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The End of a Fair Price: Dynamic Pricing and the Normalization of Gouging

95 points · 128 comments · paimapi

  1. sib · · focus · HN ↗
    "Did you know that home insurers use aerial drones to study your rooftop? If the conditions signal neglect, they might cancel your coverage before an accident."

    While there are certainly some issues of concern in the article and the reviewed book, the above seems like exactly what insurance companies should be doing: pricing (or making available) coverage based upon risk.

    This is not much different from an auto insurance company raising your rates (or cancelling coverage) because you've received a number of speeding tickets, which implies increased future risk of loss.

    In fact, I received a letter from my homeowners insurance company a couple years ago stating that they would not renew our coverage due to conditions that they'd observed (clearly from aerial imagery) including overgrown bushes touching the walls of the house and some larger tree branches growing over the house.

    I had a landscaping company come and fix the issues, sent my own drone up to take new pictures, sent the company the pictures, and they agreed to continue coverage. And now my house has less future risk of damage. This seems like a win-win for both of us.

    1. mihaaly · · focus · HN ↗
      Vegetation as the enemy, that is a sad consequence.
      1. kspacewalk2 · · focus · HN ↗
        Vegetation is the enemy in forest fires, for example. One of the main reasons that lone house survived the Maui wildfire[0] was because they properly managed vegetation, which prevented the embers from setting fire to the property via a bush that's way too close. Nothing prevents you from letting the rest of your backyard go wild if you prefer, but keep it away from your walls.

        [0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.npr.org&#x2F;2023&#x2F;08&#x2F;24&#x2F;1195331310&#x2F;red-roof-house-fires-lahaina-hawaii" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.npr.org&#x2F;2023&#x2F;08&#x2F;24&#x2F;1195331310&#x2F;red-roof-house-fir...

        1. PaulDavisThe1st · · focus · HN ↗
          Most&#x2F;many structure fires that are caused by wildland fires start due to &quot;ember cast&quot; - hot embers carried by the wind (for distances, almost unbelievably, of up to a mile). While taking care of building-adjacent vegetation is an excellent step to reduce fire risk, it won&#x27;t stop fires that start on the roof, or around the soffits, due to embercasting. That requires different approaches (roofing materials, careful roof&#x2F;wall interface design and more).

          ps. Firefighter II (volunteer), Santa Fe County, NM

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