Drones are hard to fly and easy to crash, so in an ideal world, it would be a great idea to insure your drone. But are there insurance companies that will back drones? I did some research and here’s what I found.

Some insurance companies will cover drone hull damage caused by pilot error, water damage, and loss or theft. However, most of the time, these insurance packages are offered by drone manufacturers themselves. Such as DJI’s care refresh package that will cover all DJI drones against pilot error and even water damage.

Before I show you the best drone insurance companies to use as a hobby drone pilot, it’s important to understand that there are two types of drone insurance.

2 Types of Drone Insurance

Hull cover is the most common type of insurance requested by drone pilots and I’m guessing you’re probably looking for this. Depending on the insurance company, you’ll be covered for any damage or loss caused to the actual drone. Insurance covering a crashed, lost, or stolen drone will all be an example of hull insurance.

Liability insurance. The best way to describe liability insurance is it covers any damage done to people and or property. So if you crash your drone into someones car, or take someone eye out with your drone’s propellers by accident, then liability insurance is designed to cover this. This is very similar to your vehicles liability insurance. However unlike vehicles, liability insurance in the U.S is not mandatory for hobby or commercial drone pilots. But keep in mind this might change in the near future.

Insurance Companies That Cover Drones

	Insurer:	Has Liability Coverage?	Covers Hull?	Covers Pilot Error?	Covers Water Damage?	Protects Against Theft or Loss?	Cost:	Get Quote link:
1.	Drone Insurance	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	$10.18 per month	VIEW
2.	SkyWatch	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	$71.33 per month	VIEW
3.	RVNA	YES	YES	YES	YES	YES	$32.66 per month	VIEW
4.	Verifly by Thimble	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO	$10 per hour	VIEW
5.	DJI Care Refresh	NO	YES	YES	YES	NO	$6.6 per month	VIEW

I got real quotes from these companies for my DJI Mavic Air 2, follow this link to see more details on them.

DJI Care Refresh: Is it worth it?

If you have a DJI, you’re in luck. Insuring your drone just got a whole lot easier.

As a standard, all DJI drones do come with a standard warranty, however, it will only cover if the drone malfunctions and won’t cover any mistakes made by the pilot, such as crashes, water damage, etc. So how does DJI care refresh differ?

DJI’s care refresh is an “insurance’ policy that bridges that gap. It will cover your drone for 12 months and for a Mavic Air 2 that costs $799 for example, it will only cost you a one time fee of around $79. In the 12 month period, the insurance package will allow you to replace your drone or repair it up to two times, however, keep in mind that you’ll still have to pay around $50 per claim. So what exactly does it cover?

Here’s exactly what the DJI care refresh package will cover:

• Any damage caused by pilot error, including water damage.
• Collisions and signal interference.
• Damage caused by dropping your drone.

That being said, no insurance package is perfect, especially for high risk drones. Here’s what they won’t cover your drone for:

• If you have been flying in extreme conditions such as thunderstorms, heavy snow, and rain.
• If you’ve made any modifications to your drone that might void the warranty, your DJI care refresh package will also become void. So be careful when trying to modify your drone.
• They won’t cover cosmetic damage.
• If your drone has been stolen or lost.

For the price, I still think it’s well worth it especially if your drone is expensive, or if you’re new to flying drones. If you’ve never owned a drone before in your life then you’ll more than likely crash your drone more times in the next 12 months than you will in a lifetime, so the DJI Care refresh package will be a perfect option for you.

Geico: Do they offer drone insurance yet?

This has been LONG awaited since they are the most popular insurance provider in the United States.

As of 12 May 2020, Geico still doesn’t offer any drone insurance, which I find a bit strange. But keep a lookout. Drones are becoming more and more popular so it’s just a matter of time before they begin offering insurance packages to hobby drone pilots.

Do You Even Need Drone Insurance?

It’s always worth asking if you even need hull and liability insurance for your drone. Legally speaking you don’t need insurance, which leaves you with the question, should you insure your drone?

If your drone is only worth a couple of hundred dollars then it’s not really worth insuring it for hull damage. You’re better off putting away money every month to cover the drone yourself later if something does happen. However, you still might want to consider liability insurance to make sure you don’t injure someone whole not being covered.

On the other hand, if your drone is worth $500 or more, then hull insurance is definitely something you’ll want to consider especially if you’re new to flying drones. There’s a very real chance that you’ll crash and damage your drone when starting out.

What if you’re flying your drone for commercial purposes? Then you’ll definitely want to make sure your drone is covered with hull and liability insurance, just like with a normal vehicle. Commercial drones are usually big, expensive and since you’re flying it often there’s a higher likelihood that you’ll injure someone or damage property.

Liability insurance will cover any damage caused by your drone to people or property. It’s not uncommon for liability claims to be as high as a few hundred thousand dollars so make sure you’re covered to avoid risking your business.

Are Drones Covered On Home Insurance Plans?

Home insurance might cover liability claims, depending on how their policies are worded. In some cases, home insurance companies will exclude accidents that happen with aircraft, but again, whether or not they’ll consider covering accidents that happen with drones all depends on how they define the word “aircraft.”

You’ll get home insurance companies that see drones as aircraft, while others will see drones as just toys, in which case they will cover.

So it depends. The best way to check is to phone your home insurance provider and ask them if they will cover any damage caused by your drone.