ICBC using Google Street View to resolve claims Google, person, money

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ICBC using Google Street View to resolve claims
Public insurer says technology saves time and money to review crash sites



Google Street View, which provides a ground-level view of thousands of streets across B.C. has a new fan: ICBC.

According to documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun, the public insurer has begun using the technology to help resolve some insurance claims, a cheaper alternative than adjusters visiting accident scenes in person or hiring investigators to produce official photos of a crash site.

“Google Maps is readily available for staff online and are being used now very successfully in some offices to resolve liability,” states an internal ICBC memo obtained by The Sun through the Freedom of Information Act. “[We should] encourage use by all adjusters where appropriate instead of using a scene investigation, keeping in mind intersections can change.”

Another ICBC document notes that “Street View ... would be sufficient to understand the physical layout and characteristics of an intersection” but that a site visit by an adjuster is still required if evidence, such as skid marks, needs to be gathered.

Street View went live in Canada in 2009.

The service, based on photos taken from a car-mounted camera, allows users to get a 360-degree view of streets in several major cities in B.C., including most of Metro Vancouver and the Victoria area.

In an email, ICBC spokesman Adam Grossman said that while there has been no companywide directive to use Street View, several adjusters began using the technology when it launched two years ago.

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“We like Google Street View as it allows our adjusters to get a good snapshot ... of a given location,” he wrote. “It’s in no way a tool to rely on solely, but it is an additional source that can help us better understand a particular claim.”

Grossman said the service can be particularly helpful when someone calls ICBC’s Dial-a-Claim line and is having difficulty explaining how a crash occurred.

ICBC adjusters still visit crash sites for more complex claims, wrote Grossman, such as if a claimant complains of an obstruction, like an overgrown tree, that made a street sign difficult to see.

Grossman said ICBC hasn’t calculated how much money it’s saved from using Street View.

However, Speed Scene, an Abbotsford company that provides photographs and diagrams of intersections, said its business from ICBC has dropped by half in just the past two years.

“There’s no question about it. I don’t have the work from ICBC that I used to,” said Carl Richmond, the company’s owner. “A few years back, I was really busy. I had four people working for me. I’m just working for myself now.”

Richmond said he understands the attraction of Street View but said it doesn’t provide the same level of detail as his work.

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One reason for that, he said, is that Google’s camera is mounted several feet above a moving car, while his are taken at the eye level of the car or pedestrian involved in the crash.

“And I go there at 10 o’clock at night in a driving rainstorm to record the lighting conditions, which is not something you can get from Google,” he said.

While his work from ICBC has dropped off, Richmond said he still gets plenty of business from lawyers suing the insurer.

“Some of my best customers [now] are those who are fighting against ICBC,” he said


A Google Street View camera car waits at a light in London. According to documents obtained by The Vancouver Sun, the public insurer has begun using Google's Street View to help resolve some insurance claims, a cheaper alternative than adjusters visiting accident scenes in person or hiring investigators to produce official photos of a crash site.