Allstate announced that it launched its newest catastrophe response tool in Denver, Colo., following a hailstorm.
The insurer’s National Catastrophe Team is deploying a Mobile Assessment Center (MAC), a giant hail inspection center on wheels filled with high-tech cameras that scan the vehicle, identify hail damage, and use software to calculate the dent count and severity of hail damage with increased speed and accuracy.
“Allstate is on the front line in using this latest technology,” said Mark McGillivray, senior vice president, Allstate Claims. “The Mobile Assessment Center is going to elevate the way we take care of customers following a disaster. The Mobile Assessment Center allows for an almost touchless process for evaluating damages, settling claims and getting customers back on the road as quickly as possible.”
The Mobile Assessment Center (MAC) is a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool that uses photo mapping software to determine the number of dents and the severity of the damage to each panel on a vehicle. Vehicles are driven into the MAC hail unit and the damage is assessed in a matter of minutes, claims Allstate. The system then compiles the information and provides a detailed report which is used by adjusters to complete a claim.
Allstate catastrophe personnel first tested this technology in 2014, following a hail event in South Carolina. According to the insurer, the initial test produced positive results showing accuracy in identifying and measuring vehicle hail damage.
“In May of 2014, Allstate was first to begin field testing a new damage analysis concept for hail, and just deployed a first-of-its-kind mobile unit to Colorado to serve customers,” said Michael Morrison, president, Catastrophe Solutions International.
