Businesses using drones have a new option for comprehensive insurance coverage, thanks to a partnership from 3DR and Harpenau Insurance. According to a Thursday blog post, the insurance will cover legal liability and physical damage, and will be offered to 3DR Site Scan customers.

Global Aerospace, which provides aerospace insurance, will be underwriting the offering, while Harpenau Insurance will work with customers to get the insurance to policyholders, the post said. 3DR’s customers in the construction and engineering industries will be the first able to purchase the enterprise insurance, Evan Garmon, a commercial agent at Harpenau, said in the post.

As far as coverage goes, the legal liability aspect will cover the cost of property damage or human injury that may occur from drone operation. Customers can use a self-service portal to select different options and get a cost quote for their coverage within a couple hours, on average, the post noted.

SEE: 12 drone disasters that show why the FAA hates drones

When relevant, companies can also add coverage for “personal injury (invasion of privacy), non-owned liability (crashing someone else’s drone or a rented drone), medical expenses, premises liability, and damage sustained from any malicious acts,” the post said.

Additional coverage can be added to protect the actual drones, in case they need to be repaired from overuse or a crash. That coverage can also extend to cover the loss of a payload if the drone was being used for delivery.

Policyholders get access to additional features as well, such as a Visual Line of Sight Standard Operating Procedure, developed exclusively for Global Aerospace customers by the Unmanned Safety Institute, the post said.

Customers also get access to an introductory guide to UAS emergency response. This can help train drone operators at a business on how they should respond after an accident, or in the case of an emergency.

Finally, policyholders also receive a best practice guide that will help them prevent claims of invasion of privacy, the post said. This is designed to help all drone operators understand certain risks of operation and avoid inappropriate situations.

With the growing use of drones in the enterprise, the need for comprehensive insurance is critical. Research firm Gartner has predicted the global drone market to hit $11.2 billion by 2020 driven, in part, by business use.

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

  1. 3DR, Global Aerospace, and Harpenau Insurance are providing comprehensive drone insurance for enterprises that are also 3DR Site Scan customers.
  2. The insurance will provide coverage against legal liability and physical damage, and can be extended to cover claims of privacy invasion and repair costs for the drone.
  3. The global drone market is growing and expected to hit $11.2 billion by 2020, with business use playing a key role.