Use case: reporting, finance and insurance

Verifying insurance claims after natural hazard events

After a flood, storm or wildfire, satellite images show which areas were affected and, at very high resolution, how badly buildings were damaged. Insurers compare the location of each claim with this event footprint, send loss adjusters where they are needed most and look again at claims that do not fit. Drones and site visits add the detail.

Reference
UC-25
Technologies
  • Earth observation
  • Satellite navigation
Industry
Challenge
Flooding and natural hazards
Updated
Published by
LETO SPACE

01When you need it

Where it helps

After a flood, storm or wildfire, claims from a whole region arrive at the same time, and loss adjusters cannot visit every site at once. The claims team has to decide which cases to settle quickly, where to send adjusters first and which claims need a second look.

Satellite data answers the first question behind all three: where did the event actually hit? Earth observation maps the footprint of an event, which supports damage assessment and claims management Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 126 May 2026Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). ESA names the validation of insurance claims after natural disasters as one use of satellite data, and the identification of damage after an event is one of the areas its business applications projects address Source: European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Space Solutions, accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Space SolutionsESA Space Solutions: Space for finance and insuranceaccessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens business.esa.int).

02Technology

How claims verification works

  1. Map the footprint. Satellite images taken after the event show the affected area, for example the flooded or burnt area. Radar satellites such as Sentinel-1 deliver images in all weather, by day and night, and flooded areas become visible when images from several dates are compared Source: European Space Agency (ESA), accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA)Sentinel-1accessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens esa.int).
  2. Locate the claims. Each claim is placed on the map by its address or coordinates and compared with the footprint.
  3. Grade the damage. Where the decision needs it, very high resolution images, at 1 m or better, show damage to buildings and infrastructure Source: Copernicus EMS, Copernicus Emergency Management Service, accessed 6 October 2026Copernicus Emergency Management ServiceUsing Earth Observation Dataaccessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens mapping.emergency.copernicus.eu).
  4. Add detail on site. GNSS-enabled drones gather data before and after an event for claims assessment Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 126 May 2026Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu), and loss adjusters assess the individual damage.
  • L1 Base mapTerrain, river and parcels
  • L2 Flood extentFlooded valley floor, up to the first contour line
  • L3 Exposed buildingsBuildings inside the flood extent
  • L4 Claims to checkDamage reported outside the flood extent
Illustrative map, not real data. The flood extent along the river, the insured buildings inside it, and reported damage outside the extent that needs a second look.

03Data

Which data and satellites

04Deliverables

What you get

  • A footprint of each event, with its date and source.
  • The claims inside and outside the footprint, as a list for the claims team.
  • A priority order for loss adjusters, based on where damage is most likely and most severe.
  • A documented basis for each decision, which helps when a claim is disputed.

05Limits

Limits

06Next steps

How we help

In strategy and use cases we check where satellite data saves time or money in your claims process and which data your region needs. In implementation we test the process on a past event, compare it with the claims you settled, and take it into operation.

To find providers of event footprints and damage maps, Spacegraph, our discovery platform, has a use-case category "Disaster response & damage".

07Use cases

Frequently asked questions

Q1How can insurers verify claims after floods or storms with satellite data?

Earth observation maps the footprint of an event, the area affected, which supports damage assessment and claims management Source: EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA)EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 126 May 2026Open source (opens euspa.europa.eu). Each claim is then located and compared with the footprint. ESA names the validation of insurance claims after natural disasters as one use of satellite data in insurance Source: European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Space Solutions, accessed 6 October 2026European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Space SolutionsESA Space Solutions: Space for finance and insuranceaccessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens business.esa.int).

Q2Can satellites show the damage to a single building?

Only with very high resolution imagery. The Copernicus Emergency Management Service uses images with a resolution of 1 m or better for detailed assessments of damage to infrastructure, and images between 4 and 10 m for large-area flood mapping Source: Copernicus EMS, Copernicus Emergency Management Service, accessed 6 October 2026Copernicus Emergency Management ServiceUsing Earth Observation Dataaccessed 6 October 2026Open source (opens mapping.emergency.copernicus.eu). Damage inside a building, or to its contents, is not visible from space.

Q3Can insurers use the Copernicus emergency maps?

Only authorised users can activate the Copernicus rapid mapping service, but its data and results are freely available for viewing and download, except for sensitive activations Source: Copernicus EMS, Copernicus Emergency Management Service, accessed 7 October 2026Copernicus Emergency Management ServiceAbout the Copernicus EMS On-Demand Mapping serviceaccessed 7 October 2026Open source (opens mapping.emergency.copernicus.eu). Where an activation covers your claims region, its flood or damage maps are a free first footprint. How the service works is described in rapid damage mapping after disasters.

Sources (6)

  1. EU Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), 26 May 2026EU Space Market Report 2026, Issue 1 (opens euspa.europa.eu)
  2. European Space Agency (ESA), ESA Space Solutions, accessed 6 October 2026ESA Space Solutions: Space for finance and insurance (opens business.esa.int)
  3. Copernicus Emergency Management Service, accessed 7 October 2026About the Copernicus EMS On-Demand Mapping service (opens mapping.emergency.copernicus.eu)
  4. Copernicus Emergency Management Service, accessed 6 October 2026Using Earth Observation Data (opens mapping.emergency.copernicus.eu)
  5. European Space Agency (ESA), accessed 6 October 2026Sentinel-1 (opens esa.int)
  6. UN-SPIDER (United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs), accessed 6 October 2026Recommended Practice: Flood Mapping with Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 Imagery and Digital Terrain Models (opens un-spider.org)

Contact

How does your claims team handle the first weeks after a flood or storm? Let us look at it together.

Prefer to talk?

Tell one of our experts about your project. Together we work out where you stand, whether satellite data and AI can help and what a sensible next step would be.

Both calls are free of charge and take place online. You choose a date in our booking calendar.