Business
Understanding Drone Insurance
Liability, hull cover, and the terms worth knowing before you sign anything. With help from SkyWatch.
As you build a drone business, insurance becomes an asset rather than an overhead. It protects you, your equipment and your investment — and unlike most cover, activating and managing a drone policy is now genuinely straightforward.
Establishing yourself as a commercial pilot means being professional, detailed and safety-minded. You will plan every mission carefully. But no amount of planning prepares you for an accident if you have no liability policy behind you.
The Two Halves of a Policy
Aviation liability insurance covers physical or property damage caused to a third party by your drone operations. Hull insurance is optional and covers physical damage to the aircraft itself, including loss, theft, fly-away and disappearance.
What Liability Actually Covers
Property damage — protection for physical damage to property caused by your operations. Bodily injury — protection against physical harm to a person resulting from an accident. Personal injury — liability for injury arising from libel, slander, invasion of privacy and similar.
Limits typically range from $100,000 to $5,000,000. Note that aviation liability covers your drone operations specifically, which a standard general liability policy often does not.
A point of accuracy: Canadian regulations require a pilot certificate for drones weighing 250 g or more, whether you fly recreationally or commercially. Aircraft under 250 g do not require certification. Insurers writing policies above $2M in liability will generally ask you to confirm you hold the certificates required for commercial RPAS operations.
Practical Notes
Hull cover is only available on annual policies — you cannot buy it by the hour or by the month, the way short-term liability is often sold.
After purchasing, make sure you receive two documents: the policy itself, declaring conditions, coverages and exclusions; and a certificate of insurance, which is what clients will actually ask to see.
Building a drone business?