Drone Insurance for Home Inspectors:3 Types You Need and Why

What damage can a drone cause when it collides with a person? According to an article by Popular Mechanics, the answer is that it depends. In an 18-month long study by the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE), researchers flew drones into and dropped drones onto crash dummies and cadavers to assess what injuries drones can inflict. Through 512 impact tests and simulations using 16 different drones, scientists found that orientation, speed, and weight determine injury severity. While eye gouging and death appear to be drone-induced long shots, lacerations, cuts, and bruises seem to be standard fare. Knowing what kind of harm is most common, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can now create safety standards to mitigate drone-induced injuries. As a home inspector, you have a responsibility to buyers, sellers, agents, and neighbors to mitigate your risk against drone-related injuries and claims. In addition to caring for and piloting your drone responsibly, you can protect the public and your business by carrying drone insurance. In this post, we aim to squash common concerns and misunderstandings so that you can know what coverage you need and what you don’t.

What is drone insurance?

Drone insurance is any coverage that applies to your drone. When asking, “What does drone insurance cover?” the answer lies in the specific type of insurance you have. When inspecting with a drone, there are three primary types of insurance coverage to consider:

1. General liability
2. Equipment (inland marine)
3. Errors and omissions

We discuss all three in more detail below. But before we do, let’s rapid-fire answer a few frequently asked questions regarding insurance for drones.

• Do home inspectors need a drone license? Yes, the FAA requires a Part 107 Remote Pilot Certificate for anyone who operates a drone commercially, including home inspectors.
• Is drone insurance required? Or do you need insurance for a drone? No, most places do not require you to carry commercial drone insurance. However, state and local regulations can vary. For example, San Diego County and Malibu City, both in California, require drone operator insurance. So it’s important you stay up-to-date on not just your state’s but your local cities’ and counties’ laws to keep compliant.
• How much does drone insurance cost? The cost of drone insurance depends on the type of coverage you buy. For example, here at InspectorPro, we combine errors and omissions and general liability coverage into one policy, so the combined home inspection and commercial drone insurance cost is typically between $1,200 and $2,500 per year. (Check out this page for more on home inspector insurance costs.) Drone camera insurance, or protection against damage to or theft of your drone, costs between $200 and $500 annually.

• Do I need drone insurance? Or is it worth getting drone insurance? Absolutely. Insurance for drone inspections can protect your clients, your business, and you against drone insurance claims for:
  • Damage to property
  • Injury to people and pets
  • Damage or theft of the drone itself
  • Not discovering important defects with your drone

Let’s see how the three types of drone insurance coverage—general liability, equipment, and errors and omissions—help defend you against the claims above.

Drone Liability Insurance

During a drone show in Orlando, Florida, multiple drones malfunctioned and fell into an unsuspecting crowd. One struck a seven-year-old child in the chest, injuring them severely. The child was rushed to the hospital where they had to undergo open-heart surgery to survive the drone impact. You may not be doing aerial shows, but as a drone operator, you are responsible for damage or injury caused by your drone. General liability insurance (also known as drone accidental damage insurance or drone accident, crash, damage, or flyaway insurance) covers inspectors accused of damaging property or injuring a person during a drone inspection. According to Michael Spaargaren of First Choice Inspectors in Illinois, carrying general liability insurance can give inspectors additional protection when the technology fails. “The drones that we use have avoidance technology on there—anti-collision software built in—so it won’t let you get too close to a roof [or] a person,” Spaargaren said. “[But general liability coverage] is a nice fail safe. You never know if the signal is going to jam, if it’s going to be unresponsive, [or] if you’re going to get a flyaway situation.” Some examples of what a general liability claim involving a drone might look like:

• While taking off on a windy day, you lose control of your drone and crash it through a window.
• During your roof inspection, you’re distracted by a question from your client. The drone does a nosedive into the roof and damages several shingles.
• Your drone loses battery power mid flight and falls on your client’s child. The blades cut them badly enough that the child has to get stitches.
• While landing your drone, you’re surprised by the neighbor’s dog who rushes at your drone. Before you can change course, the drone clips the dog’s face, causing permanent damage and blindness in one of the dog’s eyes.

Drone insurance claims like the examples above can cost you precious time and money. However, when you work with an insurance company familiar with the home inspection industry, their claims team can minimize or eliminate your potential liability by properly handling claims. “Drones: You have to be careful,” said William Chandler of Property 360 in Florida. “We don’t do anything crazy with them, but sometimes, signals can interfere, and you won’t know it. So, I would not operate a drone without insurance.”

How to Buy Drone Liability Insurance

InspectorPro includes general liability coverage for drones in our standard inspection insurance policy. To get a quote for our combined general and professional liability insurance for home inspectors, complete our online application. However, many providers don’t, excluding any activities relating to aviation—including drones. With those providers, you’ll need to add drone coverage with an endorsement for an additional cost. Endorsements are amendments to your policy that modify coverage, usually by adding additional coverage or changing exclusions. In this case, a drone endorsement to your general liability policy gives you coverage for bodily injury and property damage caused by your drone—which wouldn’t ordinarily be granted with most carriers. Alternatively, with an InspectorPro policy, drone liability insurance is included at no additional cost.

Equipment Coverage for Your Drone

What about coverage for physical damage to or loss of your drone? That’s where inland marine, or equipment, coverage comes in. Consider your automobile insurance policy. You can carry “liability only” coverage on your car, which would cover the other person in an accident if the crash was your fault. But you wouldn’t have any protection against damage to your own vehicle. Just like your car insurance, you can opt to add coverage for your drone in case of accident or theft. This protection to your drone is called equipment coverage.  Also known as inland marine coverage or a commercial property floater, equipment coverage insures your inspection tools and equipment—like your drone while you’re flying it during inspections. In most cases, equipment coverage reimburses you for the replacement cost of your stolen or damaged drone. This coverage can apply to not just drones  you own but also ones you lease or rent. Examples of inland marine insurance claims that involve a drone include:

• Someone burglarizes your locked inspection vehicle and swipes your drone.
• While taking off, you lose control of your drone and crash it to the ground. The fall damages the wings and internal computer.

Many equipment insurance policies cover physical loss or damage caused by perils, such as falling objects, fire, lightning, sinkhole collapse, vandalism, vehicles, and water damage. To see what perils are and are not covered, review the Conditions and Definitions sections of your inland marine policy.

How to Buy Drone Equipment Insurance

To apply for equipment coverage, contact your home inspection insurance provider. Here at InspectorPro, we offer limits from $10,000 to $40,000, priced from $200 to $500 annually. Both options have a $250 deductible.

Errors and Omissions Insurance for Your Drone

While evaluating a two-story colonial home with a steeply pitched roof, a home inspector uses their drone. During the inspection and while reviewing the footage later, the inspector sees no major damage in the drone images. However, six months later, the inspector receives an attorney letter. His drone had missed several lifted shingles on the north-facing slope and a cracked rubber boot around the vent pipe. The clients were demanding the inspector pay for the roof repairs. Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance protects you against accusations of breach of duty or neglect, errors, misstatements or misleading statements, and omissions. Because you use a drone to inspect the roof—a component of a standard inspection—you don’t usually need to carry an endorsement on your E&O policy for your drone—just like you don’t typically need an endorsement to use a ladder, either. However, it’s still important to have E&O coverage when you’re inspecting with a drone. Roof-related claims are the second most common type of allegation in the inspection industry. As such, drone roof inspection insurance claims are one of the most likely claims you may face while operating your drone. “There are some people that still say: ‘I’ve been doing this for 20 years. I don’t carry E&O insurance. I carry general liability.’ You’re insane,” said Jud Faust of Liberty Inspections in Kentucky and Tennessee. “E&O [claims are] where you’re going to lose your business [if you don’t carry insurance].”

How to Buy Drone E&O Insurance

Got an InspectorPro policy? Chances are you already have both general liability and errors and omissions coverage combined in one convenient policy. Not insured with us yet? Apply today for a no-obligation drone insurance quote.

Protect yourself with commercial drone insurance.

Protect your home inspection business by carrying the best drone insurance. By having general liability, equipment, and errors and omissions protection, your drone insurance coverage will be better prepared to face claims that come flying your way. “Things happen. [Maybe] you lose control in a gust of wind and you put the drone through the next-door neighbor’s house and you hit somebody with it. You could be talking hundreds of thousands of dollars in liability. You have to protect yourself. And you’re also protecting your clients,” Faust said. Tim Woodcock of First Choice Property Inspections, LLC in Florida agrees that drone insurance is a worthwhile investment. “Make sure you have that drone coverage,” Woodcock said. “It’s not going to cost you an arm and a leg. At least you have the peace of mind that, if somebody does sue you…you’ve got that covered.”