Insurance capacity for drones has never been an issue. Multiple admitted insurers have been writing drone policies for several years with more than 4,000 drones insured through one brokerage alone.
Transport Risk Management, Inc. has been arranging insurance for drones under admitted aviation policies for more than five years through more than seven insurers. The policies cover all uses, all pilots, worldwide territory and do not require membership, sanctioning body approval or that they be operated at an approved location.
Limits are available to $500,000,000 for TPLL and $50,000,000 for hull PD. Coverage includes PI, War Risk and All Risks of Ground and Flight for commercial and non-commercial uses.
I believe it is called an Aviation Exclusion which will include Drones. I see a new fertile field for Attorney’s eager to sue someone for a drone injuring their client or causing property damage.
Agent – building off your Aviation Exclusion comment, and as we all know there are Exclusions to the Exclusions, what are your thoughts on reaps’s comment below relative to “coverage for model aircraft…that are not designed to carry people or cargo?”
sarcastic yay – agent can upvote his own comment 100 times and downvote comments to hide them if he doesn’t agree with the post again. i’m sarcastically happy IJ changed that back.
The majority of our clients and their non-aviation agents who work with us, advise that when drones were classified as aircraft, their HO insurers excluded coverage.
The basic homeowners policy excludes certain liability situations such as professional services, business persuits, criminal acts etc. The policy states that aircraft are excluded but then goes on to allow coverage for model aircraft… that are not designed to carry people or CARGO. Is a camera cargo? Lawyers will have fun with this.
The only situation I can think of in which a camera would be considered “cargo” would be if it were being transported as an object under delivery, not as a piece of equipment being used in conjunction with the operation of the drone.
dumb question: I have a Millenium Falcon drone made primarily out of foam rubber, because I’m 39 and refuse to completely grow up. Does anyone know if I need to register it? I don’t feel like looking it up for myself.
Also, in answer to the question going through your mind: Yes, it IS that cool and I highly recommend getting one.
“Homeowner policies at Allstate, one of the largest property insurers, will cover damage if a policyholder crashes a drone and damages someone else’s property. But a ‘first-party claim’—damage you do to your own home—isn’t covered, says Allstate spokesman Justin Herndon. The insurer sees a drone- mishap situation as akin to having your pet lion maul a neighbor’s furniture; Allstate would cover the big cat’s destruction of your neighbor’s stuff, but not your own.”
The Allstate policies I’ve seen cover damage to your dwelling or personal property due to aircraft. The “pet lion” comment is immaterial since there is a specific exclusion for that.
The “ISO standard” HO-3 covers damage to and BI/PD from model or hobby aircraft, HOWEVER, there are a number of non-ISO policies that don’t make this exception in their aircraft exclusion. Many of these policies are those designed for high value homes. Without this exclusion, if a family member accidently flew a paper plane into someone’s eye, there’s no coverage.
I would think it is a stretch for a company to use the aircraft exclusion if a family member struck someone with a paper plane. They would surely be in for a fight.
Perhaps so, but it meets more dictionary definitions for “aircraft.” When I was a kid, I had a balsa wood airplane with a rubber band motor for the propeller. Likely an aircraft as well.
This is the perfect example of why we have you agents out in the field. This question really needs to be asked of your clients, not for potential additional premiums/commissions, but so that you can help them review their coverage to determine how their current coverage responds to their owned model aircraft.
The FAA definitely includes these in their definition of “aircraft” which is why it’s a serious felony for you to shoot it down — even if you feel it’s trespassing on your property or invading your privacy.
Also, I don’t believe a camera would be considered Cargo. I think that term is reserved for property of others in your c/c/c being transported in or on the UAV. However, it may be considered a “component”, and depending on the reading of the policy, may be included as part of the “hull” of the UAV when attached.
You can talk about all of the insurance capacity that is available until the cows come home but the bottom line is whether people will pay the premiums. AIG has a $2500 MP for commercial drones via their aviation ops BUT people just do not want to pay that. I’m not saying that the coverage nor the MP is not worth it, it is, but at this early stage in mass drone ownership the owners ae still in denial.
Insurance capacity for drones has never been an issue. Multiple admitted insurers have been writing drone policies for several years with more than 4,000 drones insured through one brokerage alone.
Transport Risk Management, Inc. has been arranging insurance for drones under admitted aviation policies for more than five years through more than seven insurers. The policies cover all uses, all pilots, worldwide territory and do not require membership, sanctioning body approval or that they be operated at an approved location.
Limits are available to $500,000,000 for TPLL and $50,000,000 for hull PD. Coverage includes PI, War Risk and All Risks of Ground and Flight for commercial and non-commercial uses.
if you have personal liability insurance, like on a typical HO policy, why do you need a “drone” policy?
if you have comprehensive personal liability on a typical HO policy, why do you need a “drone” policy???
if you have comprehensive personal liability on an HO policy, why do you need “drone” insurance?
I believe it is called an Aviation Exclusion which will include Drones. I see a new fertile field for Attorney’s eager to sue someone for a drone injuring their client or causing property damage.
Agent – building off your Aviation Exclusion comment, and as we all know there are Exclusions to the Exclusions, what are your thoughts on reaps’s comment below relative to “coverage for model aircraft…that are not designed to carry people or cargo?”
sarcastic yay – agent can upvote his own comment 100 times and downvote comments to hide them if he doesn’t agree with the post again. i’m sarcastically happy IJ changed that back.
Steve,
The majority of our clients and their non-aviation agents who work with us, advise that when drones were classified as aircraft, their HO insurers excluded coverage.
See Huerta v. Pirker
http://www.pillsburylaw.com/publications/huerta-v-pirker-ntsb-rules-that-uas-are-aircraft-and-subject-to-faa-rules
Here’s a link to the FAA Fact Sheet: https://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=14153
The basic homeowners policy excludes certain liability situations such as professional services, business persuits, criminal acts etc. The policy states that aircraft are excluded but then goes on to allow coverage for model aircraft… that are not designed to carry people or CARGO. Is a camera cargo? Lawyers will have fun with this.
The only situation I can think of in which a camera would be considered “cargo” would be if it were being transported as an object under delivery, not as a piece of equipment being used in conjunction with the operation of the drone.
dumb question: I have a Millenium Falcon drone made primarily out of foam rubber, because I’m 39 and refuse to completely grow up. Does anyone know if I need to register it? I don’t feel like looking it up for myself.
Also, in answer to the question going through your mind: Yes, it IS that cool and I highly recommend getting one.
Does it weigh more than .55 lb?
If so, head on over here
https://www.faa.gov/uas/registration/
I believe this comment is incorrect:
“Homeowner policies at Allstate, one of the largest property insurers, will cover damage if a policyholder crashes a drone and damages someone else’s property. But a ‘first-party claim’—damage you do to your own home—isn’t covered, says Allstate spokesman Justin Herndon. The insurer sees a drone- mishap situation as akin to having your pet lion maul a neighbor’s furniture; Allstate would cover the big cat’s destruction of your neighbor’s stuff, but not your own.”
The Allstate policies I’ve seen cover damage to your dwelling or personal property due to aircraft. The “pet lion” comment is immaterial since there is a specific exclusion for that.
The “ISO standard” HO-3 covers damage to and BI/PD from model or hobby aircraft, HOWEVER, there are a number of non-ISO policies that don’t make this exception in their aircraft exclusion. Many of these policies are those designed for high value homes. Without this exclusion, if a family member accidently flew a paper plane into someone’s eye, there’s no coverage.
I would think it is a stretch for a company to use the aircraft exclusion if a family member struck someone with a paper plane. They would surely be in for a fight.
Perhaps so, but it meets more dictionary definitions for “aircraft.” When I was a kid, I had a balsa wood airplane with a rubber band motor for the propeller. Likely an aircraft as well.
This is the perfect example of why we have you agents out in the field. This question really needs to be asked of your clients, not for potential additional premiums/commissions, but so that you can help them review their coverage to determine how their current coverage responds to their owned model aircraft.
The FAA definitely includes these in their definition of “aircraft” which is why it’s a serious felony for you to shoot it down — even if you feel it’s trespassing on your property or invading your privacy.
Also, I don’t believe a camera would be considered Cargo. I think that term is reserved for property of others in your c/c/c being transported in or on the UAV. However, it may be considered a “component”, and depending on the reading of the policy, may be included as part of the “hull” of the UAV when attached.
You can talk about all of the insurance capacity that is available until the cows come home but the bottom line is whether people will pay the premiums. AIG has a $2500 MP for commercial drones via their aviation ops BUT people just do not want to pay that. I’m not saying that the coverage nor the MP is not worth it, it is, but at this early stage in mass drone ownership the owners ae still in denial.