Drone insurance required for EU operator registration. Recommendations?

[Felix le Chat]

I'm planning a trip to Europe in September (specifically: Malta, which is part of the EU). I plan to bring the drone along (Mini 3 Pro), there's plenty of good stuff there to shoot.

As best I can tell, same as for other EU member nations, for Malta I need to register as a drone operator (Malta uses the standard EU/EASA rules, plus their own) and follow basic and generally (mostly) reasonable rules. But to simply create an account online with Malta's Transport agency (a pre-requisite to register, gain access to the airspace maps, and I assume other stuff), I need to provide proof of insurance (I presume Liability insurance). So I'm looking for options for that.

I'll be flying my 249-gram Mini 3 Pro for recreational purposes, not commercially (I have the 107 cert here in the USA - as well as a private pilots license for crewed airplanes, but none of that matters).

I bet others here have gone down this road, looking for required insurance before a trip to Europe. Doing a search, I've found a bunch of threads that start off the same way ("I'm from the USA, will be leaving for a trip to the EU soon, need insurance...") but I have yet to see one that actually reports back and describes successfully finding a company, buying insurance and actually flying their drone legally in Europe. If I manage all that, I promise to report back, so the next 200 guys who are stuck with the same hoop to jump through can benefit from my experience.

To summarize:

• I'm from the US
• Traveling to an EU country (Malta) that requires drone (liability) insurance
• I will be flying a sub-250 gram drone (Mini 3 Pro) recreationally, not commercially (I believe A1 subcategory). I'll get registered, get a number, stick it on the drone as required (as long as they don't make that impossible), will do my best to follow the rules, not piss anyone off, not get arrested
• I'm looking for insurance that meets the requirements but is not crazy expensive

Can anyone suggest a decent company to use for this? Thank you!

Company name: COVERDRONE. They do bespoke per-flight covers in Europe through Altitude Angels UTM gateway. I used them when I first started out, before I ended up with a dedicated annual policy.

 

[wco81]

Company name: COVERDRONE. They do bespoke per-flight covers in Europe through Altitude Angels UTM gateway. I used them when I first started out, before I ended up with a dedicated annual policy.

I just tried their site.

Their quote form requires your address but you can only input the UK and a few other locations.

So it's NOT for Americans, apparently.

I messaged them and here is their reply:

Thank you for your enquiry; however, due to financial regulations we have to be licensed to sell our products in the country in which you are domiciled, currently we can offer our products to the following regions:

1. United Kingdom
2. European Union
3. Australia
4. New Zealand
5. Canada

If your country is not in one of these regions then, unfortunately, we would be unable to assist on this occasion.

 

[Felix le Chat]

Then phone ' em from the hotel/campsite/accommodation address wherever you are, define where you want to fly on the AA map and go for it.

 

[DiscoverSpain]

I would prefer to be able to buy a reasonably-priced global drone insurance.

But it has to be priced for recreational fliers, not just professionals who can expense premiums which cost several hundred or even thousands of dollars.

take a look to Recreational Drone Insurance Policies | Coverdrone

 

[MARK (LI)]

Has anyone tried AOPA?

 

[wco81]

take a look to Recreational Drone Insurance Policies | Coverdrone

Website doesn't show the US flag, only UK and EU countries.

 

[DiscoverSpain]

Website doesn't show the US flag, only UK and EU countries.

The title of the post says: "Drone insurance required for EU operator registration. Recommendations?"

According to Recreational Drone Insurance FAQ's | Common Insurance Questions & Answers | Coverdrone Europe

"Who is able to purchase a Coverdrone policy?
Coverdrone is for commercial and recreational operators, and we can cover anyone based in the UK, EU, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. As we continue to enhance our offering, further territories will be announced shortly."

 

[supernoobie]

I'm planning a trip to Europe in September (specifically: Malta, which is part of the EU). I plan to bring the drone along (Mini 3 Pro), there's plenty of good stuff there to shoot.

As best I can tell, same as for other EU member nations, for Malta I need to register as a drone operator (Malta uses the standard EU/EASA rules, plus their own) and follow basic and generally (mostly) reasonable rules. But to simply create an account online with Malta's Transport agency (a pre-requisite to register, gain access to the airspace maps, and I assume other stuff), I need to provide proof of insurance (I presume Liability insurance). So I'm looking for options for that.

I'll be flying my 249-gram Mini 3 Pro for recreational purposes, not commercially (I have the 107 cert here in the USA - as well as a private pilots license for crewed airplanes, but none of that matters).

I bet others here have gone down this road, looking for required insurance before a trip to Europe. Doing a search, I've found a bunch of threads that start off the same way ("I'm from the USA, will be leaving for a trip to the EU soon, need insurance...") but I have yet to see one that actually reports back and describes successfully finding a company, buying insurance and actually flying their drone legally in Europe. If I manage all that, I promise to report back, so the next 200 guys who are stuck with the same hoop to jump through can benefit from my experience.

To summarize:

• I'm from the US
• Traveling to an EU country (Malta) that requires drone (liability) insurance
• I will be flying a sub-250 gram drone (Mini 3 Pro) recreationally, not commercially (I believe A1 subcategory). I'll get registered, get a number, stick it on the drone as required (as long as they don't make that impossible), will do my best to follow the rules, not piss anyone off, not get arrested
• I'm looking for insurance that meets the requirements but is not crazy expensive

Can anyone suggest a decent company to use for this? Thank you!

Did you ever figure it out? Cant seem to find any answers even in this thread

 

[Aerophile]

Did you ever figure it out? Cant seem to find any answers even in this thread

Yes, as I clearly stated in a response to this thread, above. See post #12 in this thread.

The money-shot (quoting myself)...

I used skywatch.ai for my last trip and will do so again in the future. It was quick and easy to set up, and though it was not exactly what I'd call super-cheap, it wasn't prohibitively expensive either

Now, the above was true when I went (Fall of 2023). It worked out OK for me. It seemed a bit expensive, but it was a "solution" (meeting the requirements) with a price that I could live with. I have no idea if it's still available (to Americans traveling in the EU) or if it has become any more/less expensive since then. Would love to hear from anyone who has gone with them recently.

That said, I am planning a trip to the UK (next summer), and another to Italy (next fall) - both in 2025 - and I plan to bring my drone and fly it, so I will need to revisit the issue come springtime. I have not been following the latest EU or UK regs for recreational flights of sub-250 gram drones by overseas visitors lately, and I don't recall what the current requirements are....but will start looking at them in the coming months with the expectation that I'll be able to meet them and fly legally (at least in some places where I'm going - Shetland and Puglia).

If anyone wants to save me the trouble of all that googling (and then ignoring the countless websites full of out-of-date/contradictory info and the extensive web collection of useless nonsense and outright lies), with a link to the actual current requirements for sub-250 gram drones flown by non-residents (UK and Italy), that would be awesome, so thank you in advance.

 

[GRIEGO1959]

Viajaré a Italia en mayo de 2024 durante unas 3 semanas con un Mini 2 para uso recreativo. Vivo en EE. UU. Me registré como piloto de UAS y el dron está en d-flight. Ahora estoy buscando un seguro de responsabilidad civil para drones. He visto el sitio web skywatch.ai. ¿Alguien lo ha utilizado o puede recomendar un plan mensual de bajo costo?

Italia no solicita seguro de responsabilidad civil, solo lo recomienda.........

 

[GRIEGO1959]

Viajaré a Italia en mayo de 2024 durante unas 3 semanas con un Mini 2 para uso recreativo. Vivo en EE. UU. Me registré como piloto de UAS y el dron está en d-flight. Ahora estoy buscando un seguro de responsabilidad civil para drones. He visto el sitio web skywatch.ai. ¿Alguien lo ha utilizado o puede recomendar un plan mensual de bajo costo?

I

 

[GRIEGO1959]

Estimado, en Italia no exigen seguro de responsabilidad civil, solo lo recomiendan. Yo estuve hace unos meses y pude volar sin problema y utilice la aplicación d-flight

 

[GRIEGO1959]

Dear All
I would appreciate help in knowing how to obtain civil liability insurance. I am Chilean residing in Chile and I will travel to Germany and Austria in May and June of this year. I will bring my DJI Mini 3 drone, but searching the internet I have not found an insurance company that will sell me that insurance because I do not have residence in a country in the European Union.
If you know which company can sell me that insurance, I would greatly appreciate it.
Greetings