With drones becoming more mainstream, people are finding more and more ways to use them, both personally and professionally. They’re no longer the domain of the amateur at the park or the child who got one for their birthday, but instead something that can make a real difference to the way company owners carry out their business across a wide range of industries.
Why have drones become so popular for commercial use?
Drones make a fantastic job of tasks that humans can’t manage, either because they’re too dangerous, costly or time-consuming. Some of the most popular applications for commercial drone usage include surveying, farming and construction. They’re also popular with government organisations. Two-thirds of the UK’s fire and rescue services have trained staff in drone piloting to take aerial photographs of fires, which allows them to tackle the heart of the blaze. Meanwhile 50% of the UK’s police forces are currently using or planning to use drones to fight crime. Drones are here to stay, and it looks like they’ll become an integral part of the commercial world. However, it’s crucial to remember that, much like driving a car, controlling a drone comes with responsibilities.
If you’re considering bringing a drone into your business, you’ve probably already thought about the many benefits that a drone can provide for your company. However, to complete the picture, you need to know what protection exists regarding the potential liabilities for commercial drone use, and at what point drone insurance comes into play to protect you against these liabilities.
For instance, you may think you’re covered under your existing insurance policies, but if you’re flying the drone for commercial purposes, most policies exclude liability cover if you’re using a motorised vehicle or aircraft. While drones aren’t explicitly specified, they could easily fall into either of those categories, leaving you in hot water. With wording varying wildly from one policy to another, you can’t rely on anything but specific drone insurance to cover you best.
With specialist commercial drone insurance, all the key potential liabilities are addressed:
Public Liability
One of the most important parts of commercial drone insurance is Public Liability insurance. Put simply, this will cover you if you accidentally cause damage or harm to someone or something while you’re working with your drone. If you are unfortunate enough to cause harm, our specialist drone insurance covers costs resulting from legal action or compensation claims made against your business up to £10 million.
Damage to your drone
This is an extensive area, and one of the most popular reasons to insure your drone. A drone is an expensive piece of hardware, particularly if you’ve chosen one with specific features for your line of work. Despite their high price tag, drones remain a vulnerable piece of technology.
When in flight, a drone can suffer damage from the elements, collisions with structures or wildlife, not to mention accidental damage. But don’t forget, it’s not necessarily safer in storage or transit either, where it’s out of your sight.
Tresspass
Finally, potential problems for commercial drone users are not simply limited to collisions or accidents; there is also the issue of trespass. No matter how skilled your drone operator is, there may be circumstances where your UAV crashes or lands unexpectedly. This can cause damage to the property of third parties, and the process of retrieving your drone can also leave you and your company open to charges for the damage made whilst retrieving the drone.
If you’re flying a drone for commercial use, it’s well worth getting specialist commercial drone insurance for total peace of mind to get your business safely off the ground. Get an instant quote now at www.insure4drones.co.uk.
