http://blog.belairdirect.com/drones-pop ... =051793068
Popular and inexpensive, drones pose a number of risks for users. What’s their future in the insurance industry?
Deloitte’s 2015 Trends report predicts that personal use of drones will grow to over a million worldwide, including a projected 300,000 units sold over the course of this year. The drone is in fact becoming a coveted gift by virtue of its reasonable cost and the vast airspace Canada affords.
Corporations are also looking at the potential of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Logistics giant Amazon recently confirmed that it was testing delivery by drone in Canada.
A complex situation
Even if drone sales are rising and even if they’re the latest trendy birthday gift, drone use poses a number of problems in Canada at a number of different levels. This is evident by the recent $1,000 fine a Terrebonne resident had to pay for flying his drone in a residential area.
In fact, Transport Canada has stipulated that drones are aircrafts and are subject to the same rules. They must therefore follow Canadian Aviation Regulations and respect the Criminal Code as well as municipal, provincial and territorial regulations relating to the invasion and the right to privacy. For example, this means not flying a drone closer than150 metres from a person, animal, building, structure or vehicle and getting a permit to fly in certain zones and not flying closer than nine kilometres to an airport.
An activity that carries risk and the need for insurance
The insurance industry and Transport Canada consider drones to be aircraft. They are subject to limitations already in place.
While some insurers cover miniature airplanes and helicopters, these do not have the same status as drones. For most insurers, including belairdirect, drones are not insurable at the moment as losses due to the operation of an aircraft are excluded under our personal policies (for commercial purposes some types of protection are available on the market).
There is currently no insurance available to cover breakage or injury caused by a drone. Consequently, a person who loses control of a drone is entirely responsible for damages caused by the drone and is liable for such in the event of a lawsuit. The regulations in place should therefore be respected and users should be very conscious of the risks when they are using one of these machines.
A trend that is here to stay
Given the current situation, the industry is looking at various solutions. In time, a means for insuring drones and the damage they may cause will no doubt be found because they will likely soon be considered a normal family possession. This is indeed an issue to follow closely!