Apollo sets up new drone insurance facility

Independent specialist insurer and reinsurer Apollo has started a new drone insurance facility in partnership with Moonrock Drone Insurance.

Apollo will provide capacity to Moonrock, which is designed to provide coverage for larger commercial drone operations, meeting an increased demand in the market.

Moonrock was founded by managing director Simon Ritterband in 2016 to streamline and improve the process of finding suitable drone insurance following his frustrations when he initially looked into buying a policy. Moonrock covers small commercial operators to large fleets of drones across multiple industries such as film and TV, agriculture and construction.

Martin Jackson, who leads Apollo’s Aviation business, said: “The drone industry is an exciting area of innovation that can drive positive change in the UK economy as well as offering environmental benefits, and is a keen area of focus for the UK government. We have been working intensively with Moonrock to create an insurance product that specifically caters for the growth of commercial drones and we are pleased to be leading the way in underwriting this and other new risks in emerging industries.”

Ritterband said the firm is excited about the new opportunities that are presenting themselves in the drone market. “If the drone industry is to unlock is full potential and hit the growth targets estimated to be £45 billion by 2030 and upwards of half a million new jobs, then the support and backing from such seasoned aviation insurance professionals, is vitally important.”