A brand new episode is here!
On the new episode, we're staying focussed on the importance of drone insurance for both recreational or hobby flying as well as commercial purposes. Our guest is Daniel J. Blomerus from Unicorn Insurance Brokers The following points are discussed.
- Why is 3rd part insurance so important?
-Cover when flying abroad and what is needed to be able to conduct commercial operations abroad?
- What is important for companies to know before hiring a drone operator for commercial purposes?
For more info on drone insurance visit their website at: https://www.unicorninsurance.co.za/
Aerial Drone Solutions is a fully licensed and insured drone operator and for more info and pricing on drone solutions you can visit our website at: http://www.aerialdronesolutions.co.za
Ruben
Hi guys, it's Ruben Delmage from Aerial Drone Solutions. On a previous episode we chatted about the importance of drone insurance in South Africa, specifically looking at the difference between hobby or recreational flying, and also commercial flying in South Africa and what type of cover is needed. So if you missed these, make sure to check out our social media pages on Facebook, also on YouTube and Instagram. And for more, you can also check out our website at www.aerialdronesolutions.co.ca So for this episode, we'll focus a little bit more about flying abroad and outside the borders of South Africa. And tell us a little bit more I've got the expert yet again, Daniel Blomerus from Unicorn Insurance brokers, Daniel today. It's great to chat to you again and let's dive straight in. I think let's talk about the importance and why it is so important. To have drone insurance in South Africa.
Daniel
Ruben, as you mentioned in our previous episode, you get two types of insurance cover, you get your recreational pilots and you get your commercial operators. For all of them, the main thing that they all have to have is third party insurance.
Ruben
Why is that simple?
Daniel
Third Party insurance for drones is very important because you have to take that factor in what happens if something goes wrong. We all see drones flying and we all see a lot of operators flying in some cases, illegal airspace, where they're not supposed to be. But if you take that law into consideration if anything should go wrong, so for instance, you were flying on a on a park in open Park, and the drone malfunction and something went wrong, and it actually flew into a person what thing so the question will always has to be asked if I at a loss and something went wrong, what what would have happened?
Ruben
Daniel, I think we explained it very well in some of our previous episodes, the importance of knowing the rules when flying for recreational or hobby purposes, the rules where you may and may not fly. And if you've missed that, these go check out our previous episodes and also it's available on Part 101 on the CAA website, it's very important for you to know the differences, flying commercially versus flying for recreational purposes. So make sure to go check that out. Let's move a bit towards flying outside of South African borders and getting covered for that specifically, how difficult is that it can it be done
Daniel
Ruben, it's actually not difficult. When it comes to flying in South Africa, we all know for a commercial operator you have to have your ROC your ASL, all the aircraft needs to be listed under the ROC but when it comes to flying abroad outside of South Africa, those rules don't always apply. You do not have to have an ROC, for instance to fly in Botswana, you do not have to have an ROC to fly in Uganda, Rwanda, all of that, but you still have to have permission to fly in their controlled airspace. So it's very important that people see that if you go and fly outside, you have to have permission where you go, even if you go and fly in Mozambique, and you've got to shoot as a film operator, you got to do a movie scene, the you have to have permission from the local CAA in Mozambique to actually find them. We as a drone broker, have insurance that help us to ensure that our clients abroad, Africa is expanded. There's a lot of work for drone operators. We've got clients flying in the DRC, Uganda, we've got guys in Kenya, Botswana, but all of these pilots, all of these operators are doing it legally. They are getting permission. And the reason we know that is it is part of all rules and regulations or conditions. If you take on insurance, we as a drone insurance broker, and our insurance will cover you abroad, but you still need to abide by the conditions of the policy wording and that you know that you're flying legally.
Ruben
So Daniel, let's talk about the claims process. Specifically, maybe you've got an example of two of claims that you've had to handle.
Daniel
Ruben, as we mentioned in our previous episode, yes, we have the 2.4 Hilux that are call it the Phantom 4. We've got a lot of claims on that aircraft and is our biggest culprit. But our personal cameraman standing behind the camera here, had an incident where he's Inspire 2 and Zenmuse X5s camera. We're talking about almost 100,000 rands worth of equipment here, and it was not at all his fault. He was flying in controlled airspace. He had approvals from the CAA and flying under the ROC and something went wrong and the drone fell out of the sky completely stopped and it just crashed. When we went into the flight logs, we actually noticed that in the area that he was flying, there was a lot of microwave beam activities. And in that small incident incident where he was shooting and filming his shot, he actually passed the microwave beam and it cut the drone out. It lost all power and motor stop and just came down.
Ruben
And that is why it is critically important to be correctly insured as a commercial drone operator because anything can go wrong. I
Daniel
Definitely agree with that 100% for our clients, he had proper insurance he had third party liability insurance. He had hull insurance we paid for his craft, as well as his ZenmuseX5s camera which is R48,000. But Ruben to add on to that. You also have to take into consideration the safety aspect that goes with drone operations. This incident was a very scary thing. It was uncontrollable, there was nothing that could have been done. The drone just lost power and it came down. All the safety aspects were in place, and nobody got hurt. But we all know that if there was a situation and something would have gone wrong, he had proper drone insurance and not something. And this is not something that you need to take lightly.
Ruben
I would like to shift towards companies making, making use of drone operators in South Africa. Why And What is important for companies to know before choosing and hiring a drone operator to fly commercially for them.
Daniel
Ruben, it's a it's a very touchy subject in South Africa because we all know that, unfortunately, or a lot of legal illegal operators out there. So as a client if you're employed drone operator, you have to check that he's got the proper paperwork in place. Because if it comes to his drone insurance, the drone insurance will never activate, or never play out if anything should happen, if that pilot did not have the proper insurance, if you do not have your commercial paperwork, your approvals from the CAA to fly in this area, it could be a disaster. So if you put yourself as a client, paying for a drone operator to fly for you, if you put yourself in that space, make sure that he's got the correct insurance.
Ruben
If anything goes wrong, that you will also be covered. I think there's a lot of people wanting to know but how can they get a hold of you Daniel for more info on joining shirts, I'm sure there's a lot of people doing their RPL is now getting all this certification in place. What do they need and how do they get hold of you?
Daniel
Please visit our website. There's a lot of content about drone insurance. It's on www.unicorninsurance.co.za Anytime, if you feel you want to check, please give me a call.
Ruben
That's a thank you so much. It was really interesting to know about the joint insurance and how important these are. Thank you so much for sharing all your info all your knowledge with us. Thank you very much. And that's it for this last episode regarding the insurance of drones in South Africa. And as you heard, it's really important to make sure that you educate yourself properly before flying commercially, and also whether you find emotional, or for recreational purposes, to have the correct insurance in place. And as Daniel mentioned earlier, you can go check out their website for more info. So please make sure to go check us out on our social media pages on Facebook, also on Instagram, and now also on LinkedIn. And again, if you're looking for a legal drone operating in South Africa, don't hesitate to contact us. Our website is available at a drone solutions.co today, all the contact details will be on there. So I'll see you next time. Cheers. Bye. Transcribed by https://otter.ai