Flock offers on-demand insurance for drone pilots
by Startacus Admin
The drone industry might have started off as something of a fad, but where people might have expected interest in it to die down, it has only become stronger and stronger.
In the US alone, just under 2.5m personal drones were sold in 2016. And while the individual hobbyist is finding entertainment in drones, businesses and entrepreneurs are finding more and more applications for them, cutting down on man-hours, saving money, making things simpler, and opening up avenues that would have been either impossible or hugely expensive before.
Commercial drones are used for mapping, inspections, photography, crop maintenance, delivery, to aid search and rescue… The list goes on.
As usage rises and applications for drones increase, however, so do the dangers. Injury to the operator and others, damage to the drone and property, even collisions with other aircraft - these are all things that happen more frequently than people might realise. And where there is risk of damage and injury, there is the need for insurance.
The problem is getting inexpensive insurance. Drone coverage is difficult, as there is no historical data to draw from and the range of applications and possibilities are too great. Insurers simply do not have insight into what drone operators are doing with their drones, and operators cannot identify all the potential risks for each flight (not to mention the fact that each flight could be completely different to the last).
VC backed Flock Cover is looking to plug the gap between the sluggishness and inflexibility of traditional insurance companies and the new, versatile world of drones. 
The first important step for Flock is to offer on-demand insurance. The second is that the cover is highly personalised. The app collects real-time data about you as a pilot, your drone, your location, nearby hazards, and environmental factors.
Algorithms are put to work on this data to calculate the risk factor of your flight and offer you a premium. These risks are broken down so that you understand them, and hazards are displayed on a map for safety.
With insurance premiums starting at only £5, and with the assurance of Allianz as Flock’s underwriter, the ability of this startup to give power back to drone operators not only mirrors the flexibility and freedom of drone flight, but it can save them thousands of pounds.
And we’d be willing to bet the number of operators who take their drones out without insurance will drop sharply too. Flock - We like it a lot.
If you like Drone related startups, you might also want to read about Flyte an innovative platform which is on a mission to provide “seamless flight planning for commercial drone projects” or our previous article on drone startups to watch out for.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Seedrs’ AutoInvest will allow investors to customise investment criteria from industry sector, stage of business and tax relief eligibility to automatically invest in equity crowdfunding campaigns.
Local SEO can become, one of, if not the most effective method of marketing your local business. Here's some handy tips care of Digital Next.
Enhance convenience and efficiency by giving your home a brain, care of Manchester-based startup Wondrwall, a smart home intelligence system that learns from your behaviour.
How do you make sure your employer brand knocks your competitors out of the park to attract talent to your startup? Dee Murphy, Organisational Psychologist & Head of Employer Branding at Jobbio has this to offer...
The innovative platform which is on a mission to “teach kids how to code, bot by bot.”
These things matter - the most essential security advice for small business owners...
Into running? This startup offering SMART insoles & real-time coaching is for you...
Innovation in farming with this cloud based ecosystem which has been designed to unify agricultural data
The startup that's building on tradition to create an entirely innovative range of beverages...
A look at a few of the attributes that are helpful as an entrepreneur and what to do if you know that you’re coming up short with some of them.
Published on: 29th October 2017
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Trezeo looks to the crowd to target full UK launch 27th Jun 2018 Trezeo, a fintech startup focused on delivering financial stability to the self-employed, targets fully launching its income smoothing business account product in the UK.
- CliniShift awarded upSTART startup pitch title at Digital DNA 2018 21st Jun 2018 CliniShift wins the upSTART startup pitch title at Digital DNA for 2018, battling off against 24 other disruptive UK, NI and Irish startups.
- Launchpad, the award-winning incubator/accelerator building high tech startups in Cornwall 21st Jun 2018 Launchpad, an innovative, post-graduate incubation & acceleration programme developed by Falmouth University that aims to create new digital businesses to meet identified market demand in just 12 months.
- Lloyd's Lab begins global search for tech talent 21st Jun 2018 Over ten weeks, tech startups will be given the unique opportunity to work with Lloyd’s market experts to shape the next big innovation.
