A RESIDENT owned his home for 40 years before his insurance randomly informed him of property issues after adopting new tech.
The Malden, Massachusetts homeowner said his longtime insurer had never notified him of any issues before insurance companies began using drones for aerial photos for policies.
“I felt like I was blindsided,” John D’Entremont shared with local Fox News affiliate WFXT.
“If you look at the things they asked me to do, it was a significant amount of money.”
He maintained homeowners insurance through the same insurer the entire time he owned his house but hadn’t faced any problems until August 2023.
D’Entremont got a letter from his insurer highlighting the pricey repairs the home insurance company claimed he needed to make.
The notice stressed that the insurer needed a plan from him within 60 days.
“Get the moss off the roof, trim the tree back that had branches hanging over the house,” the homeowner listed.
“And get some, in their case, they said get some shingles.”
In a rush to comply, D’Entremont started gathering estimates for the demanded repairs.
The resident got the tree work done that the insurer told him to and even reached out to his insurance agent to keep her updated on his progress with taking care of the noted issues.
Nothing he did was enough.
By early November, he said the company took action.
“I get a notification that they have decided to cancel my homeowners policy,” D’Entremont admitted.
Insurers in Massachusetts have the right to not renew policies for properties.
This is as long as they provide a homeowner with a 45-day written notice before the policy’s expiration along with specific reasons for the decision.
Though all of the proper steps were made D’Entremont expressed being confused about why he had never been notified of any defects with his home until then.
His daughter shared an unconfirmed idea that aerial images may have been used to catch his noted problems.
That isn’t unusual since home insurance companies have adopted use of the tech, according to Emily Rogan with the consumer advocacy organization United Policyholders,
“There were a lot of big changes during COVID where there were more satellite inspections, different ways,” Rogan explained.
“And you know, a lot of industries really leaned into the technology. And what we’re seeing now is that it’s becoming more commonplace, whether a drone image or from a satellite,
“They have more access to data about you as a policyholder and about your property. And they’re using that to choose their customers.”
