NEW RULES TAKE FLIGHT, MORE DRONES IN SIGHT By Kevin C. Amrhein, CIC A year ago, I wrote a column for Primary Agent discussing the insurance concerns in an ISO CGL regarding a commercial insured’s use of drones. At the time of this writing, the relevance of that article (and its referenced ISO form numbers) is unchanged. That said, some regulatory changes announced recently by the feds are noteworthy. In short, with the loosening of a few long-standing rules, it’s possible – dare I say, likely – that you as an agent will notice an expansion of 4
drone use across different industries within your commercial book.
WHAT’S UP? (Besides the drone, of course … ZING! *adjusts necktie*) In late December 2020, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an executive summary describing significant changes regarding the commercial use of small drones. Much of the attention regarding the FAA’s announcement regards compliance with a APRIL 2021
controversial ID/monitoring system that will be phased in over the next several months. However, a few other changes described below took effect in March 2021. Agents should expect the results of these changes to be swift and, dare I say, risky.
FLYING OVER MOVING VEHICLES OR PEOPLE For years, operators who did not receive specific exemption from the FAA were forbidden from piloting drones over moving vehicles or
