What You Need to Know About Commercial Drone Usage

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Drone

You have probably seen and heard of several companies using drones for their business. You may also think if everyone else is using it, there’s nothing to worry about. This simply is not the case.

What Are Drones? 

Drones are also known as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). This means it is a pilotless aircraft controlled by someone on the ground.

What Are Drones Used For? 

Drones are increasing in popularity because it offers several uses for people and businesses including:

· Capturing aerial shots for concerts, sports events, weddings, news footage, presidential speeches, commercials, and movies etc.

· Exploring areas deemed too dangerous for people to be in

· Delivering items or products

· Helping police officers locate criminals and terrorists

· Monitoring places for security purposes

Problem with Drones 

Here is the problem with drones: These unmanned aerial vehicles are NOT covered under a company’s general liability policy. What does this mean?

Let’s say you are flying your drone to capture aerial footage or photos of an event your business is hosting and it suddenly malfunctions. It falls and hits the crowd of people.

Your business will not be covered in this case if property is damaged or there are bodily injuries. Since general liability policies exclude aircrafts, this means if anything happens, you will be responsible for covering these expenses.

Drones also pose additional liability issues. Drones can be distracting to drivers, which may cause accidents. If someone gets into an accident because of your drone, you will be responsible.

Drones are also not covered under cyber policies, which means they are easy targets for hacks and thefts.

What about intellectual property claims? If your drone so happens to capture pictures of information from other offices and businesses, you will have a possible suit on your hands.

Drones are such a big deal that the Federal Aviation Administration released an extensive list of rules for drone usage. Some of these rules include:

· Unmanned drones must weigh less than 55 pounds

· Drones must stay within visual sight of the operator

· Drones cannot go above 400 feet off the ground

· You can only operate one drone at a time

· Your drone must be registered

This does not mean that you cannot use a drone for your business. If your company decides to use a drone, you must keep in mind that you will be responsible if any of these claims and issues happen on your watch.

At Allied Insurance Managers, we want you to be prepared in all situations. We know this information about drones will help you and your business to be aware of the issues that may arise with drone usage.

Professional Liability E&O Claim Examples

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Are You Covered?

Professional Liability Insurance also known as Errors and Omissions Insurance is important for businesses of all industries to have. Professional liability is different from your general liability policy.

What Your Business Needs to Know

Professional Liability/E&O is insurance coverage for business professionals who provide a service to clients. This insurance will help cover the financial burden for professionals in claims of negligence, errors, omissions of service, misrepresentation, inaccurate advice, and failure to act on good faith.

This insurance will not cover intentional acts, property damage, and bodily injury. Your general liability policy covers property damage and bodily harm.

Professional Liability can help cover legal defense fees, settlements, and judgments. The amount of coverage you can have for your company will depend on your company’s size and policy limits.

Business professionals who may need this policy can include: accountants, physicians, mechanics, insurance professionals, and real estate agents etc. If your business provides any form of service to people, this insurance is vital for your company.

Example E&O Claims

Check out these E&O claim examples courtesy of Burns & Wilcox:

Claim #1

The company was expanding and its owners hired a human resource consultant to create an employee?benefits plan to encourage employee retention. The consultant came up with a plan whose costs were projected to be well within the company’s budget, and it was adopted.

The consultant didn’t anticipate the steep rise in the cost of medical insurance or the dive taken by the stocks that were to be used to offset some of the plan’s costs. When the benefits actually cost the company several times the consultant’s projections, the company sued the consultant for the extra costs.

Claim #2

Two sons had bought out their father’s interest in a clothing manufacturer and hired a business consultant to make it more profitable. The consultant felt pressured to make some dramatic changes, so he recommended a 20 percent cut in staff and a major product?marketing effort, which the owners immediately acted upon.

The improved marketing proved too effective for the slimmer company. A host of large orders were taken, but the remaining workers were unable to fill the orders within the promised time frame. In addition, the business had laid off its inspectors, so defective product was shipped out.

Between the delays and the quality issues, the company got a black eye across the industry and orders stopped coming. Within a year, revenue was down almost 50 percent, and the business consultant was sued for loss of company income from his negligence.

At Allied Insurance Managers, we know how important it is for your company to have additional coverage other than your general liability policy.

If you would like to discuss how we could help your business with a professional liability policy, contact us today.