When reviewing your drone insurance, there are a few important terms to understand that will help you stay on top of your ongoing insurance requirements.
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Setting up your business requires a lot of bureaucratic work, and let’s be honest, working with your broker to get insurance secured is not one of the most attractive aspects of the job.
Even after you’ve secured your policy, you learn that your insurance work is not done. For your projects, you suddenly have to accommodate different client requests and provide various documentation. Ultimately, this means that you actually have to read through and understand your policy details to make sure you have exactly what is required of you. This is often where the headache kicks in.
At SkyWatch.AI, we’re focused on two things: transparency and flexibility. When it comes to the confusing insurance industry jargon, we’re here to simplify - and when it comes to accommodating your various projects’ needs, your policy is ready to be modified on the go, with the click of a button.
We’ve designed our drone insurance purchase platform in a way that defines the policy for you as you customize it. We know that drone pilots are busy, with no time for headaches. By understanding the most basic insurance terms and definitions, specifically in your SkyWatch.AI drone insurance policy, you will be far more equipped when it comes time to proving your coverage and getting your job approved.
Recorded
Recorded seems like an obvious one, right? Well, this term is perhaps the one that throws most people off. The declaration page of the SkyWatch.AI Policy (see definition below) states that the policy is hereunder: As recorded and described by the Named Insured in the SkyWatch system.
This raises the question, so my UAV flight must be recorded with SkyWatch.AI? The answer is a simple no. The policy is fully active and authorized by SkyWatch.AI and has nothing to do with drone flight recordings.
When an insurance policy is purchased or activated, it is recorded on file with the insurance company. The act of being recorded makes it official and holds the company and the insured accountable for the terms agreed upon. For example, in the insurance world, an agent of record is a company or broker who has the legal responsibility to represent the insured in maintaining and purchasing an insurance policy. This agent records or authorizes the policy being purchased.
Bodily Injury + Personal Property Liability:
This liability provides coverage for damages resulting in bodily injury, death, or property damage sustained by others due to your drone operations. You are legally responsible for the damages and the coverage protects 3rd parties involved. The liability limit varies on the coverage you select when customizing the plan ($.5M, $1M, $2M, $5M USD) ($100,000, $500,000, $1M, $2M, $5M CAD). This limit will cover you per occurrence, meaning the policy will cover all claims resulting from a single occurrence, no matter how many people are involved or property is damaged - up to the limit you selected.
Personal Injury Liability
This coverage, while it seems related to medical expenses, actually only refers to coverage for personal injury to others such as libel, slander, invasion of privacy, false arrest, etc. Similar to bodily injury liability, you can customize this to different limits ($25,000 or $100,000 USD and CAD). This limit will cover you for each offense and in the aggregate, meaning the policy will cover claims up to this limit throughout your policy period.
Hull Coverage
Hull refers to the aircraft or UAV itself. By adding hull coverage to your policy, you are protecting against physical damage to the drone. Hull coverage will protect physical damage by the aircraft sustained while in-flight, on-ground, and in transit. This coverage requires an additional premium based on the insured or declared value of the UAV.
Named Insured
This refers to the person or entity identified as the policyholder. In most cases, it is the drone pilot or the company for which the drone pilot works. If the company is listed as the named insured, then all employees will be covered under the policy.
Additional Insured
This refers to any person or 3rd party, aside from the named insured, who is added to the policy. By adding an additional insured, this individual or entity will be covered by the same policy as the named insured. When adding an additional insured, their details will be reflected in the certificate of insurance as opposed to the policy document. You can always add an additional insured to your policy at no extra expense.
Endorsement
Endorsements are what allow our drone insurance policies to be flexible. Anytime you make a change to your policy, the changes will be shown through an endorsement. It is a statement/written document added to the policy that alters, deletes, or adds coverage terms to your existing policy.
Insured Value
When adding a drone onto your policy for hull coverage, the premium is calculated based on the drone’s value. As the policyholder, you are responsible for declaring this value. The policy will cover physical damage to the limit you declare, minus a 14% deductible, and does not take into consideration depreciation.
Waiver of Subrogation
This is a clause in which the insurance company waives its right to seek subrogation against an additional insured covered under the policy. The insured waives his/her rights to recover losses and costs against the other party. Often times, clients will ask to see this waiver in writing. When adding an additional insured to your policy, the clause will automatically appear. We are also happy to provide an endorsement with this language upon request.
Premium
In return for providing coverage, the named insured is responsible for paying a premium. For our drone insurance policies, there are two separate premiums: liability and hull (optional). Premiums can be paid on a monthly or annual basis. As you modify your insurance policy, there may be additional premium costs. For example, adding a new drone mid policy or adding indoor coverage.
Declaration Page
The most important page of the policy is the declaration page which lists all the basic information included in the policy. It identifies the policyholder, coverage territory, policy period, liability limits. If changes are made, the declaration page will not be modified, rather an endorsement will be provided.
By learning the basic and most common terms in your drone insurance policy, you will gain the confidence to make informed decisions for your company with regards to coverage. While all of our information is available online, you are always invited to speak with our dedicated team of agents by phone or email.
support@skywatch.ai | 888-364-5033
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