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What is Drone Insurance?

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Drone insurance

Drones have become increasingly popular items to have, with sales of drones in the UK have risen dramatically in recent years.  However, as drone sales have soared, so have drone-related incidents. It was reported by the Civil Aviation Authority than in 2016 there were over 70 reported drone incidents. It may not sound like a considerable amount, but this is up from just 6 in 2014.  This rise has also had implications for regulations on drones and therefore an impact on insurance policies.
If you have a drone, you will want to make sure that it is insured in the event that you lose it or it gets accidentally damaged. By taking out drone insurance you can make sure that it is covered should the worst case scenario occur.

What is drone insurance?

There are different drone insurance policy covers available and this is partly dependent on the reason as to why you own a drone. For example, if it is for commercial purposes, or the drone has a weight of more than 20kg then you are required by law to purchase public liability insurance, as stated by the Civil Aviation Authority who govern the flight of drones across the UK. If you do not have this type of insurance you will not be able to apply for your Permission for Commercial Operation certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority. If you do fly without this permission you could receive a heavy fine. In addition, it is important to remember that the weight of your drone will determine the level of liability coverage that you must hold by law.

Drones over 20kg will require owners to buy public liability insurance as stated by the Civil Aviation Authority.

However, it should be noted that new government legislation will make it a requirement for any drone over 250g to be registered in the UK. Experts predict that this could mean that in the near future, it will also become compulsory to have public liability insurance for these smaller drones too.

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance is something all drone owner should take into consideration. Drones are capable of doing a lot of damage to property or to people if they crash. Accidents can and do happen even if you are flying in a safe manner and you could find yourself facing a hefty legal claim against you.

Hobby drone insurance

Even if you aren’t required by law to have insurance as it weighs less than 20kg, it is worth looking at hobby drone insurance. This type of drone insurance cover works in a similar way to public liability insurance. The insurance helps to cover you if for legal liability (for example because the drone has damaged property or it has caused the injury of a third-party). It also covers replacement of a hobby drone, which is extremely worthwhile considering given the fact the average hobby drone can cost anything upwards from £5,000. This type of insurance also covers you for the loss of the hobby drone or if it becomes damaged and unusable.

What is included?

 

They may be small, but hobby drones can still cause damage.

Whilst exact cover will be dependent on the insurance provider, it will usually include:

 

Things to consider for commercial (public liability) drone insurance

Whilst you should make it a top priority with regards to what is included in drone insurance there here are also lots of other considerations you’ll need to take into account for commercial purposes, for example:

 

What are the benefits of drone insurance?

There are a number of advantages to having drone insurance. For example:

 

How can I apply for drone insurance?

The aim of this article is to expand your knowledge on the different types of drone insurance available and what it can do for you and to demonstrate the importance of taking out this type of policy cover for your business.  You can find companies specialising in drone insurance here on TechRound.

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