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Hourly Drone Insurance

SkipTV said:
I'm a Drone Flight Instructor and Drone Cinematographer, I work on everything from real estate shoots to broadcast TV and major motion pictures. One of the biggest hurdles for Clients hiring drone pilots 'besides making sure they are legal' is making sure they have insurance specifically liability insurance. As a professional DP/Camera Operator and freelancer, every professional job I do requires me to prove I have insurance. When drones first came out way way back 4 years ago, lol insurance was just not offered, a couple years ago some of the same underwriters that I used in the professional entertainment industry started offering it, but it was very expensive. Now its easier to find, but you have to get a years policy 'usually' and specifically if you want to get a good rate. Who really flies everyday for a year, that you would need to be paying for something you are not using. Additionally with traditional insurance it doesn't matter where you are filming the rate is always high. I got Verifly as soon as I saw the story in tech crunch, I fly all around SoCal and have been testing it. This really is a bid deal, for saving time, money and by allowing you to provide instant proof of insurance company to a client. Th rates change based on geographical location, which totally make sense, why pay the same flying around the desert as you would flying down a street in Hollywood. I think it really is something that should be on everyones phone.
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We couldn't have said it better ourselves. I have forwarded this to the full Verifly team.Thank you!

Jay
 
Jay Bregman said:
My company, Verifly, released an on-demand drone insurance app today in partnership with Global Aerospace. $1M policies start at $10 an hour - all delivered instantly via the app. Happy to answer any questions but this will cover an Inspire (and any drone under 15lbs) in most of the US. Coverage today in TechCrunch Verifly launches drone insurance by the flight, and on-demand in the US. Thank you!
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The app won't let one purchase coverage inside a NFZ. If I have clearance from a proper authority to fly in a NFZ, how can I get coverage?
 
licensed pilot said:
The app won't let one purchase coverage inside a NFZ. If I have clearance from a proper authority to fly in a NFZ, how can I get coverage?
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Good question. We don't currently have a system for this, but are working on one for a future release. If you email me a sample authorization at jay at verifly dot com we that will help as we develop a process in this area.

Jay
 
I used Verifly for the first time this weekend. Where I flew in Massachusetts, it cost me $15 for an hour, probably because of some high-end houses and a small college nearby. It was super easy to use and it added a degree of peace of mind.
 
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Larry@drones4peace said:
I used Verifly for the first time this weekend. Where I flew in Massachusetts, it cost me $15 for an hour, probably because of some high-end houses and a small college nearby. It was super easy to use and it added a degree of peace of mind.
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Over $131,000 for annual insurance at those rates.
For commercial (or serious hobby flyer) these costs could easily mount up and become prohibitive IMO.
I will stick with my annual commercial liability cover which also gives me hull cover as well as insurance for my Drone(s) and ancillary equipment (batteries etc) whilst left in an unattended vehicle. I am also covered for business interruption and also data protection claims and civil privacy claims.

There are many flavours of UAV cover out there so choose wisely and carefully. What can sometimes appear good value on the face of things can actually equate to some incredibly steep rates when you look at rate on line calculations.
A lot of underwriters have not got to grips with UAV cover properly yet and are adapting existing facilities and line slips that are aviation based products and not specifically written for the UAV market.
They are then issuing binding authorities to cover holders all over the place!

Caveat Emptor.
 
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The Editor said:
Over $131,000 for annual insurance at those rates.
For commercial (or serious hobby flyer) these costs could easily mount up and become prohibitive IMO.
I will stick with my annual commercial liability cover which also gives me hull cover as well as insurance for my Drone(s) and ancillary equipment (batteries etc) whilst left in an unattended vehicle. I am also covered for business interruption and also data protection claims and civil privacy claims.

There are many flavours of UAV cover out there so choose wisely and carefully. What can sometimes appear good value on the face of things can actually equate to some incredibly steep rates when you look at rate on line calculations.
A lot of underwriters have not got to grips with UAV cover properly yet and are adapting existing facilities and line slips that are aviation based products and not specifically written for the UAV market.
They are then issuing binding authorities to cover holders all over the place!

Caveat Emptor.
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Thanks for this - but I don't quite understand your logic. The base price is $10/hr and Larry's post very clearly indicated he was near a university / school which is why the rate was $15/hr. He seemed to think it was good value as does frankly every other post on this forum and others.

I am curious as to how you arrived at $131,000 per year for something that costs $10/hr? Are you saying you fly 13,100 insurable hours per year (8,733 if you assume an average of $15)? There are only about 360 total possible flying hours in a month (assuming a 12 hour day of non-stop flight)? I think something may be a tad off in your calculations...

Most users do not fly every single day for the year. Some weeks they do, but some they don't, and some have an off season. Some people find the application process and upfront payments for annual policies prohibitive. Some people just want to align their income with their costs and not take risks on long term expenses. Some people have annual policies on one or two drones but want to use the others they have in production with real clients from time to time and want a flexible solution.

This is who Verifly is for - and from the feedback we are getting it seems there are a lot of people who will benefit substantially from having another customer-centric insurance option for operators to choose from. We listen to the community, and if some people want longer term options we will explore them, just like any other product feature.

The policy Verifly delivers is underwritten by Global Aerospace, a leading aviation insurer, and was built from the ground up to be an aviation policy specific to drones, both in the scope of protection and the pricing structure. You can see a sample policy here: Can I see a sample policy before I purchase? - Verifly Support

If you want to discuss further please email me jay at verifly dot com and I would be happy to discuss.

Jay
 
Jay Bregman said:
Thanks for this - but I don't quite understand your logic. The base price is $10/hr and Larry's post very clearly indicated he was near a university / school which is why the rate was $15/hr. He seemed to think it was good value as does frankly every other post on this forum and others.

I am curious as to how you arrived at $131,000 per year for something that costs $10/hr? Are you saying you fly 13,100 insurable hours per year (8,733 if you assume an average of $15)? There are only about 360 total possible flying hours in a month (assuming a 12 hour day of non-stop flight)? I think something may be a tad off in your calculations...

Most users do not fly every single day for the year. Some weeks they do, but some they don't, and some have an off season. Some people find the application process and upfront payments for annual policies prohibitive. Some people just want to align their income with their costs and not take risks on long term expenses. Some people have annual policies on one or two drones but want to use the others they have in production with real clients from time to time and want a flexible solution.

This is who Verifly is for - and from the feedback we are getting it seems there are a lot of people who will benefit substantially from having another customer-centric insurance option for operators to choose from. We listen to the community, and if some people want longer term options we will explore them, just like any other product feature.

The policy Verifly delivers is underwritten by Global Aerospace, a leading aviation insurer, and was built from the ground up to be an aviation policy specific to drones, both in the scope of protection and the pricing structure. You can see a sample policy here: Can I see a sample policy before I purchase? - Verifly Support

If you want to discuss further please email me jay at verifly dot com and I would be happy to discuss.

Jay
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Hi Jay,

Thanks for the reply (and the report which goes to me!). Your report states that my post contains factual inaccuracies, I'm not sure it does based on my premise that my insurance covers me 24/7/365!

I could arguably say the same about your post since Global do not actually Insure anything - they simply underwrite on behalf of a pool and therefore are not actually on risk themselves but mearly constitute a 100% fronting arrangement. Global will obviously take a percentage of each risk/cover issued for fronting, with you guys being offered a binder to issue the certs? Is that inaccurate? Please correct me if I am mistaken.

Additionally, you may wish to confirm but last time I checked, Virginia, Washington and Kentucky all had statutes in place actually prohibiting binding arbitration clauses in insurance contracts so you may need to check your terms and conditions if offering cover and issuing policies for and on behalf of Global Aerospace underwritten by the pool in those States - again, please correct me if I am wrong.
However, I do not want to get into the technicalities of the underwriting logistics (we would be here all day :p).

I am actually allowed an opinion believe it or not (its what makes the world interesting) which is why I mentioned above 'IMO'

Whilst I understand many will find this kind of product useful, obviously it is not a case of one size fits all.

I simply based my calculations on $15x24x365 which is $131,400 for annual cover.
My UAV's are covered 24hours a day/365 days a year for numerous perils - not just whilst airborne!

Even if we take a realistic flight pattern of say flying 3 times a week for a couple of hours a day (my flight sessions are rarely less than an hour) and we take an average price of $12 per hour with say 4 weeks off for holidays etc.
Then we come out at 3 x 2 x 48 x $12 = $3,456 annually and this will not protect the aircraft (and ancillary equipment) against theft or PD in the event of a crash or the pilot against business interruption or data protection claims. This is why I said as a pure aviation liability cover, this can work out proportionally expensive for some.

For this reason people should look at exactly what they want from a policy (commercial operators as well as hobbyists) and think carefully whether this is the right product for them. If you are flying regularly/commercially this type of hourly rate structure can actually (and does in my case by a large margin) work out much more expensive and not give the spread of coverage an annual policy affords.

I am not trying to rubbish your product since for many it will serve a purpose. I am mearly offering an opinion and a warning that individuals should do their homework (as I am sure you do when shopping around for Homeowners or Vehicle coverage) and make sure it is right for them and that costs over a 12 month period are not disproportionate compared with an annual policy.

Just my two cents........ :)
 
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I agree with the @Editor that people's flying time will vary but it does need to be teased out as to what it is and I encourage others to look around and do the maths too.

I'm in the UK and would regard myself (compared to others) as a light commercial operator. As this is Public Liability only even for me the equivalent PL in $ for my current policy works out at $10 blanket coverage per week, not per hour, based on a 48 week working year.

So for 1 flying hour ($10/hour at best) per week for 48 weeks that's 480 USD. If you fly less than this then the pay-as-you-go model may be worth considering...for PL only.

It has its niche, but most commercial operators will do many more hours than this.

PS. And mine is £3 million GBP

PFAW Holder
BNUC-S Qualified
 
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