As businesses start to find a use for these unmanned flying devices, insurers are selling more policies.
Commercial uses for drones are practically limitless and as businesses start to come up with reasons to use these flying devices, insurers are getting calls to make sure the appropriate liability insurance coverage is in place to cover the various perils that could be associated with them.
Particularly the case in the United States for the last year, but other countries like Canada are s
seeing similar trends.
According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s Atlantic vice president, Amanda Dean, the purchase of liability insurance for businesses using commercial drones is an emerging trend right across that country. She explained that “The need is out there and folks are using these drones for business purposes.” Dean also added that “Liability arising from drones and drone usage for commercial purposes would generally not be covered in a typical commercial policy…business insurance coverage, as they would fall within the aviation exclusion of a general liability policy.”
As a result, there are also a rising number of liability insurance companies that are now offering this coverage.
Intact Insurance is one of the insurers now selling “unmanned vehicle coverage” to Canadian businesses in order to provide protection in the form of both property and liability coverage when using drones. The company has reported that the improvements in drone technology have caused the number of businesses using these devices to rise, as has their improving affordability and the widening range of uses within the commercial environment.
A drone insurance policy can be a company’s first line of defense against damage that is done by the drone or that has been done to that device. According to Dean, when insurance companies offer policies specific to the use of these vehicles, protection becomes considerably more accessible for businesses.
That said, all liability insurance policies are not created equal. Therefore, it is important for a business to take a close look at exactly what is being covered, what is excluded, how much it costs and what the deductibles will be in order to be certain that it will be worthwhile.
