The Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance has joined a few other states in urging insurers to be careful about using aerial imagery in making claims and nonrenewal decisions, following some complaints from homeowners.
The department is not aiming to limit the use of drones and satellite images by insurers, but said in a bulletin Wednesday that “insurers must be mindful, though, that aerial imagery…has its limitations and should not be the only information utilized in an insurer’s decision-making process.”
If bird’s-eye shots of a property do not accurately reflect the condition of a roof, the images alone are not sufficient to indicate that a roof must be replaced, reads the bulletin from Insurance Commissioner Carter Lawrence. If the image does not provide certainty on its accuracy, an insurance company should physically inspect the property or seek other ways to obtain information.
The bulletin noted that older shots may not reflect the current condition of a property, and blurry or out-of-focus images may not be accurate and cannot be the sole basis to justify a claim denial.
“Denying a claim based solely on unclear or imprecise aerial images that do not accurately reflect the current state of the subject property constitutes an unfair claims practice in violation of Tenn. Code Ann. § 56-8-105,” the bulletin reads.
Insurers also should keep the aerial images on file and make them available to insureds when requested. If a homeowner files a complaint with the department, the department and the homeowner will be entitled to view evidence relied upon by the insurer in making the determination, the DOI added.
The bulletin did not say how many complaints it has fielded from homeowners about the apparent use of aerial images. But consumer concerns appear to be growing across the country.
Alabama’s insurance commissioner last summer issued a similar bulletin, urging insurers to notify property owners when the images are utilized in nonrenewals. West Virginia’s commissioner posted a nearly identical bulletin in April 2025.
And California lawmakers in January introduced a bill that would require carriers to notify homeowners in advance when aerial images are to be taken or used in decision-making. AB 1559 also would bar insurers from basing decisions on images that are more than six months old.
That bill is still in committee and has seen no votes since February.
Topics
Carriers
Drones
Tennessee
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