It is aviation, which is why your general liability already excludes it.
Cover for commercial drone operators — liability the standard policy carves out as aircraft, hull cover for the airframe, and the privacy exposure that comes with a camera in the air.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What drone operator businesses actually need.
Drone liability
Injury and property damage caused by the aircraft.
Without it — General liability excludes aircraft, and a drone is an aircraft.
Hull
Physical damage to the airframe, payload and gimbal.
Without it — A fly-away or a hard landing writes off the equipment.
Invasion of privacy
Claims arising from imagery captured, intentionally or not.
Without it — A camera over private property is the complaint this trade gets.
Professional liability
Errors in survey, mapping, inspection or thermal work relied on by a client.
Without it — A wrong roof report or bad photogrammetry is a financial loss, not damage.
Non-owned and rented aircraft
Drones you hire, borrow, or that a subcontracted pilot flies for you.
Without it — A subcontracted pilot’s incident is still your client’s claim.
What drone operator operators ask us.
Doesn’t my business policy already cover the drone?
Almost certainly not. Commercial general liability contains an aircraft exclusion, and it does not distinguish by size — a drone is an aircraft for that purpose, so damage or injury it causes falls outside the policy. Some insurers will endorse limited drone liability onto a business policy for incidental use; anyone flying commercially, and anyone whose client asks for evidence, needs it written properly. Photographers and roofers adding aerial work are the two groups most likely to be flying uninsured without realizing.
What do clients typically require?
A $1,000,000 liability limit is the common baseline, with the client named as an additional insured, and evidence of your Part 107 certification. Film productions, utilities, construction sites and public agencies frequently ask for more and may add specific requirements about operating within visual line of sight or holding waivers. Ask for the requirement in writing at booking — a drone policy can usually be bound quickly, but not on the morning of the shoot.
Is hull cover worth it?
It depends on what you fly and what it carries. On a consumer-grade airframe the premium can approach the replacement cost and self-insuring is reasonable. On an enterprise platform with a thermal or LiDAR payload the numbers are entirely different and hull is straightforward value. Note that hull and liability are separate decisions — you can carry liability alone, and most operators should never do the reverse.
What about privacy complaints?
They are the most common non-damage claim in the trade and they are frequently excluded. A drone over a neighboring property, a wedding overflown, a resident filmed during a roof survey — the complaint is invasion of privacy rather than injury or damage, and general liability’s personal and advertising injury grant is narrower than operators assume. Check whether the policy addresses it explicitly, and keep flight logs, because the defense is usually about where the aircraft actually was.
Not ready to talk? The guides answer the questions this page raises in more depth. Already insured with us and need a certificate or a policy change? Ask the service team rather than starting a quote — it is faster and it goes to the people whose job it is. We also write home and auto, which is usually cheaper alongside the business policy than apart from it.