Drone insurance

When must you always have insurance for flying your drone or model aircraft?

If your drone or model aircraft is 20kg or more, you must have third-party drone insurance, no matter what you use it for.

You’ll need specific cover for your drone based on how you use it.

Hobby drone insurance in the UK

If your drone is under 20kg and just for fun, you’re not legally obliged to have insurance.

But although it’s not a legal requirement to have hobby drone insurance in the UK, enthusiasts recommend that hobby pilots have third-party public liability insurance for recreational drone flying.

This means that you could be financially protected by your drone cover if an unfortunate crash landing on someone’s home or car results in damage or injury.

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What’s the best drone insurance for me?

Whether you’re using your drone for business or pleasure, you have a choice of two main policy types:

1. A traditional annual policy usually split into monthly payments. This is a popular choice for commercial pilots who use their drones on a regular basis.
2. A pay-as-you-fly (PAFL) policy. This protects your drone only while you’re using it and, therefore, might be cheaper. It may include cover per flight or over a period of time, for example, per hour, per day or per week. This is usually a good option for occasional flyers or if you’re planning a holiday somewhere scenic and fancy taking some great aerial photographs.

In addition, some drone flying clubs can offer insurance cover as part of your membership payment. 

What does commercial drone insurance include?

If you use your drone for work, you may also want to check potential policies to see if they cover the following, depending on your needs:

• Aviation liability insurance –

  which is compulsory if you fly your drone commercially. It should meet the CAA’s requirements so you’re covered against:

  • Acts of war

  • Terrorism

  • Hijacking

  • Acts of sabotage

  • Unlawful seizure of aircraft and civil commotion.

• Equipment cover – for both in-flight and out-of-flight equipment, payload and spares.
• Hired-in equipment cover – protects equipment not owned by you that you’ve hired in.
• Cyber cover against the drone being hacked.
• Replacement drone hire.
• Transit cover – while your drone is being moved.
• Night flying.
• Legal expenses.
• Employers’ liability – to protect employers against the cost of compensation claims if an employee injures themselves or becomes ill as a result of working for them. Check any existing employers’ liability policy to see how this would cover you for drone use.
• Professional indemnity insurance – allows you to recover losses from compensation claims made against you in certain circumstances.
• Business travel insurance may be needed for the operator, in addition to any transit cover for the drone, if not included in the drone policy.

Some specialist providers will also offer short-term policies while you undertake the necessary CAA training and flight assessment. They will then refund the amount when you take out a full policy with them.

When you’re choosing commercial drone insurance, it’s also worth thinking about:

• The number of drones you want to cover
• The flying hours you expect to do
• How many operators and pilots need to be included in the cover
• Where in the world you’ll be flying.

For both recreational and commercial drone users, read the small print to make sure you choose the right recreational drone insurance cover.

Are drones dangerous?

A drone could be dangerous – for example, if it hits the windscreen of an aircraft or gets caught up in the blades of a helicopter mid-flight.

With this in mind, UK law restricts all drones from flying above 400 feet and within the flight restriction zone of an airport.

To help you fly safely, take the courses to develop your flying skills. And with safety in mind, consider using Drone Assist or an equivalent app. Drone Assist is a drone safety app from NATS, the UK’s main air traffic control experts. When you use it, you can see an interactive map of airspace used by commercial air traffic so you can check areas to avoid or those where you’ll need to use caution when flying your drone.

The app also identifies ground hazards and gives you the chance to share your location with the wider drone community when you’re out flying.

What is the Drone Code?

For practical advice on becoming a safer drone pilot, the Drone Code is your one-stop shop.

Here’s a summary of key points on where to fly your drone:

1. Make sure you can always see your drone without needing binoculars or any other viewing equipment. This is known as keeping a visual line of sight.
2. Never fly it above 120 metres (400 feet).
3. Keep it at least 50m away from people, including people in buildings, cars or boats.
4. Never fly your drone over people, particularly crowds.
5. Keep at least 150 metres away from residential, recreational, commercial and industrial areas.

6. Avoid airports, airfields and aircraft and follow any local byelaws about where you can and can’t fly.

7. Don't endanger or disturb animals and wildlife. 

The code also provides guidance about how to make sure every flight is safe, from checking your equipment, to not flying if you’re under the influence of drink or drugs. 

If you want to fly outside the rules of the code, you’ll need special authorisation from the Civil Aviation Authority.