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When a robot breaks something: who pays? Liability and insurance, region by region

A plain-English map of who is usually responsible when a drone or robot damages property or hurts someone, what insurance the law requires in the US, EU, UK, India and China, and the contract clauses that decide the rest.

By The Whirrwork team7 min read
  • liability
  • insurance
  • drone insurance
  • product liability
  • EU Product Liability Directive
  • self-driving vehicles
  • contracts
  • risk

The short version

  • Robots aren't legal persons. When one causes damage, responsibility usually lands on a person or company: the operator (if they were careless), the manufacturer (if the product was defective), the site owner (for unsafe premises), or whoever the contract says.
  • Insurance requirements differ a lot. UK commercial drone operators must carry third-party insurance; the EU requires it above 20 kg and most member states require it below; Part 107 in the US doesn't require it at all; India requires it for all but nano drones.
  • The EU is changing the rules this year. Its new Product Liability Directive treats software as a product for products placed on the market from 9 December 2026.
  • This isn't legal or insurance advice. It's a map to help you ask better questions of your lawyer, broker and supplier.

Here's the scenario every buyer worries about: the robot you hired damages something, or worse, someone. Who pays? The honest answer is "it depends", so let's be specific about what it depends on.

The four usual suspects

WhoWhen they're usually on the hookTypical insurance
The operator / service providerThey were negligent: skipped a check, flew in bad weather, ignored a limitPublic/third-party liability, aviation liability for drones
The manufacturerThe robot or its software was defectiveProduct liability
You, the site owner or clientYour site was unsafe, you gave bad information, or you directed the workYour own general liability
Whoever the contract saysIndemnities and liability caps move risk between partiesContractual liability cover

Real incidents usually involve more than one. In the 2024 Orlando drone show accident, for example, the NTSB pointed to configuration errors and a lack of independent verification by the operator, and noted that the FAA waiver assigned responsibility for safe operations to management personnel (NTSB final report). An investigation doesn't decide legal liability, but it shapes it.

Region by region

United States

  • Insurance: Part 107 doesn't require drone operators to carry liability insurance. It does require reporting any operation that causes serious injury, loss of consciousness, or property damage of at least $500 to the FAA within 10 days (FAA). In practice, venues, cities and clients often require insurance by contract.
  • Liability: mostly state law: negligence, product liability and contract. That means the answer can differ between states.
  • Robotaxis: federal regulators police safety and reporting. Cruise paid a $1.5 million penalty in 2024 for incomplete crash reports after its October 2023 incident (NHTSA). That's a regulatory fine, separate from any injury claims.

European Union

  • Drone insurance: mandatory for drones above 20 kg; EASA says "most" member states also require third-party insurance for lighter drones, so check national rules (EASA).
  • Product liability is expanding. The new Product Liability Directive (EU) 2024/2853 explicitly covers software, including AI systems and firmware, and applies to products placed on the market after 9 December 2026; older products stay under the 1985 directive (EUR-Lex; European Commission). For robot buyers, that makes it easier to look to the maker when buggy software causes harm.
  • No separate AI liability law. The proposed AI Liability Directive was withdrawn in 2025 (Euronews), so fault-based claims stay with national law.
  • Machinery rules are tightening. The Machinery Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 applies from 20 January 2027 and covers autonomous mobile machinery and safety functions that use self-learning software (EU-OSHA).

United Kingdom

  • Drone insurance: if you fly for any commercial purpose, you must have third-party insurance that meets EC 785/2004 (UK CAA). Ask any UK drone operator for the certificate; it's not optional.
  • Self-driving vehicles: the UK has the clearest model we've seen. Under the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018, if an insured automated vehicle driving itself causes an accident, the insurer is liable to the injured party first, and can then recover from whoever was at fault (legislation.gov.uk). The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 adds an "authorised self-driving entity" responsible for the vehicle meeting the self-driving standard, and generally shields the "user-in-charge" from criminal liability for how the car drives while the feature is engaged (legislation.gov.uk).

India

  • Drone insurance: the Drone Rules 2021 require third-party insurance for drones other than nano drones, with motor-vehicle insurance law applying to drone third-party claims (Legal 500 summary; Ministry of Civil Aviation).

China (Beijing, for autonomous vehicles)

  • Beijing's autonomous vehicle regulations took effect on 1 April 2025. Accidents are handled by the traffic police under national rules (Article 31); test, demonstration and pilot operators must buy compulsory traffic insurance, carrier liability insurance and supplementary commercial cover (Article 42); and companies must give owners a way to access vehicle data and users a way to access accident and fault data from their own trips (Article 39) (Beijing municipal government).

We haven't summarised every country. Rules change; check with the regulator where you operate.

What insurers are learning

Insurers price risk from data, and robots generate a lot of it. In a study with Waymo, the reinsurer Swiss Re compared 25.3 million fully driverless miles to human driving and found 88% fewer property-damage claims and 92% fewer bodily-injury claims than the human baseline (Waymo). It's one company's data in a study it co-authored, so treat it as a strong signal, not the final word. But it points to where insurance is heading: priced from logs, not guesses.

Who pays? Common scenarios

What happensUsually first in lineWhat to check
The robot damages your property during a jobThe operator's liability insuranceYour contract's indemnity and their certificate
The robot injures a member of the publicThe operator, and possibly the manufacturer if defectiveInsurance limits; whether you're named as additional insured
The robot breaks itself (no one else harmed)Depends on the deal: under some subscriptions, the supplierAfter its 2017 fountain incident, Knightscope says it replaced the robot within 48 hours and credited the client a month of its subscription (Security.World)
Your staff damage a rented robotOften you, under the rental agreementDamage clauses and your own cover
The robot fails and you lose a day's businessOften nobody: many contracts exclude "consequential loss"Service credits and exclusions
Robot video or data leaksWhoever controlled the data and failed to protect itData clauses; cyber insurance; see privacy

Contract clauses that decide the rest

  1. Indemnity: the supplier covers losses caused by its negligence, its product defects and its breach of law.
  2. Insurance: types and minimum limits, with you named as additional insured, and notice if cover lapses.
  3. Liability cap: check the number. A cap equal to a few months of fees may be far below the damage a robot could do.
  4. Consequential loss: if it's excluded, make sure service credits are meaningful.
  5. Compliance: the supplier is responsible for licences, permits and authorisations for the job.
  6. Incident cooperation: the supplier must share logs and video after any incident, promptly. (Beijing writes a version of this into law for autonomous vehicles.)
  7. Rental damage: what counts as normal wear, and who pays for repairs.

Bot or Not?

You're well covered when…Be cautious when…
The operator sends an insurance certificate without being asked twiceInsurance is "being renewed"
The contract names you as additional insuredLiability is capped at a month's fees
The supplier will share incident logsLogs are "proprietary"
You know which country's rules applyThe operator is flying in from abroad and isn't sure

What to ask

  1. Certificate of insurance: liability type, limit, dates, territory, and is it valid for this specific job (e.g. drones over people, at night)?
  2. Who's the manufacturer, and does the supplier pass through product warranties?
  3. What does your contract cap liability at, and what's excluded?
  4. Will you share logs and video after an incident?
  5. Have you had any claims in the last three years?

See also: the due diligence checklist and RaaS contract red flags.

This isn't legal or insurance advice. Liability depends on facts, contracts and local law. Talk to a qualified lawyer and an insurance broker in your jurisdiction.

Sources

All accessed October 2026.

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