AMA Liability insurance

[BAPaik]

Hi all!

I'm looking into liability insurance for non-commercial drone use. I saw the thread on AMA insurance.

One question I have is their statement on qualifying for coverage if following their safety code.

One part of the RC safety code is:

"All pilots shall avoid flying directly over unprotected people, vessels, vehicles or structures and shall avoid endangerment of life and property of others."

By that language, if I were to be flying over, say, a residential neighborhood and lost control, would I not be covered by the insurance that they provide?

I plan more to fly in country areas, but I wanted some clarification on that. It makes me extremely wary of flying over any heavily populated areas.

Thanks!
BP

 

[Seachief]

I've been an AMA Member for 5 or 6 years....I understand (just MY understanding) them to be talking about not flying directly over people....people standing at en event, people along what is called the 'flight line' at fields where hobbyist flyers meet.....not flying over roadways with cars on them etc.....in their dwellings, people are certainly 'protected'. You'll be better off for having their insurance than not, and they have some good publications and news bulletins. Most clubs in the US will absolutely require that you have an AMA Membership to fly at their sites, just as many sporting clubs / gun clubs require an NRA membership....it's about t he liability insurance and minimizing the organization's exposure.

 

[jerryflah]

I've been an AMA Member for 5 or 6 years....I understand (just MY understanding) them to be talking about not flying directly over people....people standing at en event, people along what is called the 'flight line' at fields where hobbyist flyers meet.....not flying over roadways with cars on them etc.....in their dwellings, people are certainly 'protected'. You'll be better off for having their insurance than not, and they have some good publications and news bulletins. Most clubs in the US will absolutely require that you have an AMA Membership to fly at their sites, just as many sporting clubs / gun clubs require an NRA membership....it's about t he liability insurance and minimizing the organization's exposure.

I too have been a member for years

 

[BAPaik]

I too have been a member for years

So, I need to clarify also ... to gain access to the AMA insurance, I would already need some sort of liability insurance for myself?

 

[msinger]

I've seen a lot of AMA members here and over at PhantomPilots.com. None of them seem to know what the AMA insurance covers though -- which is odd since many AMA members see it as a great benefit. As far as I can deduce, the insurance only covers the pilot if flying under the AMA's rules. That essentially means you must be flying at an AMA field/event.

Can any AMA member confirm or debunk this?

 

[BAPaik]

I've seen a lot of AMA members here and over at PhantomPilots.com. None of them seem to know what the AMA insurance covers though -- which is odd since many AMA members see it as a great benefit. As far as I can deduce, the insurance only covers the pilot if flying under the AMA's rules. That essentially means you must be flying at an AMA field/event.

Can any AMA member confirm or debunk this?

Agreed -- I think the wording of the Safety Code seems to limit what I would desire in a liability coverage. It's wording of "avoiding" flying over people, vehicles, and buildings seems like it wouldn't provide coverage if the Mavic fell out of the sky onto a building/person.

I have sent an email to them to get clarification.

If nothing else, this insurance also seems to be secondary to your own liability insurance.

 

[BAPaik]

I'd still love to learn more about AMA, if any members have info.

In the mean time, I was able to check with my insurance provider, USAA, about getting liability insurance. I found out I can do this without getting a full renter's insurance. So I have a 100K liability, with 5k medical policy that was about $33 for the year. I'm pretty happy with that.

Not sure if I should be looking to get a higher liability. Can do $300k, $500K and $1M...