The importance of having drone insurance

A brand new episode is here!

On the new episode we're shifting our focus towards the importance of drone insurance for both recreational or hobby flying as well as commercial purposes. Our guest is Daniel Blomerus from Unicorn Insurance Brokers. The following points are discussed.

- So I bought myself a brand new drone. How do I get it insured?

- Difference between Recreational and Commercial drone insurance.

- Requirements for commercial drone insurance.

For more info on drone insurance visit their website on: 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 on: http://www.aerialdronesolutions.co.za

Ruben

Hi guys, it's Ruben here from Aerial Drone Solutions, and man did we have a good response on our previous videos regarding the drone regulations in South Africa. And we had a great chat to Dean Polley from CUAASA regarding that, so if you missed it, please go check it out on our social media pages on YouTube, Facebook, and also on our website. It's www.aerialdronesolutions.co.ca. Please also make sure to join us on LinkedIn. For this episode, we're going to be focusing a little bit more on the insurance side of drones in South Africa and we've got the expert here to tell us a little bit more Daniel Blomerus from Unicorn Insurance Brokers, Daniel, are you well?

Daniel

Thank you very much for inviting us for this vlog, it's a real pleasure to be here

Ruben

Tell us, how's business

Daniel

Busy! As a drone insurer, drone broker, you can just imagine the type of industry that we're in, it's very fast moving, but we're very happy.

Ruben

Let's dive straight in and let's talk about the drone insurance. So let's say for instance, I went out and I bought myself a brand new drone, and I want to get insurance for my drone. What is the process?

Daniel

So firstly, Ruben will have to see what type of use the clients going to use it for. Is he going to use it for recreational or hobby use? Or is it going to be full on commercial scale?

Ruben

Yeah, so let's start off with hobby or recreational flying. How does one get insured for that?

Daniel

So with recreational flying, there's a lot of insurance companies out there that claim that they do hobby pilots and will ensure a hobby pilot. The biggest concern that clients need to be aware of is they need to look at the types of cover that you get. So for recreational pilots, there arei rules that you need to abide by and the drone insurers that actually ensure recreational pilots will cover you while on the ground as well as in the air. The normal rules that you explained in your previous interview, 50 metres away from any object, person, road, you can't fly at night, all of those will still apply. The rules that you explained on your previous episode will still apply for recreational drone pilots. And the insurance company will work with that.

Ruben

Absolutely. And if you missed that, please go check it out on our previous episodes, all the rules are stipulated out there. And also in Part 101 on the CAA website, you'll find all of those rules. Let's move over to commercial because this is this becomes quite a different animal when it gets to insurance and getting covered on there explained to us the different types of cover and why it's so important.

Daniel

So Ruben on commercial it is not as easy as people think if you fly for any client or you charge any client a fee to do work for him. The CAA classifies it as commercial uses. So for commercial pilots, it's not just buying a drone and taking out insurance and flying. There's a lot of licencing there's a lot of rules and regulation that they need to abide by. Firstly, we will have to start with each pilot will have to go and do an RPL course which is a remote pilot's licence, they will have to go through an accredited trainer in South Africa we are we are four of them currently. Then the company that you would fly under or the company that you would do your work in will have to have a valid ROC. This is a registered RPAS operator's certificate. For a ROC, you will need an air service licence, the air service licence will be given to you from the CAA. And then after all of that being done each air craft each RPAS you have will have to be registered under that ROC and we call that RPAS letter of approval or RLA.

Ruben

And it's interesting that you mention that because I think it's really important to note as well doesn't mean if you've got your RPL that you can still go out and fly commercially. You still need have the ROC in place don't need to have the air service licences and all those accre and certifications in place to be able to fly commercially in South Africa. So Daniel explaine to us the type of cover that I would need to take out as a commercial drone operator.

Daniel

So again, it depends on each pilot, each company and how they operate. We've got farmers that we work with that have crop sprayers and agricultural drones. We've got surveyors that have more your LIDAR equipment, your big M600 RPAS. The biggest thing that you need to look at firstly is you need to decide if you want to insure your equipment. If you want to insure your equipment we can cover the hull itself so that will be the the UAV or the RPAS. In a situation where you have, for instance, a Matrice 600. This is a it's a big boy and it can carry a lot of payload. In our industry, we've got a lot of clients that actually work in the survey industry, where they work with LIDAR equipment. So LIDAR scanner is not R5, it's not R50, we're talking about from 1.5 million to 3.8 million, depending on what you've got. So you need to make sure that the cover that you've got is actually correct. So that will be your hull, which would be your aircraft and then you will have your payload that will be attached to the craft. Further than that we also cover the guys for third party liability, which in this case is one of the most important things in South Africa for an ROC operation for ROC company. If you've got any aircraft listed on your ROC you have to have a minimum of 2.5 million third party liability. So it's very easy to say that I'm a commercial operator but the the way they need to manage that operation is very intemse. And then there's a lot of rules and regulation that that go with it.

Ruben

Let's move over to a possible case study of a drone incident or accident that took place and what happened towards the claiming process.

Daniel

So I'm going to tell you about a story we had on a commercial operation. They were scanning power lines, big power lines, and it wasn't a standard plain Phantom 4, which we all know is the, I call it the Hilux 2.4 of the drone industry. The pilot was flying, something went wrong. He hit the powerlines, the powerline actually came down. The drone exploded, caught on fire and burn the farmer's field. There was a lot of damage to this farmer's field. And that is where third party claim actually came in. We paid for the the craft itself, which was a R30 000 replacement, but the biggest thing out of this time was actually the third party that had a result in that

Ruben

And that is why it's so important to have the third party liability insurance in place.

Daniel

Definitely that is one of the biggest points that commercial operators have to look at.

Ruben

Right Stuff. Thank you, Daniel. So contact details if people would like to find out more about drone insurance Where can they get ahold of you?

Daniel

They can please visit our website at www.unicorninsurance.co.za

Ruben

So that's it for this episode. We'll be back next time to focus a little bit more about getting into specifically flying abroad with your drones and what type of insurance you will need for that. Also the claiming process, it's very important to understand that so all of that will be available on the next episode, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, also on Facebook and on Instagram. And now also on LinkedIn. We'll see you next time. Cheers. Transcribed by https://otter.ai

The consequences of using illegal drone operators

In this video, the last of three videos on drone rules and regulations in South-Africa, we will keep our focus on the commercial operation of drones in SA. What does the South African Civil Aviation Authority - SACAA regulations say about commercial flying in SA? Our guest is Dean Polley from Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of Southern Africa to answer a few questions such as:

- How companies should select a drone service provider and what to ask for.

- consequences of making use of Illegal drone operators.

- How to report Illegal drone operators etc.

All these and more will be answered right here.

Aerial Drone Solutions: http://www.aerialdronesolutions.co.za

SACAA drone regulations (part 101): http://www.caa.co.za/Documents/RPAS/P...

Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of South Africa: https://www.caasa.co.za

To report Illegal drone pilot/operators visit any one of the following websites and get in touch: https://www.caasa.co.za/cuaasa/ or https://www.safuas.co.za/

We would like to thank Percy Rudman Snr and his amazing team at Eagle Air - PTYLtd at Wonderboom National Airport for making their facilities available for us to record our videos. http://www.eagleair.co.za

Ruben Delmage  

Hi guys, Ruben here from Aerial Drone Solutions. So last time we spoke about the regulatory requirements regarding commercial operations of drones and unmanned aircraft in South Africa, and this week we'll be educating the companies specifically and also the general public on making use of commercial drone pilots and companies in South Africa. And I've got the expert here again this morning. We've got Dean Polley from CUAASA, also known as the Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of South Africa to tell us a little bit more. So Dean, on this episode, we would like to educate the companies and also the public on making use of commercial drone companies or pilots for commercial gain. What are the some of the stuff that the companies needs to look out for and maybe ask before deciding on which company to hire for the commercial OPS?

Dean Polley

The very first thing that you need to establish is the person who's representing the service to be presented is representing a company that holds an ROC or remote operating certificate, that's number one. So they need to, they need to ask for a copy of the ROC. And they also need to check the validity date, because I think they're only valid for a year or two years, and then they have to be renewed. So they're going to check that it's valid, and then need to ask for a copy of the Air Services License. And then they need to request what drone is going to be flown. And they need a copy of the RLA. And then lastly, the person that's going to be operating the drone needs to give them a copy of the RPL.

Ruben Delmage  

And that's very important for you to make note of so as a company, please make sure that you ask these questions before you even request a quotation from a drone company to make sure that you've got all the certifications and all the licensing in place before even making use of this commercial company. So let's say for instance, that as a drone pilot that is not licensed that does not have an ROC, they come out and they quote a company, for instance to do a commercial operation. What can happen to that drone pilot? If he's not licensed?

Dean Polley 

Well, he'll be operating illegally. So according to regulations, he can be subject to a fine of R50,000 or he can face prison time. Now that is if he gets caught. The other thing that seriously needs to be considered as if something goes wrong.  What if the drone crashes into a vehicle traveling on a road and it causes an accident and the worst case scenario it causes the death of somebody or it flies into controlled airspace and it brings down an aircraft, well, then you not only are you going to be hammered, as far as the regulations are concerned, you're going to face civil damages, which could run into the millions or you could face charges like culpable homicide, which is even more serious, which could land you in some serious jail time.

Ruben Delmage  

And I think what people might not know, especially if they just go out and purchase a drone for the first time, let's speak about because you mentioned earlier that let's say you fly into controlled airspace, and a drone gets what they call a fly away. Not everybody knows about that. Maybe just explain briefly on that. What is a flyaway?

Dean Polley 

So a lot of these drones that come into the country are manufactured in China, in other parts of the world. And they have been calibrated according to the GPS locations in those geographical regions. So when they come into South Africa, usually they need to be recalibrated. And if they not, the system, if I could put it in a very simple term is it gets confused. So if it initiate a return to home, it's not necessarily the place we took off. It could be Hong Kong, and what it's doing is now flying to predetermine GPS location that may be stored in his memory. Or it just gets confused and it just takes off and flies in direction. So that's typically some of the reasons of how you'd get a fly away.

Ruben Delmage  

And that's where the a lot of trouble can come in and that’s where liability insurance comes in. 

Dean Polley 

Then you've got no control over where that aircraft is going. Depending on where it is, if it's in built-up areas, when it eventually runs out of battery is going to crash. Or it will do a controlled landing. In other cases, at least it's not gonna fly too far. You're looking at a maximum of sort of 25 minutes flight-time.

Ruben Delmage  

Dean, let's say for is off, I've heard a lot of people saying, it doesn't matter. I'm going to buy drone, they'll never catch me. How will they possibly catch me? What do you make of that?

Dean Polley 

I think it's a rather irresponsible attitude to have and it's the same as saying, you know, I'm going to buy a car, and I'm not going to license it. Or I'm going to get on the highway and I'm going to say If I can push it to 200 kilometers an hour, where you get caught, there's a big chance that you won't if you get caught, there's going to be severe consequences.

Ruben Delmage 

So Dean earlier we spoke about illegal pilots and what can happen to them possibly if they get caught flying for commercial gain illegally without being licensed. Let's say a company makes use of an illegal drone pilot or an illegal drone operator or business, what can happen to the company hiring these illegal pilots or drone companies?

Dean Polley 

In simplistic terms, if they hire somebody to do an illegal operation, they complete the operation and nothing happens, nothing will happen. So there can't be any sort of law enforcement against the company that's hired the drone operator. However, if illegal operation is taking place, because the company is hired that pilot or a company that is standing as ROC holder and again, when something happens, and it causes it causes an accident or death or whatever they're going to be party to that whole illegal operation. So if you think about if it's a large company, and there’s legal action that's going to be taken against the company, they're obviously going to bring in attorneys. And they're going to argue the merits of the case on a case by case basis. They could plead ignorance that they honestly didn't know that it was an illegal operation. But there are going to be legal consequences to that.

Ruben Delmage  

In terms of reporting, illegal drone operation or a drone pilot, how does that get done?

Dean Polley 

So there is a there's a formal process to report illegal drone operations to CIA directly at CUASSA, we've started to take on reports from the general public as well. So we record that and we pass that on to CAA as well. This is another organization called SAFU, the South African Federation of Unmanned Systems. And I think that also make provision for the reporting of illegal operations.

Ruben Delmage  

Right. And we'll make all of those links available in the link below. So be sure to check that out as well. Lastly, do I think we would like to ask about more regulations specifically commercially in South Africa? Where can people find out more info on that?

Dean Polley 

So the number one place to go to is the Civil Aviation Authority website. Download Part 101 regulations read through them carefully. Also, you can contact CUAASA through their email address at info@cuassa.org and the link is at the bottom, or you can go to the website cuaasa.org.

Ruben Delmage 

That's it for this week. We'll be back next time. Cheers.

Recreational flying and the law

In this video, the first of three videos on drone rules and regulations in South-Africa, we will focus on recreational and hobby flying. What does the SACAA regulations say about recreational or hobby flying?

Our guest is Dean Polley from CUAASA (Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of South-Africa) to answer a few questions such as:

- Can I fly without a license?

- Where am I allowed to fly and where not? All these and more will be answered right here.

SACAA drone regulations (part 101): http://www.caa.co.za/Documents/RPAS/Part%20101%20-%20RPAS%20Workshops.pdf

Solutions Sensors Aircraft Software Services: http://www.ssass.co.za

Commercial Unmanned Aircraft Association of South Africa: https://www.caasa.co.za/cuaasa/

We would like to thank Percy and his amazing team at Eagle Air based at Wonderboom Airport for making their facilities available for us to record our videos. http://www.eagleair.co.za

Ruben 

Hi guys, my name is Ruben Delmage from Aerial Drone Solutions. And as promised, this is the first of three videos regarding drones and drone regulations in South Africa and all the different industries that you can use drones for in South Africa. So please make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel click on the subscribe button below and also click on the notification step to be notified whenever new video gets uploaded. And also follow us on social media, Facebook and also on Instagram. We've got the expert here this morning, Dean Polley from CUAASA to tell us a little bit more about drones in South Africa, also known as the commercial unmanned aircraft association of South Africa. Dean Good morning and welcome.

Dean

Morning Ruben and thank you for inviting me onto your show.

Ruben

Dean, give us a little bit of background on yourself.

Dean

I started flying drones in October 2013 When I purchased my first DJI Phantom, and at the time I used it pretty much as a hobby, doing aerial photography and aerial filming. And I pretty soon saw that there was a commercial opportunity there. So I started offering at that time, sort of basic aerial services. And of course, the regulations came into place in July, which stopped uncontrolled use of drones for commercial use, and I subsequently then formed my company, Aerial Vision Africa, which, by the way, we've just rebranded now and renamed and we can give you more details about that later. Initially the idea was to offer a service like a lot of other people or companies wanted to do at the time, and the regulation was quite complex and costly. And I changed my business model somewhat into rather selling solutions to drone operators than being a drone operator myself. So we do offer services. But right now I actually outsource them to companies that have got all the legalities in place the licenses, etc. In the process with the regulations that were launched in July, I joined CUAASA, which was then a newly established association. And I eventually served on the executive committee or the exco. I was the president for two years from 2016 to 2018. I'm still a member of CUAASA. I've stepped down and I've let the sort of younger blood get involved now with continuing with the scope, of CUAASA. Also CUAASA is a sub affiliate of umbrella body, which is the commercial aviation association of Southern Africa and I now serve on the board of directors of CAASA as well.

Ruben

Tell us a little bit more about exactly what CUAASA does and how they started.

Dean 

So first of all, if we go back to I think it was 2013. With the advent advent of drones coming onto the market, the Civil Aviation Authority got a bit of a shock when suddenly there were drones flying around. And of course, there was nothing controlling them and nothing regulating it. So what they did is they issued an outright ban on the flying of drones. At the time, it had a severe impact on a number of companies that were already operating for many years using radio controlled helicopters and homemade drones to provide the very services that's been provided today. And so they approached the Civil Aviation Authority and said, well, you can't just do an outright ban, you need to at least bring in some form of regulations. So CUAASA was then formed at the time with a group of stakeholders to engage with Civil Aviation Authority to basically force them to put in the regulations which became Part 101. Going forward CUAASA was made up of members of the industry that have vested interests, and we became the mouthpiece of people wanting to legalise, wanting to get into the drone industry, applying for the R.O.C.’s, and we were sort of like the mouthpiece for representing them and liaising on a behalf with Civil Aviation Authority.

Ruben 

So you briefly touched on the commercial side, but let's focus on this episode more specifically on recreational or hobby flying. So let's say for instance, I went out December, I bought myself a brand new drone. Where can I fly? Can I fly without having a license?

Dean 

So yes, if you if you're going to get a drone, which is under 25 kilograms, it's classified as what's called an SUAS. So it's a small unmanned aircraft system. Typically what you're looking at is the the sort of sub three kilogram range of consumer drones or hobby drones, if you want to call it that. The regulations actually makes provision for that. So you don't need an RPL. You don't need any form of licensing, but there are strict regulations that govern how and where you can fly it. So some of the most obvious ones is first of all, you can't fly over a built up area. So your backyard is out of the question. Because you need to maintain a distance of at least 50 meters of any structure. So you know, if if you've got a one, maybe if you have a one hectare to stand, yes, you can fly around your garden. But I mean, it's still it's as border-lining on going against the regulations. You can't fly over a public road. You can't fly over people. You can't fly within 50 meters of a public road. You can't fly within 10 kilometers of an airport. So if you take if you take Pretoria for instance, 10 kilometer radius around Waterkloof is basically no fly zone. You can't fly in controlled airspace. So public spaces I mean, obviously National key points like the the Union Buildings, power stations etc. So it's it's actually quite a pity because the drones have been designed for getting you eyes in the sky and doing very creative filming aerial filming work and where would you want to do this in the most scenic places possible. So the golden rule is, if it's over any private property, you need to have written permission from the owner. And if you're on holiday, those are the parameters with which you could we where you can operate them is what I've just listed and to find out exactly what that is, is clearly spelled out in the Part 101 regulations. And you can get that of the CAA website. And the other options is to join a SAMA club, the South African model aircraft Association club, a lot of them allow the flying of drones so you can go there and within the base of a SAMA airfield. And of course within the rules, you can go and fly recreational drones as well. It is extremely important to remember that even though there's a lot of open spaces, no public roads and buildings, flying in a national park is an absolute No, no. And there are heavy penalties if you caught flying in a national park like Kruger Park or any of the other national parks.

Ruben 

So Dean, you mentioned earlier about your company tell us a little bit more.

Dean

So I founded Aerial Vision Africa in 2015. Incidentally, we just renamed and rebranded the company in January this year and the company is now known as SSASS. It stands for Solutions, Sensors, Aircraft, Software and Services. And if you want to find out more about the company, go to the website www.ssass.co.za.

Ruben 

And that's basically the summary for this week's episode. So please make sure that you educate yourself very well. Dean mentioned all the do's and the don'ts, like you said, earlier in Part 101 on the CAA website, you will find all those regulations and we will make the link available on our website www.aerialdronesolutions.co.za. So that's it for this episode, we will be back next time to focus a little bit more on the commercial side of the drones and the drone regulations in South Africa. So please make sure to stay updated or stay tuned in for that. Make sure to subscribe on our YouTube channel, click on the subscribe button below and again on the notifications button. And that's it for this time. We'll be back next time