Whether for construction or design, the insurance industry is going to see an increase in demand for commercial drone insurance. As commercial drone usage becomes widespread, all areas of insurance will have to start addressing the correlating risks and liabilities.

Commercial drones are becoming another "tool of the trade" for many industries. For example, a pipeline inspector who is responsible for inspecting thousands of miles of pipeline may rely on a drone to assist with inspections instead of doing them on foot.

Data susceptibility

In the era of big data, it is important to consider how the insurance industry covers different types of data breaches. Imagine if a commercial drone falls out of the sky: It is transporting data, and that data may be hijacked by whomever discovers the drone – similar to if someone were to misplace their laptop and ultimately have their confidential information stolen. Or perhaps the drone itself is stolen while in operation and the data is compromised because a thief can access data through the data storage within the drone.

Though data susceptibility is not unique to commercial drones, it is a liability. Insurance professionals will need to evaluate the liability appropriately and determine the best course of action to address it.

Coverage for drone operators

Individuals and businesses are already looking for insurance policies that cover a commercial drone operator. However, there is also interest coming from others, such as large land surveyors or general contractors, who are in turn subcontracting work to third-party commercial drone operators. This means the amount of information the insurer receives on the third-party drone operator is limited. Furthermore, the responsibility of securing insurance coverage is falling on the shoulders of these general contractors because of the due diligence involved in hiring a licensed drone operator. They are looking for someone who is following the rules and regulations and has appropriate security software in place.