As property insurers embrace remote work in response to the coronavirus pandemic and deal with an overactive Atlantic hurricane season—and the volumes of claims accompanying it—they may elect to look closer at a new trend: on-demand claims adjusting services.

Various claims organizations offer some form of technology-enabled inspection or adjusting services. These differ somewhat, but in general, the offerings utilize a mobile application that guides and prompts users through the damage inspection and speeds up the estimating process.

The underlying value of on-demand claims services is their ability to make more efficient use of limited claims resources and reduce cycle times through consistent data-gathering processes.

The typical on-demand claims solution works like this: Once a claim is reported, first-notice-of-loss data is run through an algorithm that assigns the claim to an appropriate resource.

On a non-complex property claim, such as simple exterior or roof damage, a field inspector uses an app to gather data needed to create an estimate of the loss. An experienced claims adjuster reviews the field inspection data, and a completed claim file is then transmitted to the insurer.