Some of the commercial purposes drones are currently being put to include mapping, agriculture, filming, surveillance, and photography. The increase in applications for drones has led to increasing privacy and safety concerns fueling the need for drone insurance.
Drones can also be quite expensive, and crashes are not at all uncommon.
It is now possible to insure your drone, and the insurance plan will compensate you if your drone suffers damages or is destroyed.
You can also get a liability policy that can cover damages that are incurred to the property of others.
While drone insurance used to be unusual, it will sometimes be required if you are using your drone for work with a client. Having drone insurance could be required simply to get a permit to film in a city, town, or private area.
There are different types of drone insurance policies to choose from, and it is essential that you get the right coverage for your needs.
Drone Insurance Cost
A high quality commercial drone insurance policy can cost you around 600 to 800 dollars a year. This is generally less than one can expect to pay on many other types of insurances.
If you are going to be using your drone for a short period of time, it may be possible to pay to insure your drone per hour. The hourly rates for drone insurance is often quite reasonable, and some companies offer it for about 10 dollars an hour.
In order to operate a drone for any business purposes (to make money) in the United States you will need a license.
However, the specific amount you’ll pay will depend on your specific circumstances. Some of these plans cover quite a lot of potential damage to a drone. For instance, there are some hourly policies that cover as much as a million dollars of damages to a drone or incurred by a drone.
Clearly, this is a much higher ceiling than most drone pilots would ever need, and the coverage is suitable for any type of use, commercial or not.
What Requirements Are There For Getting Drone Insurance?
While the policies of specific plans vary greatly from one company to another, there are some things that are standard for all providers of drone insurance.
By following these simple tips, you can greatly decrease your chances that you will be denied coverage.
In addition, following these tips can reduce the amount that you pay for your drone insurance plan.
1. Make sure you have all necessary information handy to apply for your plan.
2. Log at least 50 hours of time flying the drone.
3. Try to get licensed as a drone pilot. If you aren’t able to do this, you should still try to complete some training.
4. Try to ensure that you are able to automatically log the amount of time your drone is in the air for.
What Types Of Drone Insurance Are There To Choose From?
Drone coverage tends to fall into two broad categories. Generally, drone insurance policies are either hull policies or liability policies.
Hull policies will cover damage to the drone itself.
Liability policies can cover damages that are incurred to the property of others. This is especially important, if you are going to be filming in an area where there are windows or other fragile obstacles. Many policies can have a combination of both features.
In addition, policies differ in terms of the type of drone pilots they are geared towards. If you are using your drone for commercial purposes, it is essential that you get an insurance policy that covers commercial use.
Plans that are designed to cover commercial drone use can sometimes be a bit more expensive than those for recreational use. Therefore, if you are simply using your drone for recreational purposes and want to insure it, you should seek out a policy that is more geared towards recreational drone use.
What Are The Best Insurance Policies For Your Drone?
The insurance policy is sometimes provided by the manufacturer of your drone. One example of a drone manufacturer that also provides insurance for their drones is DJI. The drone insurance provided by DJI covers their Inspire and Phantom drones.
If something like this is offered by the company that makes your drone, it is a good idea to get the coverage. Some of these plans are quite comprehensive, such as the plan offered by DJI.
FAA has not made any mention of insurance requirements. However, with the use of drones for commercial purposes growing globally, it’s assumed that customers and partners will soon take into consideration insurance when vetting commercial UAV operators.
Taking a commercial drone insurance policy is a smart move as it cushions you and your business against any eventuality in the event of an accident. It safeguards your asset and business against liability and damage.
2 thoughts on “Do You Need a Drone Insurance and What is the Cost?”
I would really like to see drone coverage included as an extra in travel insurance as it isn’t covered at all. The options are limited especially for hobby users who may want to shoot some aerial footage overseas while on holiday and stay legal. Commercial insurance is usually not available and possibly to expensive anyway for 10 minutes of footage overseas. A real conundrum and something that may lead people to disregard insurance altogether and do it anyway.
I can see that problems and what can go wrong etc but most people do the right thing and the probability of something serious happening is remote. It just seems strange that insurers haven’t jumped on the enthusiast or hobbyist/travel insurance band wagon. the market for this has huge potential.
You all should definitely check out http://www.bwifly.com I got my part 107, started my business and called them and they totally know about insuring drones in and out. They also had the lowest price for 1 mil insurance.
I would really like to see drone coverage included as an extra in travel insurance as it isn’t covered at all. The options are limited especially for hobby users who may want to shoot some aerial footage overseas while on holiday and stay legal. Commercial insurance is usually not available and possibly to expensive anyway for 10 minutes of footage overseas. A real conundrum and something that may lead people to disregard insurance altogether and do it anyway.
I can see that problems and what can go wrong etc but most people do the right thing and the probability of something serious happening is remote. It just seems strange that insurers haven’t jumped on the enthusiast or hobbyist/travel insurance band wagon. the market for this has huge potential.
You all should definitely check out http://www.bwifly.com I got my part 107, started my business and called them and they totally know about insuring drones in and out. They also had the lowest price for 1 mil insurance.