Skip to content
Drone
Insurance

From practice

Three claims that each end differently

No Belgian player publishes claims. Yet that is the only way a policy can be judged, because what separates a paid file from a refused one is almost never the amount: it is a clause nobody had read.

A worker reaches for the aircraft

covered

The situation
A 2-kilo aircraft sits on a building site, ready to take off. During start-up a worker comes closer and puts a hand towards the propellers. The injuries keep them off work for several weeks.
The outcome under the policy
Aviation third-party liability pays for personal injury to other people. This is precisely the case for which Belgian law imposes that cover.
Aviation third-party liability

The link drops above woodland

excluded

The situation
Above woodland the command link drops. The aircraft holds its heading and goes out of sight. The search turns up nothing, and the wreck never appears.
The outcome under the policy
This is where policies part company. With no damage anyone can establish, they call it mere disappearance and keep the case outside the cover. If the wreck does turn up later, it becomes an ordinary hull claim.
Hull, subject to conditions

The thermal sensor does not survive the landing

covered if declared

The situation
A 9,000-euro thermal camera hangs under a 4-kilo aircraft. The landing goes wrong on uneven ground. The aircraft can be repaired, the sensor cannot.
The outcome under the policy
Payload cover pays for equipment carried, provided it appears in the policy by name and with its value. A sensor not named in the policy is not paid for, even where the drone itself is repaired.
Payload and accessories

These three situations are built from clauses that genuinely appear in Belgian policies. They do not reproduce the files of identifiable clients.

The first hours

The file starts before the notification

How a file ends is often decided in the hour after the accident, at a moment when nobody is thinking about procedure. A few reflexes make a large difference there, and none of them takes special knowledge.

  1. 01

    Photograph before touching anything

    The aircraft as it lies, the point of impact, what is damaged, the immediate surroundings. A wreck moved first and photographed afterwards counts for much less in a file than one photographed where it fell.

  2. 02

    Admit no liability

    A sentence said to the injured party on the spot binds your insurer, and the insurer can then refuse to follow. Establish the facts, exchange addresses, and nothing more.

  3. 03

    Have nothing repaired

    Until the loss adjuster has seen the aircraft, a repair erases the evidence of the damage. That holds for a part whose replacement looks obvious to you too.

  4. 04

    Report it straight away

    The policy sets a deadline, often twenty-four hours for theft and a few days for property damage. One message is enough to open the file; the documents follow.

Belgian insurance law asks for notification as soon as that is reasonably possible. The policy sets a stated deadline alongside it, and that is the deadline held against you. A delay does not automatically void the cover, but it lets the insurer reduce its payment by the harm the delay caused it. Better not to open that discussion.

After the notification

How a claim proceeds

You write to us, we put the file together. You do not have to negotiate with the insurer: that is our job, and it is in the premium you pay.

A claim in four steps Four steps linked by a dashed path. Step 1, notification. Step 2, contacting the insurer. Step 3, loss adjustment. Step 4, settlement. Each step carries an indication of how long it takes. A claim, step by step 1 Notification You send us thecircumstances, thephotographs and theflight log. as your policy sets 2 Contacting the insurer We open the file withthe insurer and followthe exchange in yourplace. 48 working hours 3 Loss adjustment An adjuster assessesthe damage, the stateof the aircraft andthe liability at stake. case by case 4 Settlement The insurer settlesunder the generalconditions of the policy. less the excess The sequence and the timings depend on the insurer and on your general conditions. A claim in four steps Four stacked steps linked by a vertical dashed path. Step 1, notification. Step 2, contacting the insurer. Step 3, loss adjustment. Step 4, settlement. Each step carries an indication of how long it takes. A claim, step by step 1 Notification You send us the circumstances, thephotographs and the flight log. as your policy sets 2 Contacting the insurer We open the file with the insurer andfollow the exchange in your place. 48 working hours 3 Loss adjustment An adjuster assesses the damage, theaircraft and the liability at stake. case by case 4 Settlement The insurer settles under the generalconditions of the policy. less the excess The sequence and the timings dependon the insurer and on your conditions.

The documents the insurer asks for

An ordinary file takes little: your policy number, the circumstances in your own words, the photographs from the scene, the purchase invoice for the aircraft and for the equipment carried, and the details of those involved. For theft or disappearance, the police complaint is added, and that complaint is a condition of the cover.

If the damage touches a third party, their notification joins yours. The two versions do not have to agree for the file to move forward: the loss adjustment decides. Our job is to see that your version reaches the file with its documents, rather than being summed up over the telephone.

A straightforward file, well documented from the start, is settled in a few weeks. Delays almost always come from the same thing: one document that has to be asked for three times.

Do you have a claim under way?

Write to us before you have anything repaired and before you admit liability. Most policies set a short notification deadline, often 24 hours for theft. Give the date, the place and the weight of the aircraft, and we will open the file straight away.

The covers and their exclusions Request a quote