Walk into any claims office in 2026 and ask which adjusters are getting the most CAT deployments, the fastest-cycle property claims, and the priority assignments for storm response. The answer is almost always the same: the ones with FAA Part 107 certifications.
The drone has quietly become one of the most useful tools in the modern adjuster's kit — and adjusters who can legally fly one for inspections are getting paid more, working faster, and climbing fewer ladders than their peers.
Here's how the math works, why carriers care, and what you need to do to add Part 107 to your toolkit.
The shift started after Hurricane Harvey in 2017 when major carriers — State Farm, Allstate, USAA, and Liberty Mutual — began experimenting with drones for catastrophe response. By 2020, FAA Part 107 was a "nice to have." By 2024, it became a "strongly preferred" line on most independent adjuster contracts.
In 2026, most national CAT firms now factor Part 107 certification into deployment priority. That means when 400 houses need eyes on them in 10 days after a hailstorm, the adjusters with Part 107 get called first.
Why? Three reasons:
Here's the real-world breakdown:
Residential roof inspections (hail, wind, storm). This is the bread-and-butter use case. A drone with a 4K camera captures every slope without the adjuster climbing once. For two-story houses with steep pitches (8/12 or higher), the drone is faster AND safer.
Catastrophe response deployments. When you're rolling on 30-50 claims a week during a CAT deployment, the 30-60 minutes saved per inspection compounds. Five extra inspections per day across a 14-day deployment is 70 more claims closed.
Fire and total-loss documentation. Get aerial documentation of total losses safely, before remediation crews start moving debris. Critical for subrogation and contents claims.
Commercial property assessments. Warehouse roofs, apartment complexes, strip malls, big-box stores — square footage you literally cannot walk in a reasonable time. Drones turn a half-day commercial inspection into 90 minutes.
Subrogation evidence. High-resolution aerial photos that hold up in deposition. Specific. Time-stamped. GPS-tagged. Hard to argue with.
Hail damage documentation. Drones with high-resolution zoom let you photograph individual hail dents from 20 feet away without disturbing the matte coating, which is the kind of detail that gets paid in carrier reviews.
Let's be honest about what this actually means for your pocketbook.
A Part 107 cert won't usually trigger a raise on its own, but it WILL trigger:
This is where the math gets interesting.
A typical residential roof claim pays an IA somewhere between $250 and $500 depending on the carrier, claim size, and schedule vs T&E billing. An adjuster doing 4-6 claims a day during a busy week can hit $1,500-$3,000/day during CAT seasons.
Add Part 107 and you can:
A common pattern: an IA who adds Part 107 sees a 15-30% bump in annual gross within 12 months, mostly through volume increases (more claims per day) rather than higher per-claim payment.
Part 107 is becoming standard table stakes. Insureds increasingly expect their PA to bring a drone to inspections, both for documentation quality and because the visual is more compelling when presenting to the carrier.
Reality check: The 15-30% bump comes from working smarter, not just having a piece of paper. The cert opens doors; you still have to walk through them by actually using the drone on real claims.
Some adjusters resist the idea of Part 107 because they assume the FAA test is going to be a pilot's exam with calculus and IFR procedures. It isn't. It's a 60-question multiple-choice test covering:
The hardest topic for most adjusters is reading sectional charts (the FAA aviation maps showing controlled airspace). It's not difficult, just unfamiliar. Most working adjusters pass in 2-3 weeks of evenings (about 30-45 minutes per night).
The test fee is $175 at a PSI testing center. You need 70% to pass. The certificate is good for 24 months, and renewal is a free online course.
Three-step path:
The Part 107 license is one of the highest-ROI certifications a working claims adjuster can add. $175 test fee + 2-3 weeks of evening study = a credential that increases your deployment priority, opens commercial work, and can drive a 15-30% annual revenue bump for IAs.
The market has shifted. The adjusters who add it now will be the ones getting the priority deployments during the next major storm season. The ones who don't will spend the next 5 years explaining to insureds and clients why they're still climbing ladders.
GetDroneReady is a Part 107 prep tool with 420+ rotating practice questions, timed exam simulator, and mobile-friendly drilling between claims. Use code ADJUSTER20 for 20% off Pro.
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