drone insurance by the hour

Joined
Jun 13, 2016
Messages
90
Reaction score
20
Age
44
very interesting insurance coverage you can buy as you fly: starting $10/hr Verifly – On-demand Drone Insurance
only for 42 states now (as of aug 21). in a mobile app, specify where you are flying, agree to the terms and start flying. rates start at $10 per hour depending on the area, and they'll cover both commercial as well as private uses. policy shown so far covers damages and injuries to others for lightweight drones (under 15lbs), but you'll be hosed if you either damage your drone or use it beyond certain conditions. If you fly inside, above 400 feet or in drone races.
i bought insurance from Neary Aerial - Drone and UAV Extended Warranty. but its always good to have choices.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: b2photo
This seems like a really good option for people just starting to fly commercially and don't have a ton of work lined up. Thanks for sharing!
 
Yes, or teams with a lot of drones that don't want to insure each one (any drone is covered, no need to schedule).
 
Wonder how this will play out with agencies who require you to have a liability endorsement signed over to them as part of the permit process for commercial work?

I know the U.S. Forest Service wants paperwork submitted weeks in advance and an endorsement of $2-$4 million attached from the underwriter naming the specific forest as the beneficiary. I don't know how they'd handle online, or if they would. Entire permit process was an expensive nightmare for me to shoot commercially within a forest and not worth it in the end (Permit was in excess of $2K and climbing with all other county hands stuck out for dollars that the specific forest land it resided in!). The endorsement from my underwriter was only $11 for the $4 million required off my $800 annual general liability policy, but the permit itself, along with assigned F.S. monitors, was ungodly expensive!

I'll also add that for video shoots in Los Angeles, the permit agency is FilmLA. Your commercial permit to shoot video there now runs $660 per day since they raised their prices August 1, 2016.

FilmL.A. Raises Permit Fees For First Time in 8 Years

To be commercially viable, you'll have to charge a lot. How many willing to pay is another matter. Most studios have their aerial work done by a union shop and it's pretty tough to get into.

Mack
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Falcon900
How does this differ from insurance that comes with an AMA membership (not sure if you are covered by AMA if using your bird for commercial purposes).
 
How does this differ from insurance that comes with an AMA membership (not sure if you are covered by AMA if using your bird for commercial purposes).

Great question. Brief analysis below (sorry to list so many areas but they may be important to different types of pilots):
  1. It "does not cover business pursuits" e.g. commercial use. Verifly works for any commercial or recreational use.
  2. AMA only covers accidents arising from modelling activities "in accordance with AMA safety codes".
  3. No AMA coverage for family members (compare Verifly's policy Does the policy cover injury to my family? - Verifly Support which does offer this coverage).
  4. No AMA coverage for Invasion of Privacy (vs $10k for Verifly What Does the Invasion of Privacy Coverage Protect Against? - Verifly Support).
  5. Has a $250 deductible vs $0 for Verifly (Does the policy have a deductible? - Verifly Support)
  6. The AMA is an "excess policy". The policy delivered by Verifly is a "primary policy". An excess policy generally will not pay out until all your other insurances have been exhausted whereas Verifly kicks in straight away. Does Verifly provide a Primary or Excess policy and what’s the difference anyway? - Verifly Support
  7. The policy arranged by Verifly is an aviation policy written specifically for drones underwritten by an aviation insurance provider (Global). AMA (ironically) is not an aviation policy.
  8. AMA is a $75+ annual commitment. No annual commitment for Verifly.
Source: https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/memanual.pdf

AMA is a great organization and I am a member so it is important to stress that Verifly and AMA are by no means mutually-exclusive.

Best,

Jay
 
Great question. Brief analysis below (sorry to list so many areas but they may be important to different types of pilots):
  1. It "does not cover business pursuits" e.g. commercial use. Verifly works for any commercial or recreational use.
  2. AMA only covers accidents arising from modelling activities "in accordance with AMA safety codes".
  3. No AMA coverage for family members (compare Verifly's policy Does the policy cover injury to my family? - Verifly Support which does offer this coverage).
  4. No AMA coverage for Invasion of Privacy (vs $10k for Verifly What Does the Invasion of Privacy Coverage Protect Against? - Verifly Support).
  5. Has a $250 deductible vs $0 for Verifly (Does the policy have a deductible? - Verifly Support)
  6. The AMA is an "excess policy". The policy delivered by Verifly is a "primary policy". An excess policy generally will not pay out until all your other insurances have been exhausted whereas Verifly kicks in straight away. Does Verifly provide a Primary or Excess policy and what’s the difference anyway? - Verifly Support
  7. The policy arranged by Verifly is an aviation policy written specifically for drones underwritten by an aviation insurance provider (Global). AMA (ironically) is not an aviation policy.
  8. AMA is a $75+ annual commitment. No annual commitment for Verifly.
Source: https://www.modelaircraft.org/files/memanual.pdf

AMA is a great organization and I am a member so it is important to stress that Verifly and AMA are by no means mutually-exclusive.

Best,

Jay
Thanks for that awesome comparison. I'll definitely be using Verifly in the future!
 
  • Like
Reactions: David Bercovich
I downloaded the app to my iPhone. The only thing holding me back is the 107 ticket.

I like the idea–it's a good business model.

Here's my question: How will I be able to show a client that I was (or am) insured? Haven't not clicked on the Get Insured button... does payment come out of my Apple account?

SB
 
I downloaded the app to my iPhone. The only thing holding me back is the 107 ticket.

I like the idea–it's a good business model.

Here's my question: How will I be able to show a client that I was (or am) insured? Haven't not clicked on the Get Insured button... does payment come out of my Apple account?

SB
Thanks! Payment is by credit card (we are looking at Apple Pay for the future). Showing Proof of Insurance is easy - you can show the client an in-app cert or email it to them from the app: How do I present Proof of Insurance to a regulator or client? - Verifly Support

Jay
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sagebrush
Used Verifly this weekend shooting some video at a 5k. App was super easy to use and was able to get insured within seconds (had payment info and account all setup beforehand). My only suggestion would be to add a feature to auto-renew the policy. I needed coverage for about 3 hours and had to get 3 individual policies for the same area. While I know the price can change, it would be would awesome to say I want it to auto renew 2 times if the price doesn't change and if the price does change, then send a push notification. In my case, the price was a steady $10/hr for the 3 hours I used it.

Overall though, was very happy with the app. I have an Apple watch so it was easy to see the notifications on how much time I had left. Can't attest to what the claims process would be and how easy it is (and hopefully never have to), but that would be the only thing I'd like to hear more about from an actual user. Definitely would recommend the app though!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jay Bregman
Used Verifly this weekend shooting some video at a 5k. App was super easy to use and was able to get insured within seconds (had payment info and account all setup beforehand). My only suggestion would be to add a feature to auto-renew the policy. I needed coverage for about 3 hours and had to get 3 individual policies for the same area. While I know the price can change, it would be would awesome to say I want it to auto renew 2 times if the price doesn't change and if the price does change, then send a push notification. In my case, the price was a steady $10/hr for the 3 hours I used it.

Overall though, was very happy with the app. I have an Apple watch so it was easy to see the notifications on how much time I had left. Can't attest to what the claims process would be and how easy it is (and hopefully never have to), but that would be the only thing I'd like to hear more about from an actual user. Definitely would recommend the app though!

Thanks for the thorough review! We are looking to add options to purchase blocks of hours which would address the issue you raised. The claims process is handled by Global Aerospace who are experts in aviation insurance. Thanks again!
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,936
Latest member
hirehackers