Toy Drone Liability

If holiday estimates are correct, over 200,000 drones were given out as Christmas gifts this year.   This means that tens of thousands of relative novices will be controlling small, uncrewed aerial vehicles in densely populated cities and suburbs.  And with the inevitable swooping over houses and cars, spooking pets and dodging humans will invariably lead to cracked windows, damaged vehicles, and some bloody injuries.

Drone liability?  As crazy as it sounds to be discussing this, below, we have included some tips and tricks to protect you and your family in case your toy drone causes damages to others.

If you have any questions on how your homeowners’ insurance will respond to a claim like this, please feel free to give our office a call.

Homeowners Insurance: 
The liability protection in homeowner’s or renters insurance policies will sometimes cover damage or injury from a drone crashing into a neighbor’s house, vehicle, or child. Yet this coverage isn’t universal.  Some policies specifically carry an aviation exclusion encompassing recreational drones, which the Federal Aviation Administration currently classifies as small aircraft.

Some insurance companies will cover damage to someone else’s property.  Damage to your own property, though, is excluded from the policy.  Other insurance companies will cover the claim just like other covered claims.  (If you would like to find out how your policy will respond, please give our office a call.)

Specialty Insurance:
The Academy of Model Aeronautics offers drone-specific insurance as part of their annual $75 membership.  All of the groups 185,000 enjoy $2.5 million in personal liability coverage and $25,000 medical coverage.  According to the AMA, most claims are small and include out-of-control drones flying into vehicles.

Education: 
Some major drone retailers like Amazon have educational websites built by drone manufacturers to promote safe flying. (‘Know Before You Fly’ is popular among those sites.)

Regulation:
Regulators also are preparing for how to manage increased drone flying.  Owners of small drones must register the machines with the federal government so that authorities can more easily investigate crashes and illegal flights. Only the smallest toy drones weighing less than 250 grams are exempt from the registry.