Claims - November 2015

WHEN SUBROGATION POTENTIAL exists, recovering large losses is imperative to a carrier’s bottom line. Yet often these losses can present the most challenges to subrogation efforts.

In fire claims, for instance, successful subrogation requires fire scene preservation and the recovery of physical evidence from suspected areas of origin.

But what if extensive damages have created a hazardous scene for investigators? Structural collapses caused by fires, explosions or other weather-relat-ed perils can make access to important areas of a scene impossible. When structural integrity is compromised, the most commonly-employed solutions to accessing and retrieving evidence are costly and time consuming.

That’s where robotic technology has changed the outlook of subrogation for these losses. Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGVs), such as Donan’s military-grade robot Scio Surveyor 7, are creating opportunities to subrogate losses even when access to a property is impeded or impossible. This innovative solution can be deployed immediately to document evidence before the scene is altered, and offers substantial cost savings to traditional crane and demolition efforts utilized to reach inaccessible areas.

Donan’s robot has been deployed across the country in commercial and industrial fire losses where structural integrity was compromised. Scio Surveyor 7 streams video as it navigates a scene, captures photos, and can remove physical evidence. This intel provides two essential insights to carriers and investigators: the ability to identify subrogation potential, and the ability to rule it out.

Identifying Hotspots

In July, Scio Surveyor 7 aided the Louis-
ville Fire Department in their investiga-
tion of a massive fire that broke out on
historic West Main Street in downtown
Louisville, Ky. Named “Whiskey Row,”
these buildings are the second largest
collection of cast-iron facades in the
U.S. — second only to New York City’s
SoHo district. Portions of the buildings
collapsed and it was unsafe for anyone
to enter. The robot was able to access
the building and record HD imagery as
well as stream real-time video from four
cameras to the investigators. Scio also
identified hotspots and captured images
from the area of origin. This enabled
investigators to confirm the suspected
cause of loss was sparks produced by
cutting tools used by crews as part of
the historic buildings’ restoration efforts.

“This technology is really changing the way these investigations take place, and providing more opportunity to pursue subrogation because we’re able to collect information that would’ve been impossible before. Traditionally, if there’s a roof collapse, a crane might be utilized to demolish a building piece by piece to get to an area of interest.

But with Scio, we can access the scene
within hours or days of the loss and col-
lect the necessary evidence,” said Mat-
thew Kenney, P.E., CFEI, Donan’s techni-
cal program manager.

Robot versus Crane

In Pine Bluff, Ark., Scio was deployed during an industrial fire investigation in order to access the suspected area of origin located in a collapse zone. Video and images captured by the robot provided 360-degree views of the fire scene and gave the carrier a clearer understanding of the fire scene as a whole. Prior to deploying the robot, the carrier planned to utilize a crane to remove the roof and gain better access to the site.

“The robot was a nondestructive alternative that could potentially identify a specific area of focus or eliminate the need for a crane altogether,” explained Jim Caton, IAAI-CFI, CFEI, CVFI, Donan senior fire investigator. Visual evidence showed little potential for successful subrogation due to the extent of the damage, the presence of numerous combustible materials and chemicals, and the age of the equipment in the area of origin. Insights provided by the robot’s data eliminated the need for the crane deployment, saving substantial costs and time.

Ground-breaking technology like Scio Surveyor 7 promises to improve subrogation processes and success. Donan leads the industry in a number of innovative solutions to serve carriers’ subrogation goals, as well as all aspects of their claims process. Visit donan.com to find out more about our innovative tools.