Insurance For Drones

Acorn International Network’s Coverflight platform is helping drone operators protect their flying assets more quickly and conveniently. Chua Kim Beng speaks to company founder Mr David Ong to find out how it has been performing since its launch in 2019

- Chua Kim Beng

The drone that you have been dabbling with on weekends — to hone your piloting skills or to take stunning videos — is increasingly crossing into the commercial realm. Companies such as Wilhelmsen and Airbus already operate their own fleet of drones for shore-to-ship deliveries.

In order to protect their flying assets, these companies often purchase insurance for them. As an insurance buyer, Acorn International Network Pte Ltd helps these companies buy the relevant cover for their commercial and research drone operations and applications.

FULFILLING AN UNMET NEED

Acorn boasts about developing Singapore’s first fully digital drone insurance platform, Coverflight, which was launched on February 22, 2019, after the company had conducted a study on the drone applications and users.

“We researched on whether there was any drone insurance in Singapore, and found that there were one or two, but the insurers needed to refer cases to specialists, who may be located elsewhere,” shares Mr Ong. This is largely because insurance is based on risk sharing among a large number of parties — and the drone community in Singapore was much smaller then. “The study made us realise that there was a small and energetic drone community that wanted to expand their services, but they needed to have their risk mitigated.”