people who do everything the right way through licenced contractors whom can be sued by the insurer if they do shoddy work. The kinds of customers insurers want are the kind of customers whom likely will never submit a claim, ever, no matter the length of time they remain a customer. DIY people should come up with their own personal DIY insurance fund.
We too had our insurance canceled (non-renewal) due to "clutter" in our yard here in Galt California. When we asked Farmers Insurance for specifics they sent us a blurry drone picture that was at least a year old. We could tell because our pool had the old cover on it that we got rid of after last summer. We could not get anywhere with Farmers, they were set on canceling us. It was so frustrating and now we have nothing good to say about Farmers Insurance. By the way our agent could not get anywhere with the parent company either and has been wonderful in finding us a new policy with a different company.
So, they want us to believe they're spying on all of us with drones? That's a huge undertaking to go home by home. Yours must have been off Google Earth if it was an old picture.
People should just start calling insurance agents and waste their time pretending to want coverage only to say "nah, nevermind" after wasting 2 hours of their time. No calls at place of business....go down there and waste their time in person.
Ours was State Farm - but my agent informed me that the pressure was coming from the underwriting company .. not sure who they are. I recommended that they find different underwriters, because its beginning to sound like Black Rock.
@@Green.Country.Agroforestry I mean a hedge fund like Black Rock would not surprise me, those companies are all scumbags. Maybe they want to somehow drive people from homes so they can buy them with a different company they own and turn them into expensive rentals.
F the insurance company. I was in the same situation when they said I had stuff on the side of the house when I was remodeling a room. All they had to do was to call and ask why I had a staging area instead of just coming to a direct assumption.
Exactly !!!! Nothing corporations do anymore is based in reality. The ridiculous amount of access that corporations have to " information " is misused , misunderstood, and abused. It is outrageous and infuriating to deal with.
Imagine having nothing better to do at work than sit at your desk and meticulously scrutinize the items inside of someones yard... Technically, the drone could be trespassing.... according to "Air rights", in the US, you own the airspace 500 ft from ground level, or 360 feet above tallest structure in rural areas.
My HOA did that to me twice. Once during an oil change they drove by and photographed my car on ramps in my driveway. Other time I built a piece of furniture and was staining it, and they said I had "trash and debris" which really pissed me off. They send the letters to my landlord who passed the fines on to me, plus a little extra, no appeals. Been here 5 years, but I'm moving in a few months because of stuff like this.
Regulation is why the insurance companies are threatening to leave. They want to be deregulated so they can do whatever they want to maximize profit and then they'll agree to stay. They don't care about consumers, only investors. Capitalism at its finest. (Edited a bit since the intended sarcasm wasn't getting across).
@@777trader8 I agree, we should not let them run wild. I was trying to imply that they are just threatening to leave in order to force states to deregulate them and let the do whatever they want.
Any time someone uses the word "Clutter" as a description means that they are not serious about whatever it is. Have you ever heard someone say that word after walking into a kitchen? I have. Many times I have heard someone accuse me of having clutter in my kitchen. Do you know what I had in my kitchen? A toaster, butter, and a microwave.... they told me I should put them away. Kitchens are supposed to have kitchen things. It is not clutter. Walk into any workplace, and you will see a whole ton of tools everywhere. Clutter? No... it is a work space. People who use their homes as work spaces are allowed. that insurance company committed an act of trespass and then violated the terms of their contract.
They didn't find "clutter", they found solar panels on his roof. Many insurance companies are dropping customers who have solar panels. If the panels get damaged, they are expensive to replace, and if the house ever needs a new roof due to hail damage, the solar panels have to be removed and then reinstalled after the new roof is on, which really drives up the cost of a new roof.
A back yard, especially a fenced in yard, is where people are allowed a "reasonable expectation of privacy" and usage of any photos or videos procured without consent and used in such manner are a clear violation of their privacy and he should file charges against the company and those that procured them.
There should be laws set into place to protect homeowners from being dropped from their policy when they always paid the premium and never made a claim. Laws that would make insurance companies pay back a percentage to the customer so they would have the money to get a new provider.
People should fly drones right outside the insurance companies window and video the office workers especially the supervisors who are likely making these decisions. Use telephoto lenses if possible and post the results online. I had an insurance company deny me for having a sand box and little tykes toys in my back yard when my kids were little, these were the little plastic cars that kids would either pedal or push themselves along with foot power. I had never had insurance with that company and it still pissed me off a bit, had they dropped me after years it really would have pissed me off.
Does your kiddie sandbox impede firefighter access in the event if a fire? Better yet, do those toys hold hazardous chemicals that can start on fire and blow onto the house? Cause if so, you should probably remove them yourself 😂. What a liability!
I'm so glad the homeowner went to the press with this. It's beyond creepy that he was spied on when he hadn't even filed a claim. This lets other homeowners know to drop CSAA asap. I hope the homeowner is able to find decent insurance quickly.
Drones in backyards should be illegal. People expect a level of privacy away from the public street and it’s nearly possible to create that from the aerial view. I do hear you can ask google to blur your property.
Car guy respect for still having your first car. And I recognize the waver in his voice when he tells people about it. 45 bucks at Autozone for a cover every 2 years goes a long way. I also recognize the car parts in the yard thing and wish him the best.
Maybe they don't like that its a Corvair, the "dangerous at any speed" car made infamous by Ralph Nader. Its was a rear suspension problem that GM fixed in later models before cancelling the model entirely due to bad press. It wasn't a bad vehicle for a small car.
Im sorry but the provider is right, clutter is a hazard and he installed the solar panels himself, that ads another level of all sorts of fire and electrical hazards.
My insurance company did the same to me but sent me the google earth photos they used and gave me 30 days to remove the debris and said it was a liability if anyone walking through my yard got hurt on the debris. I sent them photos to show them one pile of debris was an old hand dug well. They were looking straight down at the well cover. So it looked like plywood or a pallet. Second pile was like in this guy's video, all useful stuff but not being used right now. It is in the backyard in a section that is uneven and rocky so I let grow wild and let the animals have it. Property next to mine stores his stuff there because it is also rocky and uneven and he lets it grow wild. Behind the area is the rear of a commercial property that is required by the town to have have trees and bushes as a privacy screen between my property and theirs, so they let it grow wild. I showed the insurance company that nobody is going to be walking throught there and if the did they would get hurt on my neighbor's property long before they reached my property and they backed off. Half the country keeps a yard like this guy does. As long as it is not attracting rats or stinks or you needgoigle earth to see it, why do insurance companies think it is a liability?
This happened to my sister. She took insurance with the bank her mortgage is with. They were flooded twice due to faulty dam management in Queensland Australia, and this last premium they were advised they were no longer going to cover them. They still haven’t fixed foundation issues from the first flood.
@@Animallovercomedian well they are still fighting with them over it. They had a second smaller flood that didn’t go into the house that they paid for, but the foundations are still an issue.
Yep a common insurance scam sadly. Homes here in my hometown are still abandoned since the massive 2022 NSW floods we had. No estimates came back for anyone until a year later for a select few. Others were just turned down even though they have been paying their insurance their whole lives so were forced to just evacuate their home. Now funnily enough you cannot get flood damage cover on any home or car insurance in the area. They'll only cover the scenarios that will never happen for a much much higher premium. "Due to inflation"
Yeah same with my brother from the 2011 Ipswich floods. Suncorp screwed them bad and said they weren't covered for flood damage, only storm damage. Damn criminals.
There needs to be a law that states that any surveillance (satellite, drone, etc) used for this needs to be made readily available to the customer upon request, and the method noted. I like the licensing idea for drone use for insurance purposes - something that takes time to get done, and that adds cost to the insurer (although they are going to pass that on to the customer anyway), but it's a hurdle they have to cross.
This happened to my co-worker as well. He got a call while at work saying a drone saw tools sitting in the backyard and it was unacceptable risk and that his coverage was canceled. He was not happy that day.
in the USA (i'm in Canada) I can see an expensive drone getting a 410 over/under shot and hitting the backyard! Come and get your camera! It's littering my back yard and causing a fire!
We had state farm drop us the day after a heavy hail storm that did considerable damage to our roof. Their reason for dropping us, because our roof was damaged and needed repair. Photos revealed damage to the roof from hail damage after a “catastrophic storm”. So they still had to foot the bill to replace it even though we had to get new insurance.
None of that would damage his house even if it was in his yard. Also, they could be sued for invasion of privacy. I doubt his contract says they can drone him. The self installed solar panel is the biggest risk, but could be inspected to ensure it was done right.
Years ago I read of a couple who got so angry after filing an insurance claim and being denied funds by the company they had been paying for years, they quit that company and began a program of self-insurance. The money they had previously mailed in every month for their insurance they now deposited into a savings account. They admit it was a risky move and it took awhile to build the account to a level to offer them any real protection should they suffer a loss, but were surprised that it didn't take as long as they had feared. They eventually surpassed the value of their home, but kept depositing the money as they were now in the habit of "saving" for an emergency. They've since built themselveds a nice little nest egg above the value of their property.
Here's a social experiment for folks: in any decently sized city (over 250k residents), try to discover which buildings are the tallest (and therefore the most expensive) in your city. They are typically either owned by insurance companies, or banks. There's lots of money in loans and insurance. If given the ability to self-insure...you'll come out ahead in most cases. Most people don't have a choice but to pay the premiums and the loan interest, therefore lining other people's pockets...
@@WldFlwrNBrmstks If you have someone or something that has a financial interest in your property “mortgage company”, then yes you have to have insurance to protect the investment. Once you own the property, then technically no, you don’t. Insurance on a vehicle is because it’s a risk to not just yourself, but others that drive on the road as well. So you must always carry that.
I had a guy I met at the gas station in Boise, Idaho June 2022 tell me a very similar story. He claimed that a member of code enforcement flew a drone over his house and then notified his insurance company which then dropped his insurance. His MORTGAGE insurance. And he claimed that since he did not have insurance, the mortgage company said they were going to foreclose on the loan. I don't know whatever happened. Very scary stuff. Allstate dropped me from my car insurance because of a credit check. I got a form letter from the VP of Allstate Auto insurance. Mom, dad and all 6 of us kids had Allstate since us kids could drive. We also had the very same agent. Since then I vowed to never buy from Allstate ever again in this lifetime and never have. That was 33 years ago.
We had Allstate at one time. I went to the office where we had purchased our insurance only to find that the office was empty. I scrambled around and found out that the office closed and we were left high and dry with no insurance. That was when we went with GEICO and haven't looked back.
That yard was actually pretty clean. I was expecting a hoarder house, this is more like an organized car hobbyist. the tires and stuff were in neat stacks, there was clear space to safely walk around and between the so-called 'debris'. nothing looked unsafe.
There was a time when it was only a problem if you did not have an unobstructed path to your front door or locked gate, so people could conduct business with you. Like delivering packages. If someone jumped the backyard fence to deliver packages, that was not considered reasonable so you did not need to keep the backyard clear. I have no idea what happened to that standard. I used to buy hay from a farmer that was using a broken down car as a chicken coop. It was behind barn. Insurance companies today would probably demand he was executed for such an offense.
Yeah because the guy cleaned it up before the news crew showed up. You can see in part of the video black trash bags in the back yard that are full where he was cleaning up the yard but everything described in the letter was still there.
Something similar happened here, the home owner didn't even blink, he sued the insurer, and won every dime he'd paid over decades back from the insurer. I wonder if they learned anything?
It happened to me also, and they said that no luck, because you will just do it again. No cars, tires or anything else, just clutter from remolding my shed.
Here a story from Germany. My little sister was driving down a rode. On the right someone drove off a property in reverse. He T-boned my sisters car. After that the insurance dropped her. She didn’t create the accident and even manages to partially reduce the damage by reacting and evading to a degree. But no, insurance was pissed that they got used and kicked here out.
Naw, that can't be true, europeans always say that everything there is magical to the point it sounds made up and they are really desperate to look cool.
We need to get rid of insurance outright. It's not helping people. It's just going in someone's pocket. Someone who doesn't need the money. Tired of greed.
They use Google. They don't send their own drones or planes. But you can "correct" issues and upload images to Google to get insurance elsewhere. It's really bad. They take someone's money for years and years and then cancel or refuse to pay a legitimate claim.
@@asmongoldsmouth9839 No, it's not, but that's what they do. The agents look up your home and use that photo. Nothing insurance companies do is right by their policy holders. But at least anyone can take new photos and upload them to google.
@@LiaDavis-el5uy That's what they used to do before drones became affordable now they do use drones to inspect houses. I know a guy that contracts for insurance companies and does this everyday.
This is going to make drone jamming/shooting more and more popular until the government or Wall Street takes privacy seriously (not likely), or until insurers start collapsing because they've cut off too many customers. And I remember when AAA was a respectable company that did great stuff for their customers, but now they've bought into the business ethos: "It's nothing personal, it's just business."
In Canada it is illegal to fly a drone and take photos or video over a private residence without consent of the property owner. Additionally using a drone for business requires a special pilots license.
This is happening to everyone and there's very little we can do about it. Keep in mind the drone wasn't operated by somebody on the insurance company's Board of Directors, it was operated by someone local who took the creepy job to surveil homes like this because he has to come up with money to pay his skyrocketing homeowners insurance costs (and everything else).
It wasn't free, there was 15 years of risk that they might have had to pay out a huge sum. Plus, would you be willing to insure this guy's house that he wired himself electrically without an electrical license and you pay him half a million if a fire starts.
@@NVGEAR The probability is very low, and the insurance company is making a profit. The only time they lose are homes in yearly natural disaster zones
@@SpaceGringos3D As opposed to letting them go unregulated and decide who, what and when to insure people and how much they can charge to maximize their profits. You can bet that these companies that have dropped people or entire states will be willing to return for the right price.
@@DarqJestorit’s no one’s right to be insured, if you don’t meet the criteria then oh well do whatever you need to fix it and try again , don’t be a victim when you ain’t gotta be
