Water damage is dangerous, expensive and stressful. Performing home water damage restoration almost always requires an expert hand to resolve.
For insurers, escape of water claims cost an estimated £1.8 million a day. Worse still, inefficient methods of dispatching repair technicians to fix the issue cause delays, potentially leading property damage to worsen.
But technology is helping to solve these problems. Computer vision can now detect water damage in houses and prevent mould from growing out of control.
So what advances have been made, and how can this apply to the insurance industry?
What Causes Mould on Walls?
Moisture buildup in the home from steam, lack of ventilation, or water damage causes mould.
Preventing mould relies on tenants and homeowners recognising a collection of tiny spots that grow in size and change shape. Often, mould can start out at such a small scale that it isn’t noticeable until much later, making the problem more complicated and expensive to fix.
Prevention is Better Than Cure
Understanding the scope of the problem is difficult for tenants and homeowners to assess. But catching water damage and mould early is crucial, meaning detection methods need to be improved.
Currently, homeowners and tenants have inefficient ways of notifying landlords, letting agents and insurance companies of suspected problems. Even if tenants do recognise a problem, they may wait until the issue is bad enough to warrant professional help before making the property owner or manager aware.
Computer Vision: How a Device ‘Sees’ to Help Prevent Mould and Detect Water Damage
Computer vision is a field of data science that enables devices to recognise items through in-built cameras. Computers identify objects by collecting vast amounts of images, then processing them at incredible speed in a series of trial and error tests.
Until recently, mould was difficult for computers to recognise because the shapes are inconsistent and evolve as severity changes.
But new advances reported by the University of Edinburgh, in partnership with Fixzy, are rapidly accelerating progress. By the end of 2021, smartphones and tablet applications will be able to recognise mould and water damage in homes with pinpoint accuracy.
With an easy-to-use interface and no need to download an app, tenants and homeowners can diagnose water damage and mould, then share the results with experts in real-time.
Reduced damage, improved convenience, and fewer claims should provide everyone across the property value chain with greater peace of mind.
Detect Water Damage and Mould Before They Get Nasty with Fixzy
With cutting-edge features due for rollout in 2021, you can show your tenants how to detect water damage and how to prevent mould in their homes without the need for expensive, inefficient callouts.
Reduce the hassle of unnecessary claims and unhappy tenants by using Fixzy’s no-download, smartphone-compatible solutions.
Sign up for a free demo with us today.