Drone Insurance 101: Everything You Need to Know Before You Buy

Drone insurance is one of the first things you should consider after buying one! Read more to learn everything you need to know before buying drone insurance!

Keyword(s): drone insurance

One million drone users were registered with the government at the start of this year, with more and more being added each month.

It’s indisputable that drone use among casual Americans is on the rise. 

So if you’re looking to get into drone flying, you’re certainly not alone. But drones can be expensive and complicated pieces of equipment, and it’s important to know what you’re getting into before making the leap.

Drone crashes and malfunctions are unfortunately common due to the nature of their function. Especially for new users, crashes are a frequent occurrence. Having an insurance policy for your drone can help to keep it protected in case of an accident. 

Read on, and we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about drone insurance. 

How Frequent Are Drone Accidents? 

If you’ve just gotten a new drone, you may be curious about the amount of risk drone flying entails. 

There’s a large amount of drone crashes per year, ranging from small incidents to those that literally start fires or land on the white house lawn. Many drone accidents are caused by a loss of power in the air or poor piloting by a drone owner.

Even the most experienced drone owner can’t always control a drone in the air, and the risk to property and others is high when you fly. 

Is Insurance Required? 

As a new drone owner, you probably have a lot of questions when it comes to matters of insurance. The first thing you should know is that getting insurance is not a requirement. 

There’s no law that states you need insurance to be able to put a drone up in the air. If you have really just bought one for fun, to fly around your background, getting insurance might not be worth it. Especially if the model you bought is fairly cheap. 

But many drone owners are a bit more serious. While we like to think of drones as toys, they aren’t really toyis at the end of the day. The Federal Aviation Agency legally considers them aircraft. And just like with a car, a computer or any other expensive piece of equipment, you should make sure you are protected. 

The drone you’ve purchased may cost upwards of hundreds or thousands of dollars, and that’s an investment you want to take seriously. Outside of crashes, you have to take into account the potential costs of property damage if your drone were to crash into someone else’s home, car, or even another person themselves. 

While getting insurance isn’t required, it’s definitely recommended if you’re serious about flying. 

Types Of Drone Insurance

Liability Insurance 

Depending on how your home insurance interprets your use of a drone, you may be able to get coverage under the personal liability protection in your homeowner’s insurance. But in many cases, these insurers won’t bend to cover your drone use. 

There are a number of liability concerns when it comes to drone flying. You need to be covered for an invasion of privacy claims, damage to property, and possible personal injury lawsuits. 

The drone insurance industry is a young and new field. Currently, there are two popular forms of drone insurance. They are liability insurance and hull insurance. 

Liability insurance is more general and resembles the mandatory car insurance that most states require of automobile drivers. It protects you from the third party claims of other parties if personal or property damage was sustained. 

Liability insurance doesn’t cover or protect you from negligent or illegal acts. So if you were flying in a no-fly area, for example, it will render the insurance you purchased moot. 

Different insurance companies will offer different variations of liability insurance based on a few different factors. They’ll likely ask what kind of drone you’re flying, whether you operate it recreationally or commercially, and your experience flying. 

Some insurance companies may even require proof that you’ve been flying a certain amount of time before they’ll agree to ensure you. 

Hull Insurance

Hull insurance focuses less on the world around your drone and more on the drone itself. 

In various drone accidents and incidents, drones can sustain damage that makes them impossible to fly without repair. These repairs can be very costly and can take weeks to complete, depending on your proximity to a repair center. 

Hull insurance protects you from having to pay the full repair costs associated with accidental damage of your drone. At some point, your drone likely will crash down to earth or into a wall, and you’ll be relieved to not have to pay for it out of pocket. 

The amount that hull insurance will pay out is based on the perceived value of your drone. When setting up hull insurance with a company, make sure to value your drone properly, so that you’re overpaying premiums or being underpaid on a payout. 

Also, check with your insurance provider and ask questions. May insurance companies vary in what they may consider accidental, and what they interpret as damage. Many times, onboard equipment such as cameras may be viewed as additions to the body of your drone as opposed to a part of it. 

Between the two kinds of insurance, liability insurance tends to be the most expensive. The cost of hull insurance will vary depending on the perceived value of the drone itself. There is no catch-all best drone insurance, and you should pick the policy that best covers the way you intend to use your machine. 

Anticipating Risk While Flying High

Drones are amazing devices that can help us see and capture the world around us in exciting new ways. They’re also new and complex machines that can pose a high chance of risk to use. 

If you’ve recently purchased a drone, drone insurance can be an essential and important purchase. The above information should help you make an educated purchase based off your own flying needs. 

Have more questions about drone liability insurance? Check out our FAQ for more information.