Sometimes it seems that drones are everywhere. Used extensively by the military, their commercial uses seem only to be limited by the user’s imagination. Current commercial usages include construction site monitoring, insurance claim estimating, building inspection, surveying, commercial photography, and much more. They have also become the latest and hottest “tech toy” for private users.
The significant increase in drone use carries with it a much greater likelihood that an agency’s commercial and personal clients are using drones in some manner. Increased use also translates into increased exposure. In addition to the obvious BI and PD exposures, drone use also increases the potential for business interruption, invasion of privacy, and other less obvious issues.
Given the foregoing, every agency should be including questions related to drone use to their exposure analysis checklists and renewal questionnaires while raising employee awareness of the issue through education. Agents should also be aware of how various carriers view and address drone-related claims. If these preventative measures are not consistently implemented, agents and agencies may be at greater risk of E&O claims relating to failure to provide adequate liability coverage.
There is no indication that drone use will do anything but increase and it is incumbent on agents to identify and understand the related exposures to their clients.
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