I've been researching starting my drone photography business and I'm getting overwhelmed by all the insurance options. What's the bare minimum I need to get started? I keep seeing liability insurance mentioned, but then there's hull insurance, professional liability, E&O... it's confusing.

I'm planning to do mostly real estate photography and maybe some construction site work. My drone cost about $2,500. Should I get everything upfront or can I start with just basic coverage and add more later?

Also, any idea what this is actually going to cost me monthly? I'm trying to budget everything out before I take the plunge.

For your situation, liability insurance is absolutely essential - most real estate agents won't even hire you without it. I'd recommend starting with $1M coverage which runs about $300-400 annually. Hull insurance for your $2,500 drone is optional initially but smart if you can't afford to replace it out of pocket.

I made the mistake of only getting liability at first and crashed my drone on my third job. Had to buy a whole new one out of pocket because I skipped hull coverage to save money. Learn from my mistake - get both liability and hull from day one, especially if that drone is your main income source.

Don't forget about professional liability (E&O) if you're doing construction work! Had a client claim my aerial survey photos led to costly mistakes in their project planning. Regular liability wouldn't have covered that. It's only like $200-300 extra annually and totally worth the peace of mind for commercial work.