It's a judgement call for the pilot whether or not the damage caused is up to that $500 cost. Your Phantom will be in pieces if it flies in a tree (been there),

It's a judgement call for the pilot whether or not the damage caused is up to that $500 cost. Your Phantom will be in pieces if it flies in a tree (been there), while a tree will get a broken branch. In that case, you don't have to report anything. But if your drone runs into a traffic light, you better believe that's worthy of a police report and insurance claims (and by the way, there isn't any commercial drone insurance yet, but I'm hoping soon there will be).