To an insurance underwriter, insurance risk is something that needs to be accurately calculated in order to determine the correct charge for the coverage being offered to a prospective policyholder. Although insurance risk should be avoided where possible, it's impossible to completely eliminate it. There are, however, several ways for you to manage risks, bringing them to an acceptable level that makes sense for you to offer insurance protection.

In an effort to continually help our property insurance partners make the most reliable, informed decisions regarding the underwriting process, Insurance Risk Services regularly reviews, tests and implements the latest available property inspection technology to remain on the leading edge of the technology curve. This inspection technology includes a number of digital devices unheard of in the property inspection business not so long ago, including:

A professional commercial inspection of a property for insurance company purposes includes three distinct steps:

1. A walk-through survey of the entire property, both interior and exterior, to visually examine the property's general condition
   
2. Procurement and review of appropriate supporting documents
   
3. Submission of a final inspection report
   

Ordering a residential inspection is an important step for insurance underwriters to take when underwriting a new homeowner's policy. It may also be called for under certain conditions for a policy renewal, especially if significant alterations have occurred to the property since its last residential inspection.

Risk, simply speaking, is the danger that an unexpected event will occur and will cause a loss. Whatever you do in life carries with it a certain amount of risk, whether it's crossing the street in traffic or buying a stock that could potentially lose value. Risk is the chance that an oncoming event may produce a financial or physical loss.

The property inspection process may be conducted in a variety of ways and may serve a number of different purposes. As a property owner, an insurance inspection may be something that causes concern, although it needn't be. Many property owners may be subject to an inspection on a regular basis, depending on their occupancy use, and often need to conform to the requirements of a number of different jurisdictions. 

The property inspection business has seen some exciting technology advancements during the past two decades. Availability of rapid, wireless access to the Internet, mobile technology, microprocessing, high-resolution imaging from smart phones and affordable commercial drones are just some of the inspection technology areas making significant changes in the insurance inspection area.

Risk is a part of everyday life, and most of us do what we can to mitigate that risk when possible. This includes looking both ways before crossing the street, using seat belts or motorcycle helmets and driving safely when in our cars.

There are two major reasons why an insurance company requires a home insurance inspection:

• To avoid the potential of taking on undue risk that may represent the possibility of future claims. These risks may revolve around maintenance issues, safety (liability) issues or other conditions that, in the eyes of an underwriter, could lead to a potential loss covered by the homeowner's policy.
• Verification that the cost of repairing or reconstructing a residential property that has been damaged or destroyed by a covered peril has been accurately calculated when writing the homeowner's policy.