Staying Ahead of the Technology Curve: Insuring Drones
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Steve Uhlman | Sponsor Relations Sales Manager
Nationwide Insurance
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“As the use of drones has increased, we realized
there was a gap in coverage,” says Brent Van Roekel,
Underwriting Director, Nationwide Agribusiness
Insurance Co., Des Moines, IA. “Insurance policies
farmers and agribusinesses have typically excluded
liability coverage for aircraft. To keep up with the
technology and with customers’ needs, we needed to
address that issue. We want to make sure our customers
are covered appropriately.”
Drones are an issue some insurance companies
haven’t wanted to tackle. “Some insurance companies
indicated they’re not interested in covering drones
mostly because of the privacy aspects you might
potentially have,” he said. “We recognize that potential
exists but, based on the quality of our customers, we feel
it’s a smaller risk. We see the use of drones as becoming
essential for the ag economy, so we need to be able to
provide a solution.”
today, so we’re only offering liability coverage. We’re
not getting requests to insure the drone itself,” Van
Roekel explained. “Customers have been more interested
in the liability piece. Of course, that could change as
drones become larger and more expensive.”
As farms, ranches and agribusinesses move toward
bigger and more expensive equipment and drone
usage expands into areas like fertilizer and chemical
application, the price structure could change.
“For the $3,000 drones doing crop scouting today,
I don’t see a charge for that in the near future,” Van
Roekel said. “As the industry develops and farmers and
agribusinesses become more reliant on drones, I think
you’ll start to see some additional charges for coverage.”
Nationwide Agribusiness officially rolled out drone
coverage in March 2014.
Nationwide Agribusiness began writing coverage
for customers using drones at the end of 2013. “It’s
not a separate policy,” Van Roekel explained. “It’s
an endorsement we add to the policy we’re already
providing for those customers.”
“As with all our coverages, our drone coverage will
change as the industry and our customers’ operations
change,” Van Roekel said. “We’re trying to stay far
enough in front of our customers’ needs so we can help
protect their assets and they’re not behind the curve.”
Nationwide Agribusiness is not charging for this