Commercial Drone Insurance for Aerial Photography

If you work in the drone photography business, you will need to purchase specialized commercial drone insurance.

This guide will go over legal requirements, what commercial drone insurance covers, and how much it costs. We will also share our recommended drone insurance company with you.

Who Needs Drone Insurance, and Why?

Anyone engaged in a commercial business that uses drones needs commercial drone insurance. This includes, but are not limited to:

• Aerial photographers
• Insurance companies utilizing drones
• Drone rental companies
• Drone surveyors and mapping companies
• People streaming drone content
• Drone delivery services
• Drone filmmakers
• Real estate photographers

If you have a homeowners insurance policy, it may cover personal drone use. But it will not cover any type of commercial use you are engaged in. For that, you have to buy commercial drone insurance.

Note that you might also want drone insurance if you are using a drone recreationally, but do not have a homeowners policy. It is a wise idea for gray areas too (i.e. you’ve started a drone channel recreationally, but it is starting to make a little money).

Here are a couple of scenarios that demonstrate why you need drone insurance coverage.

Example #1

You’re flying your drone to capture footage when a bird flies into it, causing a malfunction. Your drone then collides with a nearby house, causing roof damage. The homeowner sues you to cover the cost of the roof repair.

In this scenario, a specific type of insurance called drone liability insurance would be able to help offset some of the cost of the damages (up to the policy maximum).

If the drone and onboard components were damaged, other types of policies can help cover the repair or replacement costs.

Example #2

Imagine you are operating your drone, and have several items of equipment set up around you. Something distracts you for a moment—maybe you are simply looking up at your drone—and a passerby steals your laptop.

In this situation, ground equipment coverage might help you pay for the replacement for your laptop.

Drone Insurance Liability Requirements

You are probably wondering what the minimum legal requirements are for drone insurance. Unless you are in Minnesota, there are no legal requirements in the US for you to get drone insurance. But in MN, you have to pay $30 for a license to operate a drone, and then purchase the minimum insurance required by law. You can find further details here.

Even if you are not legally required in your state to buy drone insurance, we still strongly suggest that you do so.  

What Does Drone Insurance Cover?

There are a couple of different types of drone insurance:

• Liability insurance
• Equipment insurance

These categories break down as follows.

Drone Liability Policy Types

• Drone liability insurance: If your drone injures a third party or damages their property, drone liability insurance can help pay for the damages.

• Non-owned drone liability insurance: If you rent drones sometimes, you should consider getting this type of coverage. If the drone gets damaged, the policy can pay out.

• Personal injury liability insurance: This does not refer to physical injury. It can help cover legal costs if someone sues you for libel, etc.

• Aviation Product liability insurance: If your drone has some kind of a manufacturing flaw that causes damage or injury, you can rely on this type of coverage.

Coverage Types For Drone Equipment

• Onboard Components Insurance: This insurance protects cameras or other equipment flying onboard your drone.

• Drone Hull Insurance: You can protect the drone itself from damage (from some sources, not all) with this insurance.

• Ground Equipment Insurance: If something happens to any of your drone-related ground equipment, this coverage can help pay for the damages.

Remember, along with these specialized insurance products, you might also want to invest in some general forms of business insurance as well.

How Much Does Drone Insurance Cost?

On average, it costs anywhere from $350 to $700 a year to purchase drone insurance. That assumes a $1 million coverage cap.

Some of the factors that can affect the cost of drone insurance include your maximum coverage cap, your deductible, and what type(s) of policies you get. The type of drone you have and how you use it also can impact your pricing. Your geographical area might also cause pricing to be higher or lower.

Where to Get Insurance For Flying A Drone Online

To get drone insurance for business, we recommend going through Tivly, a licensed insurance agency with over 20 years of experience working with business owners. They partner with over 200 agents, brokers and carriers, and have extensive experience connecting customers with drone insurance policies that fit their needs. Click below for a personalized quote.