On-Demand Insurance Through the DroneDeploy App Market

Verifly and DroneDeploy Partnership Gives Drone Operators Easy Access to Pay-Per-Use Liability Coverage

As any commercial drone pilot knows, liability insurance is a must if you’re running a serious, professional operation. Sure, carrying a million-dollar insurance policy isn’t as exciting as, say, wowing a new client with a 3D model of their construction site, but it’s just as critical a part of doing business. As we’ve written about before, not only does an adequate insurance policy protect you and your commercial drone business from legal liability should an accident happen, but more to the point, most clients require proof of liability insurance before ever letting a drone take off at their site.

We’re always on the lookout for ways to help drone pilots run their businesses more efficiently, which is why we want to make sure you know about our partnership with Verifly, which provides on-demand drone liability insurance from as little as $10 per hour.

Terry Power of Tampa Bay Sky Cam says he started using Verifly because he wanted a simple, easy way to protect himself and his corporate clients.

“Verifly makes it easy for drone operators. When you’re doing work around properties that cost literally millions of dollars, it would be reckless not to protect yourself and your clients. Verifly gives me and my clients the peace of mind that we need when we’re engaged for a job.” — Terry Power, Tampa Bay Sky Cam

With Verifly’s mobile app, all you have to do is confirm your location and select your flight area, and you are given a real-time price quote. Enter your email and credit card and presto! — a one-million-dollar liability policy for the duration of your flight.

Advantages of Pay-Per-Use Insurance

Of course, drone operators can opt for more traditional, long-term liability policies, but for many small drone service businesses, there are some distinct advantages to choosing pay-per-use insurance.

No large upfront expense: For small drone businesses, a pay-per-use liability policy is often the most cost effective option. Annual drone insurance policies cost upwards of a thousand dollars per year. Unless you are out flying every day, it can be difficult to justify this price tag. A pay-per-use policy allows you to buy coverage only when you need it and skip the expense when you don’t.

Bill cost of insurance to client: Because pay-per-use insurance policies last only for the duration of the flight, it’s easy to tie the expense to a particular job. Many drone providers take this opportunity to bill the cost of insurance to the client. After all, liability insurance is as much for the benefit of the client as it is for the drone pilot.

No application process: Who wants to fill out those multi-page PDFs that are required by traditional liability insurance policies? With Verifly’s pay-per-use option, everyone is instantly approved. No waiting, no fuss.

Insure any drone up to 15lbs: Pay-per-use policies are not tied to a specific drone, which is great for operators who own multiple rigs. (Maybe you just got a new drone under the tree this Christmas?) Verifly even allows you to operate more than one drone within a single policy period, provided you don’t operate more than one at a time.

Add client name to a policy: Many clients require drone service providers to list their company as “additionally insured” on a liability policy. This means that, in the event a drone flight leads to an injury or property claim against the client company, that claim will be covered under the drone provider’s policy. With an annual policy, this requires contacting the insurance company and waiting, sometimes a few days, for a response. Verifly users, on the other hand, can simply add a client’s name to each policy right in the app.

A Note About Liability Insurance

It is important to point out that liability insurance covers damage caused to a third party by a drone operation. This includes bodily injury, as well as property damage. It does not, however, cover damage to the drone itself. For this, you will need hull insurance. Currently, Verifly’s policies do not include hull insurance, so if this is a current need for your company, you will have to purchase it separately. That being said, Verifly tell us that, due to customer interest, they are investigating the possibility of adding hull insurance to their portfolio in the future.

Verifly and DroneDeploy Partner for a Seamless Insurance Process

To make a super simple insurance process even easier, Verifly is now integrated into DroneDeploy’s App Market. This means that if you link Verifly to your DroneDeploy account, you can initiate coverage without ever leaving your dashboard. Simply select your planned flight, perform your safety check and add Verifly insurance with the click of a few buttons. It’s that simple.

DroneDeploy users who have already covered their flights with Verifly will be happy to hear about several new features available with the most recent release.

• Universal coverage — authorized pilots can get insurance near airports, heliports and stadiums
• Up to $2.5M limit
• 1,4, and 8-hour policies
• Up to 1/2 mile coverage area

Get Started with Drone Deploy

Want to learn how DroneDeploy can help your business? Visit www.dronedeploy.com to start your free trial or request a consultation with one of our team members. The DroneDeploy mobile application is available for free download for both iOS and Android devices.