How to Obtain and Submit a Certificate of Insurance for the NYPD Drone Permit (2026)

A Certificate of Insurance, almost always shortened to "COI," is the single insurance document the NYPD reviews. Understanding exactly what it is — and what it must say — prevents one of the most common permit delays.

What a COI Is (and Isn't)

A Certificate of Insurance is a one-page summary document issued by your insurer confirming that coverage exists, the limits, the policy period, and any additional insureds. It is not the full policy. The NYPD requires the COI submitted with your application as proof of the § 24-06 insurance condition; you typically do not submit the entire policy. Because the COI only summarizes the policy, the underlying policy must actually contain the required terms — a COI cannot grant coverage the policy does not provide.

What Your COI Must Show

• Limits: $2,000,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 aggregate (minimums).
• Coverage: aviation/UAS liability — not generic commercial general liability that excludes aviation.
• Additional Insured: the City of New York, named on the certificate.
• Policy period: covering all of your planned flight dates.
• Insured name: matching the permit applicant exactly.

How to Request One

1. Contact your aviation/UAS insurance broker or carrier and tell them the COI is for an NYPD drone permit.
2. Provide the exact additional-insured wording: "City of New York."
3. Confirm the limits read $2M/$4M and the coverage line references drone/UAS aviation liability.
4. Ask for the City of New York to be added by endorsement if it is not already on the policy — the endorsement is the written modification that adds the City as Additional Insured.
5. Review the issued COI carefully before uploading; a missing additional-insured line is the most frequent defect.

How to Submit It

The COI is uploaded inside the Applicant Details section of the NYPD permit application at dronepermits.nypdonline.org, along with your other supporting documents. Incomplete applications are not reviewed (38 RCNY § 24-03(f)), so confirm the file uploaded successfully before you advance. Keep a copy of the COI on hand; you may need to show proof of coverage during operations.

Reading Your COI Before You Upload

Take two minutes to read the certificate line by line before submitting. Check that the named insured matches your permit applicant name exactly, that the limits read $2,000,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 aggregate (or higher), that the coverage description references drone or UAS aviation liability rather than only general liability, that the City of New York appears in the additional-insured field, and that the policy effective and expiration dates bracket all of your planned flight dates. A single blank or mismatched field is the most common reason a certificate is bounced back, and each round-trip with your broker costs days you may not have before the flight.

Keep It Available During Operations

Keep a copy of the COI accessible on the day of the flight, whether printed or on a device. You should also keep your permit confirmation and your FAA authorization on hand, since the operator is responsible for being able to demonstrate that the operation is authorized. Storing all three documents together — FAA airspace authorization, NYPD permit confirmation, and the insurance COI — means you can show, at a glance, that both layers of authorization and the required coverage are in place.

Note on terminology: a Certificate of Insurance is an industry document and the word "certificate" here refers to that insurance document. MmowW does not certify, guarantee, or endorse any insurer or coverage — always confirm your policy terms with your own licensed broker.

Why Both Layers, Every Time

It is tempting to treat the NYPD permit and FAA authorization as alternatives, but they answer different questions. The FAA controls the national airspace — whether the air over a location is safe and authorized for a drone at a given altitude. The City of New York controls take-off and landing on the ground within its limits under § 10-126. Satisfying one does not satisfy the other: a perfectly valid LAANC authorization still leaves you without a lawful place to launch or land in NYC, and a valid NYPD permit does not grant you the airspace. Build your plan around both from the start, because the slowest layer — often a manual DroneZone authorization where the LAANC ceiling is 0 ft — sets your real timeline.

Operating without the required authorization is what carries consequences. Unauthorized take-off or landing can result in civil penalties under 38 RCNY § 24-07 and criminal exposure under § 10-126(c), and reckless operation can lead to arrest. At the federal level, the FAA can impose civil penalties up to $75,000 per violation under 49 U.S.C. § 46301. None of this makes flying in New York City unlawful in itself — it remains legal — but it makes doing it without authorization a poor decision. The whole point of the permit pathway the NYPD opened on July 21, 2023 is to give operators a lawful route, and using that route is far cheaper than the alternative.