Drone insurance question

dilby00

Uxb wrote: »

EASA is proposing regulations to "deal" with drones.
Unfortunately it likely to also catch in its net those who fly model aircraft.

EASA will grant itself those powers to regulate flying things of this size (currently it does not have those powers) because the EU parliament will give it the laws it requires. The UK government will then have no power to overturn them so moaning about them and complaining to your MP will have no effect.
(now you know why do many voted to leave!)

So as @DavidP says - you are about to see laws to make it more difficult not easier. This is the history and modus operandi of EASA. Private recreational hobby flying like I do myself being forced into new regulations more applicable to professional passenger carrying pilots/licence ratings.

Look up the Gatwick incident a month ago. Planes diverted, runways closed - all due to a drone in the vicinity. The problem is that the ATC does not know what the drone will do next....is it going to veer back away the operator having realized the mistake or do they not care/its out of control and have it veer across the Gatwick runway......

Thanks. That all makes sense to me and I think things should be more regulated; I just didn't understand the disparity between commercial and hobby. But yeah it's scary about the potential incidents that could happen.

dilby00

spadoosh wrote: »

Your dealing with amateur v proffesional.

Lets look at your driving licence analogy. Should a taxi driver have lower insurance than me? They are a proffesional driver. Likewise with wagons, theyre professional not me. They will pay more for that privilege solely down to the fact that they are more likely to be on the road than i am.

Someone who owns a drone business needs to be flying them regularly in order to make it a business. Doing so increases the risk and should require more qualifications. The people who get them at christmas might fly them a few times a year.

The licence also grants you additional privilege over the hobbyists with regards to flight height and distances from crowds etc. So theres benefits to the licence (not least it allows you to make money).

Ultimately it comes down to a relatively new industry (rc planes have been around for decades but not quite the same in popularity) with relatively little in place for rules and regulations. Rules around drone use im fairly confident will change sooner or later.

Sorry going back to your clients using friends who got one for christmas, they would be in contravention of the laws if it was deemed business use. Some will take the risk others will not. Just like most other businesses and compliance.

Thanks. There's a fair few statistics out there supporting the argument that hobbyists fly more than commercial pilots. But either way is it true that the license grants you addition privileges? As far as I can tell from the CAA website you are required to follow the same rules but just are more heavily policed on them. Do the distances to crowds really change?

dilby00

Thanks so much for the replies everyone. I've responded to most. I'm still doing my own research but what I find really unusual is that the CAA define 'commercial use' as either 'is performed under a contract between an operator and a customer, where the latter has no control over the operator' or anything that is 'made available to the public'. Wouldn't that mean if someone even uploads a video to instagram on a public profile its commercial use as it's made available to the public? It seems a very strange use of words.

dilby00

missile wrote: »

Perhaps easier for you to provide drone filming as a free service to your clients? Look on it as a marketing expense.

Thanks. I just worry about how insurance underwriters would feel about that. Also, the CAA's definition of commercial use is anything thats an agreement between you and the company. So I'm sure they could argue an agreement was in place, money or no money. It's tempting though.

missile

dilby00 wrote: »

Thanks. I just worry about how insurance underwriters would feel about that. Also, the CAA's definition of commercial use is anything thats an agreement between you and the company. So I'm sure they could argue an agreement was in place, money or no money. It's tempting though.

I don't see it that way. If no payment or reward is received it is not a commercial venture.
Make it clear in writing drone flying is not a service provided by the company. It is your hobby and you are doing this as a "friend".
Similar situation; If you receive payment or reward for giving a client a lift in your car, you would need business insurance. If you receive no payment or reward you don't :-)

Geoff1963

The rules for a business, are generally very different to those doing exactly the same thing for a non-business :
Hitch-hiking vs. taxiing
Swinging vs. prostitution
Sofa-surfing vs. room renting
If you are going to make a living, regulation controls those who do that.

Some people try to get around the rules by saying the activity isn't a business, when they are running a business for something else. Think of a hotel which charged a rather excessive £200 an hour for a room, and each time it was being cleaned by a young lady of easy virtue who happened to find the guest irresistible.
Even if the drone filming was a free add-on, it would still be part of the arrangement, and hence commercial. A supermarket can't avoid an alcohol licence, by selling carrier bags at £5 a time, which come with a free 6-pack of beer.

Marktheshark

They are flying cameras and they scare authority.
They will be banned, the state will not tolerate someone with one of these gadgets busting open one of their big lies.

AndyPix

^^ Spammer in the making ?