If you’re being paid for drone photography work in the UK or EU, you will need Drone Insurance that includes Public and Aviation liability, as operators are required to hold appropriate liability insurance under Regulation (EC) No 785/2004. But what else do you need to know about Drone Insurance as a photographer?
This guide explains what drone photography insurance is, what it covers, what UK and EU regulations require, and how to make sure you have the right policy in place.
Coverdrone is a specialist provider of Drone Insurance. This guide does not constitute personal or legal advice, or a recommendation. You should assess your own needs or seek professional advice where appropriate.
Key Takeaways
- Commercial drone operators in the UK and EU are required to hold Public and Aviation liability insurance under Regulation (EC) No 785/2004.
- Standard public liability insurance rarely covers drone operations and may exclude aircraft (including drones) – a specialist Drone Insurance policy is usually needed.
- Drone photography insurance should cover liability as a minimum, with equipment cover being favoured by many photographers.
- An extended warranty service is not insurance – it covers damage to your drone only, not public liability.
- Our community research found a positive sentiment towards carrying liability cover, with many commercial photographers seeing liability cover as essential.
What’s in This Guide
- What is Drone Photography Insurance?
- What do UK and EU Laws say about Drone Insurance for Photographers?
- What Our Community Research Revealed
- What Should Drone Photography Insurance Cover if you Want a Policy that Covers You and Your Equipment?
- Annual vs Daily vs Monthly Insurance: Which is Right for Drone Photographers?
- Avoid These Drone Photography Insurance Mistakes
- Drone Photography Insurance FAQs
- Summary
- Get Cover for Your Drone Photography Business
What is Drone Photography Insurance?
Drone photography insurance is a Drone Insurance policy designed for operators who use drones to capture images or video (or both), either as a primary commercial activity or as part of a broader professional service.
It differs from standard public liability or general business insurance in one critical way: most general insurance policies are likely to exclude aviation operations (which include drones). This means that if your drone causes bodily injury or property damage during a commercial shoot, a standard business insurance policy is unlikely to cover the costs. Without appropriate insurance, you may have to meet the cost of any claims for injury or property damage yourself.
Specialist Drone Insurance can be structured around liability, equipment and the operational risks associated with drone operations, which means it can be tailored to the needs of operators using drones for services such as photography.
Who Needs Drone Photography Insurance?
In the UK and EU, you need liability cover as a minimum if you:
- Charge clients for aerial photography or videography
- Use drone footage as part of a commercial service (e.g. estate agents, surveyors, marketing agencies)
- Employers with employees operating drones
- Are required by a client, site owner, or venue to show proof of insurance
If you’re operating a drone purely recreationally and never accepting any form of payment or commercial benefit, Recreational Drone Insurance may be sufficient. It’s important to be aware that even unpaid operations can count as commercial if they provide a benefit to an organisation, such as free footage for a school or charity. When your operations move beyond low-risk recreational activities or involve professional services, Commercial Drone Insurance may be required.
Is Photography Insurance the Same as Drone Photography Insurance?
You might think that photography insurance and drone photography insurance are similar, but they are not the same.
Standard photography insurance is typically designed to protect against risks associated with ground-based work, such as damage or theft of camera equipment, public liability during shoots and professional indemnity where advice or services are provided. It reflects the needs of photographers working in studios, at events, or on location without introducing aviation-specific risks.
Drone photography insurance, on the other hand, accounts for the additional complexities of operating a drone and, most importantly, should include cover for the drone while it is being operated. Because drones are subject to specific aviation rules and can pose greater third‑party risks, standard photography policies often exclude or limit drone use. As a result, professionals capturing images from the air typically require a specialist policy that either supplements or replaces their general photography cover, ensuring they are properly protected for both ground and aerial work.
What do UK and EU Laws say about Drone Insurance for Photographers?
In the UK and EU, the legal requirement for commercial drone insurance is set out under Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 (which was carried over into UK law after Brexit). Under this regulation, drone operators conducting commercial work, such as professional drone photographers, are required to carry Public and Aviation liability insurance.
The minimum required liability cover varies by aircraft weight and is calculated using SDRs (Special Drawing Rights) under Article 7 of (EC) No 785/2004. The SDRs value will be converted into your local currency by your insurance provider, but you don’t just need to stick to the minimum cover requirement. At Coverdrone, our liability cover currently starts at £1 million (other providers may offer different limits and structures, so it’s important to compare policies carefully), which exceeds the minimum SDRs requirement (750,000 SDRs for drones with a Maximum Take-Off Mass (MTOM) of under 500 kg). However, we can offer higher liability limits to commercial drone photographers if required, and we will always offer the local currency equivalent of at least 750,000 SDRs.
Note that while Regulation (EC) No 785/2004 applies across the UK and the EU, individual EU member states may impose additional insurance requirements, particularly for drones under 20 kg, and some require liability cover even for recreational flying. Always ensure that your operation conforms to the rules of the country in which you’re operating before take-off.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) oversees drone regulation in the UK. Operators conducting more complex commercial operations may also require Operational Authorisation from the CAA. For the most up-to-date regulatory requirements, a good place to start is the CAA’s Drone Code. We also recently published a guide to staying compliant with EC 785/2004, which applies across the UK and EU.
What Our Community Research Revealed
We conducted research into the drone photography community, drawing on forums, community threads, and industry sources to understand how drone photographers and other drone operators view Drone Insurance.
Please note that the findings below are directional indicators of community sentiment rather than survey data. Community views vary, and insurance needs should always be assessed based on your individual circumstances. These views should not be relied upon as a basis for making insurance decisions.
Positive Drone Photographer Community Sentiment Toward Insurance
We discovered that many community contributors supported carrying liability cover, including photographers operating drones commercially and recreational drone operators.
The Extended Warranty Misconception
While not everyone is fully informed, several opinions from community contributors stood out to us as good examples of how well informed some members of the drone community are about insurance: an extended warranty is not a substitute for public liability insurance. An extended warranty replaces or repairs your drone; it does not provide liability coverage or theft protection. An extended warranty can sit alongside Drone Insurance as additional protection for your equipment, but it cannot replace the liability cover commercial operators are required to hold.
What Drone Photography Operators are Most Concerned About
Our research flagged the following as concerns surrounding Drone Insurance:
- Public liability – Concern around causing injury or property damage while capturing footage
- Equipment loss or damage – Understandably, those with high-value drones and camera rigs want to protect their equipment from loss or accidental damage
- Flyaway cover – While many modern drones have features that help to prevent flyaways from happening, there are still concerns around the loss of or damage to equipment owing to flyaways
- Regulatory compliance – Another understandable concern was ensuring that drone photography insurance policies satisfy CAA and site-specific requirements
What Should Drone Photography Insurance Cover if you Want a Policy that Covers You and Your Equipment?
A robust commercial drone photography policy that covers you and your equipment during operations should include the following core elements:
Liability Insurance
Public and Aviation liability cover are the non-negotiable foundations of any Commercial Drone Insurance policy. Drone liability covers claims made by members of the public for injury or property damage caused by your business activities, including drone operations on location.
Make sure you check the liability cover for commercial work. £1 million is a commonly selected level of cover among many operators, as it exceeds the minimum regulatory threshold detailed in Article 7 of (EC) No 785/2004, which sets a minimum of 750,000 SDRs for drones with a Maximum Take-Off Mass under 500kg (you can read more about SDRs in our article on Regulation No (EC) 785/2004). However, the appropriate level of cover will depend on your specific activities, contractual requirements, and risk exposure. For example, the location you operate in or the client you work for may require liability cover of £5 million or perhaps more.
Equipment Insurance
Equipment cover protects your drone and associated equipment, including cameras, gimbals, lenses, and ground station equipment, against accidental damage, crashes, theft, and loss. Given that a professional drone photography setup can easily cost between £5,000 and £15,000 (or more), it’s critical that you list your equipment value accurately in your policy to ensure that it’s adequately covered if you opt for equipment cover.
When arranging equipment cover, ensure:
- You accurately declare the full replacement value of your equipment
- Your policy covers equipment whilst in storage and transit, not just during flight
Flyaway Cover
Claims for flyaways, drones that lose connection and fail to return home, were among the most common causes of claims at Coverdrone, appearing in our top 10 causes of claims in 2024, making this something to consider as part of your Drone Insurance policy.
Annual vs Daily vs Monthly Insurance: Which is Right for Drone Photographers?
Our community research uncovered positive sentiment towards annual cover, with fewer operators preferring shorter-term options, while some had mixed opinions or were undecided. To decide which is right for you, a good place to begin is to think about when you’ll need insurance throughout the year.
Annual policies provide continuous cover for all your operations throughout the year. They are often the most cost-effective option for commercial photographers who operate regularly throughout the year, as they ensure you always have cover when needed.
Monthly Drone Insurance can be useful for drone photographers who operate infrequently, especially if you only operate your drone for certain periods throughout the year as this will cost you less than paying for a full year via an annual policy.
Daily insurance is typically preferred by drone photographers who operate very infrequently. A daily policy can also be beneficial if you are an operator who occasionally takes on paid work and needs temporary commercial cover, as you could have an annual recreational policy for operating the rest of the year and only purchase commercial cover for occasional work.
Short-term policies may cost less over the year, but there will come a point when it becomes more cost-effective to purchase an annual policy. While daily insurance may cost less than an annual policy if you only need short-term cover, if you pay for multiple weeks throughout the year, you may find that an annual policy would have been cheaper and more convenient.
Avoid These Drone Photography Insurance Mistakes
As a drone operator specialising in photography, making yourself aware of the following common mistakes can help to avoid them:
- Assuming your general business insurance covers drones – check the exclusions section of any policy carefully. Aviation exclusions are extremely common.
- Treating an extended warranty as insurance – an extended warranty covers drone repair or replacement only. It does not cover public liability, theft, or any injury caused to others.
- Underinsuring your equipment – always insure all your equipment and provide the “as-new” replacement value, rather than a lower figure. Inserting a lower figure and being underinsured may cause issues in the event of a claim.
- Not reading your policy schedule – ensure you understand restrictions on operating in excluded territories, BVLOS operations, etc, before starting any drone photography work.
- Failing to update your policy – when you buy new equipment or take on new types of work, make sure you keep your policy up to date.
- Not carrying proof of insurance on location – clients, landowners, and local authorities may request this at short notice
- Using a recreational policy for commercial work – make sure that you have the right type of policy for your operation
Drone Photography Insurance FAQs
Do I need insurance to operate a drone commercially in the UK?
Yes. Operators carrying out commercial drone work in the UK are required to hold liability insurance under Regulation (EC) No 785/2004.
Does my home insurance or business insurance cover my drone?
While a home or business insurance policy may cover your drone, it may include exclusions that restrict protection while the drone is being operated (i.e. in flight). This is because standard home and contents policies and general business insurance policies typically exclude aerial activity or aircraft operations. Check your existing policy documents carefully and never assume coverage; contact your insurance provider directly to confirm if required.
It’s worth being aware that you’re not limited to a single insurance policy. You can have a standard business insurance policy and a specialist Drone Insurance policy that complements your existing policy. Taking this approach may provide more effective protection, as each type of insurance serves a specific purpose and is structured to meet specific requirements.
How much liability cover do I need?
The minimum required by UK regulations is detailed under Article 7 of (EC) No 785/2004 as a minimum of 750,000 SDRs for drones with an MTOM (Maximum Take Off Mass) under 500kg, which is why in the UK most commercial operators carry at least £1 million in Public and Aviation liability (as this converts to more than 750,000 SDRs), however this amount will need to increase to meet the 750,000 SDRs amount if required.
As a drone photographer, you may encounter client contracts, venue requirements, and local authority permits that specify a higher minimum liability cover amount, such as £5 million. For higher-risk operations (such as filming near crowds or for film and TV productions), you may require £10 million in liability cover.
Is an extended warranty the same as drone insurance?
No. An extended warranty is a manufacturer’s service plan that covers the replacement or repair of your drone. It doesn’t provide liability or theft cover and does not constitute insurance in any legal sense.
What happens if I operate outside the conditions of my policy?
If you breach the terms or conditions of your policy, for example, by operating in restricted airspace, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) without the correct permissions, or outside the geographic territory covered, your insurer may decline to pay any claim arising from that operation. Always read your policy schedule and endorsements carefully.
Can I get insured for the same day I need to fly?
Yes. Some specialist drone insurance policies can be arranged quickly, enabling you to get the protection you need on the day you want to operate. If you need cover fast, the process, from filling in your details to getting a quote to getting your policy documents, can happen the same day.
Summary
Insurance is a legal requirement for drone operators conducting commercial operations in the UK and EU under Regulation (EC) No 785/2004, whether they’re using a drone for photography or other commercial purposes. Not all Drone Insurance is the same, so it’s important to check what’s covered to make sure that you receive the protection you need.
To make sure you have the right cover in place as a drone photographer:
- Don’t assume generic business policies cover drone operations; specialist cover is usually needed
- Understand the limitations of an extended warranty scheme, notably that it’s not a substitute for liability cover
- Ensure you have adequate liability cover, checking what your clients and venues require, as well as your regulatory obligations
- Provide your insurance provider with accurate information about your equipment
- Check whether your policy includes flyaway cover to protect you if you lose connection with your drone, and it fails to return
- Review your policy regularly as your business, equipment and operations evolve
- Carry proof of insurance to every shoot
Get Cover for Your Drone Photography Business
At Coverdrone, we specialise in insurance for commercial drone operators. Whether you’re a sole trader shooting property and events or a multi-drone production company, we offer policies built around the needs of professional drone photographers.
Get a quote for drone photography insurance today and fly with confidence, knowing you have appropriate cover in place.
This guide provides general information only and does not take into account your individual circumstances. You should consider your specific needs before purchasing any insurance.
