Who is liable if a delivery drone crashes onto my property?
In short
If a delivery drone crashes onto your property in Germany, its keeper (Halter) is liable for the damage even without fault (section 33 LuftVG) and must carry liability insurance (section 43 LuftVG). For drones under 500 kilograms liability goes up to 750,000 Special Drawing Rights per accident (section 37 LuftVG). Your buildings insurance can also pay, as the model conditions cover an aircraft crashing.
There is no special product against crashing delivery drones. These are the covers that apply today.
Example
Typical range
Buildings insurance, detached house
about EUR 35 to 80 a month
Commercial drone liability, as an operator needs it
from about EUR 119 to 150 a year
Private drone liability, for your own drone
about EUR 28 to 95 a year
Hull cover for your own drone
from about EUR 24 a year
Guide values for 2026.
Larger commercial delivery operations are priced individually.
Norman Nammert can obtain a quote as an insurance broker.
Worked example
Delivery drone crashes onto the carport
Assumed amounts: a delivery drone loses height over your property, breaks through the carport roof and damages your car.
Carport roof
EUR 3,000
Paint and window of the car
EUR 2,000
Route 1: drone keeper's liability insurer
pays EUR 5,000, no excess for you
Route 2: your buildings insurance for the carport
pays EUR 3,000 minus your excess and recovers the money from the keeper
The keeper of the delivery drone must pay your whole loss. Your own buildings insurance is the quick detour if the keeper is slow.
The keeper of the delivery drone is liable without fault
Under section 1(2) of the Aviation Act (LuftVG), unmanned aircraft count as aircraft when they are not flown for sport or leisure. A delivery drone is therefore an aircraft in German law.
If a delivery drone in operation injures a person or damages property in an accident, the keeper must pay under section 33 LuftVG. You do not have to prove fault. This also applies if only the load, the parcel, falls and damages something.
Damage from the delivery drone
Who pays first
Legal basis
Roof, fence, carport
keeper's liability insurer or your buildings insurance (Wohngebäudeversicherung)
section 33 LuftVG, VGB 2022 A 3.6
Belongings in your home
keeper's liability insurer or your contents insurance (Hausratversicherung)
section 33 LuftVG, VHB 2022 A 3.6
Car on your property
keeper's liability insurer
section 33 LuftVG
Injured person
keeper's liability insurer
sections 33 and 37(2) LuftVG
Caps and compulsory insurance
Liability is capped. For a delivery drone under 500 kilograms maximum take off mass, section 37(1) LuftVG sets the limit at 750,000 units of account per accident. Under section 49b LuftVG one unit is a Special Drawing Right of the International Monetary Fund.
For each injured person the keeper is liable up to EUR 600,000 as a lump sum or EUR 36,000 a year as a pension (section 37(2) LuftVG). To make sure these amounts are paid, section 43 LuftVG requires liability insurance, with a minimum sum based on section 37 LuftVG (section 102 LuftVZO).
Your buildings and contents insurance
The German model conditions for buildings insurance (VGB 2022) and contents insurance (VHB 2022) list the impact or crash of an aircraft, its parts or its load as an insured peril under A 3.6. Under section 1(2) LuftVG a delivery drone is an aircraft.
The model conditions do not define the term aircraft themselves. Whether your insurer treats a delivery drone as one depends on your own policy wording. If it pays, it can recover the money from the drone's keeper under section 86 VVG. For you this is often the faster route.
How to find the keeper of a delivery drone
Operators of drones over 249 grams must register with the Federal Aviation Office (Luftfahrt-Bundesamt) and affix the registration number to every drone. Photograph the crashed delivery drone with this number before anyone collects it.
A delivery drone or its parcel usually also shows the name of the delivery service. Report the damage in writing and ask for the details of its liability insurer.
What you do not need
As an owner or tenant you do not need your own insurance against falling delivery drones. The keeper must be insured, and your buildings or contents insurance already covers an aircraft crash in the model conditions. You only need drone insurance if you fly a drone yourself.
Step by step
Get people to safety first, call the fire brigade if there is smoke or fire.
Photograph the delivery drone, its registration number and the damage.
Call the police if anyone is injured or the operator is unknown.
Report the damage to the operator in writing and ask for its liability insurer.
Inform your buildings or contents insurer at the same time.
Checklist
Photos of the delivery drone with registration number
Name of the delivery service, date and time
Repair estimate
Own policy checked for the aircraft crash peril
Witnesses noted
Common mistakes
Handing the delivery drone back without photos
Thinking nobody is liable because no pilot was on board
Only notifying your own insurer and not writing to the keeper
Assuming your own insurer never pays because a drone is not a plane
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
Who is the keeper of a delivery drone?
Whoever operates the drone for their own account,
usually the delivery service or a drone operator working for it.
Do I have to prove the pilot made a mistake?
No.
The keeper is liable under section 33 LuftVG without fault.
What if my car is hit on the street?
The drone's keeper is liable then too under section 33 LuftVG.
You do not need your own motor insurance for this.
Does my contents insurance pay if the parcel falls through a roof window?
The VHB 2022 model conditions also cover the crash of an aircraft's load.
Check whether your policy uses this version or an equivalent one.
How much are 750,000 Special Drawing Rights in euros?
The amount is not fixed in euros.
Under section 49b LuftVG it is converted at the rate on the day of payment,
or in a lawsuit on the day of the last hearing on the facts.
