For 40 years now, we have been your specialist insurance broker for model sports and drone liability insurance - private, commercial and voluntary. A lot has happened in this time! We look back at the beginnings of DMO until today.
Hans-Otto Köddermann founded the DMO in 1983 out of a passion for model sports. He had been building model aircrafts himself since he was a teenager. At that time there were no kits, but all the individual parts were lovingly made, assembled and painted by hand. Early on, he became involved in his model sports club, to which he is still loyal today at the age of over 80, and in which he still practises his sport, now with model helicopters.
In the beginning, it was mainly the model flying clubs that were interested in liability insurances, but later the need also grew among small private groups and model sports enthusiasts who were out on their own.
Hans-Otto Köddermann was always someone who thought ahead. DMO was the first provider of commercial model owner's liability insurance in Germany, because he saw great opportunities in this market segment - and rightly so, as we know today, because the commercial use of model aircraft - and thus also drones - has now assumed considerable proportions, and it will continue to grow.
Since 2005, it has been a legal requirement in Germany to take out model owner's liability insurance if you want to operate a flying model. The drone boom did the rest, and so the DMO grew to several tens of thousands of members by now. Since 2011, Gerd Ströker has been supporting us in our daily work as a customer advisor and surveyor for model flying sites in Germany.
Today's owner of DMO is Andrea Dörpelkus, the daughter of the company's founder. Even as a child, she accompanied her father to the model flying field at weekends and still remembers her mother's "enthusiasm" when the living room table was once again covered with balsa wood because her father was assembling a new model.
The father kept thinking, as is and always has been his way, for the good of the company. He knew that the time would come when he had to and wanted to pass on the sceptre. He offered her the chance to join the DMO. In 2017, Andrea Dörpelkus joined DMO as co-owner and has been the sole owner since 2020. Hans-Otto Köddermann now enjoys the freedom of still being able to come to the office, but not having to.
For Andrea Dörpelkus, the idea of service comes first. Her aim is to answer all customer enquiries in a friendly manner and as promptly as possible. We pay attention to quality and competence, because our customers should not only receive the best possible insurance cover, but also up-to-date information, for example about new legal regulations in the field of drones and model sports at DMO.
To this end, we always keep ourselves professionally up to date. Among other things, this is also done with the support of the Model Flying Sports Association MFSD, which DMO has been affiliated with since 2021, to ensure that DMO customers can take full advantage of the benefits of association membership.
Thus Andrea Dörpelkus continues to run the DMO in the spirit of her father. The 3rd generation is also ready and waiting. Lena Franzke, Andrea Dörpelkus's daughter, has other goals in her main profession for the time being, but she is closely connected to DMO as a family business, just like her brother Tim.
From the very first insurance policies for model sportsmen and women, we had the vision of providing sufficient cover for this great hobby. At that time, this was still uncharted territory! Today, the need for good model owner liability insurance in both the private and commercial sectors is greater than ever.
We are thrilled that models of all kinds as well as drones are becoming more and more popular and are excited to see what the future holds. We will keep an eye on developments for you and remain your dedicated contact partners!
Many thanks to our team and our members!
Your team at the DMO
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