Who we insure
Drones & UAS
For companies that build unmanned aircraft and companies that operate them commercially under Part 107 and beyond. Standard business policies exclude aircraft, so the program is built from aviation forms.
What coverage you need, and why
A drone company needs aviation liability, because the general liability form nearly every business carries excludes bodily injury and property damage arising from aircraft, and a drone is an aircraft. Operators add hull coverage for the airframe and payload, and tech E&O when the deliverable is data a customer acts on. Manufacturers need products liability written on an aviation products form, since the standard products coverage carries the same aircraft exclusion.
Federal rules do not require insurance to fly commercially: 14 CFR Part 107 sets certification and operating rules and contains no insurance provision. Customers do require it. A utility, a railroad or a public agency will ask for aviation liability at limits well above what a pilot's own policy carries, and the certificate has to come from a company-level program.
Why the standard policy leaves an aircraft company bare
A drone can hit a person, a power line, a vehicle or a building, and the claim arrives against the operator, the manufacturer, or both. The general liability policy the company already has answers none of it if the form carries the usual aircraft exclusion, and a claim after a crash is the moment that exclusion is read.
The manufacturer's exposure outlives the sale. An airframe or a flight controller that fails in a customer's hands is a products claim, and the products coverage in a generic policy carries the same aircraft exclusion. Autonomy software that flies the aircraft sits in a third place: the company that wrote the code holds a tech E&O exposure and, depending on the contract, a piece of the crash.
We separate the manufacturer's program from the operator's, place both on aviation paper, and read the exclusions for the missions you actually fly.
What customers and sites require
Industrial customers set the limits. Utilities, railroads and energy companies commonly ask for aviation liability at $5M or $10M per occurrence with the customer as additional insured, and a waiver of subrogation. Public agencies ask for the same and add workers' compensation for your crew on their land. Film and event work asks for lower limits and a certificate naming the venue.
Federal certification is the operator's responsibility. Part 107 requires a remote pilot certificate and sets operating rules, including a subpart on operations over people; a waiver is needed for operations outside those rules. Customers ask to see the certificates alongside the insurance, and a company program covers the pilots as employees, so no pilot needs a personal policy.
Manufacturers are asked for products liability by distributors and by any customer whose purchase order carries an insurance exhibit. Hull coverage is a contract ask only when the customer owns the aircraft you fly or when a lender financed it.
What it costs
We don't publish a number. Premiums come back from the carriers' underwriters for your operation, and any figure we printed here would be a guess dressed as a fact.
Published drone pricing on the web is mostly aimed at a single pilot with one aircraft, and it is usually undated. A company program with fleet liability, scheduled hull and industrial limits is a different placement. What moves it: limits, the number of aircraft and their value, the missions, whether any are beyond visual line of sight, pilot hours and the loss history.
What to watch for in the wording
Read the aircraft exclusion in the general liability policy and confirm that the aviation policy picks up exactly where it stops. Non-owned aviation liability matters when you fly a customer's aircraft or a subcontractor flies for you. Check the territory: many aviation forms limit coverage to the United States and Canada, and a mission across a border is uninsured without an endorsement.
Hull policies are written on an agreed or stated value, with a deductible that is often set as a percentage of the value. Payload and ground station equipment are separate items and need to be listed. Read the definition of in-flight and the exclusions for operations outside the certificate or waiver, because a flight that breaks an operating rule can void the claim.
For a manufacturer, read the products form for the definition of your product and for any exclusion of autonomous flight or artificial intelligence. A standard-form generative AI exclusion exists for products and completed operations coverage (see the AI exclusions tracker), and whether it reaches a flight controller running a model is a question to settle before a claim does.
The lines that anchor the program
Click through the lines a company like yours usually carries, and what each one answers.
1 of 5
General Liability
Someone outside your company gets hurt or their property gets damaged. This pays the harm and the legal bill.
Comes up: Your first lease, customer contract, or on-site visit.
What it coversHow to buy it
Tell us whether you build aircraft, fly them, or write the software that flies them, and describe the missions, the fleet and the contracts. The application builds an aviation submission with the details an aviation underwriter needs, and a licensed broker takes it to the aviation market.
Quotes come back with the forms. We read the territory, the in-flight definitions, the pilot warranties and the exclusions, show you what each policy responds to, and issue certificates at the customer's limits once it binds.
Common questions
Does the FAA require insurance for Part 107 operations?
No. 14 CFR Part 107 sets certification and operating rules and contains no insurance requirement. Customers, venues and public agencies require it by contract, which is where the limits come from.
Why does our general liability policy exclude drones?
Because the standard general liability form excludes injury and damage arising from aircraft, and a drone is an aircraft. Aviation liability is the line written to respond, and it is placed separately.
We build drones. Is our exposure different from an operator's?
Yes. Yours is a products exposure that lasts as long as the aircraft is in service, written on an aviation products form. An operator's is a flight exposure, written on an aviation liability form. Many companies need both, on separate policies.
A utility wants $10M aviation liability. Where does that come from?
From the aviation market, on a company-level policy, sometimes with an excess layer above the primary. It is a normal ask for industrial inspection work, and the placement starts with the missions and the fleet.
What is hull coverage?
Physical damage coverage for the aircraft itself, on an agreed or stated value, in flight and on the ground. Payload and ground equipment are added as listed items.
Do our pilots need their own policies?
Not when they fly for the company under a company program. The policy names the company and covers the pilots as employees, subject to the pilot warranties in the form.
Does a beyond-visual-line-of-sight operation change the placement?
It does. Underwriters read the waiver or exemption, the detect-and-avoid approach and the operating area, and fewer carriers write it. It is placeable with the operation described properly.
Guides
Sources
- 1. 14 CFR Part 107, Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Cornell LII), 2026-09-12.
- 2. Risklytics, AI exclusions tracker, 2026-09-12.
This page describes coverage in general terms. It is not an offer of insurance, and carrier appetite, policy wording, licensing, and availability govern every quote and every claim. Last revised 2026-09-12.