Best Buy Protection vs DJI Care

[jonatious]

This should be common sense now, but still worth repeating - be a responsible pilot, don't crash your drone multiple times a year, and you should't need to worry about a premium increase, or being rejected for the next policy renewal. If you had too many car accidents in a row, your next auto insurance renewal will also likely be denied.

I read stories where next month renewal is rejected after the first claim. I have never crashed any of my drones in the last 3 years when I have been flying. Just want to make sure to not have a DJI Care Refresh and State Farm rejects coverage after a couple months of buying the drone. We need to always be prepared for worst case.

 

[CanadaDrone]

Any kind of extended warranty or device protection plan is carefully designed to guarantee that it is not a good deal for the majority of customers. Knowing that, everyone has to decide for themselves if the peace of mind is worth it, and if the likelihood of a potential claim actually being approved is satisfactory to them.

As others seem to have already mentioned, you are probably better off going through other channels such as home/contents insurance if you end up with an incident. Mine is automatically covered under my contents insurance provided I don't admit that I intentionally destroyed it haha - I imagine it's a little different province to province or state to state though.

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

I read stories where next month renewal is rejected after the first claim. I have never crashed any of my drones in the last 3 years when I have been flying. Just want to make sure to not have a DJI Care Refresh and State Farm rejects coverage after a couple months of buying the drone. We need to always be prepared for worst case.

My personal experience with State Farm for the last 3 years has been nothing but positive. I filed my first claim earlier this year, for another item (a lot more expensive than Mavic 3) covered in the same policy, received the full reimbursement check by mail in a week. Yesterday I spoke with State Farm agent, and she has no problem adding my Mavic 3 to the policy, for $79/year.

Maybe you should stop reading horror story on the internet. Give your nearby agents a phone call, voice your concerns, and see what they say.

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

No kidding thats not what an agent told me or I would already have I,ll check into that thanks sir

I believe you got mis-information from the first agent. You should find a different agent to talk.

 

[waternut13134]

I have State Farm for my Home, Car and personal Article Policy. I have it covering my Phantom 4 Pro, Mavic 2, and I did have it covering my Inspire 1. While flying over some woods a few years back I lost my inspire, just lost connection and it never RTH, Anyways I made the claim with State Farm and they paid it in full within 48 hours, they didn't even want the flight logs or anything. It did NOT affect the rest of my policies, However State Farm will no longer write me any more policies for any type of drones now. So it appears to be once you file a claim you are done. With all that said this has been a few years ago and I am going to try again (We got a new agent) and see if they will try and write a policy again for me when my Mavic 3 gets here.

 

[jonatious]

I have State Farm for my Home, Car and personal Article Policy. I have it covering my Phantom 4 Pro, Mavic 2, and I did have it covering my Inspire 1. While flying over some woods a few years back I lost my inspire, just lost connection and it never RTH, Anyways I made the claim with State Farm and they paid it in full within 48 hours, they didn't even want the flight logs or anything. It did NOT affect the rest of my policies, However State Farm will no longer write me any more policies for any type of drones now. So it appears to be once you file a claim you are done. With all that said this has been a few years ago and I am going to try again (We got a new agent) and see if they will try and write a policy again for me when my Mavic 3 gets here.

Yeah this is the part I am worried about. What if something happens in the first couple months and I make a claim and I dont have any insurance after that :/

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

Yeah this is the part I am worried about. What if something happens in the first couple months and I make a claim and I dont have any insurance after that :/

In the worst case scenario, you receive a full reimbursement check from State Farm for your drone crash, use it to buy a brand new drone, if State Farm won't insure it then go with other options (DJI, Best Buy, Geico, etc). I don't see what you have to lose in this case.

Now consider an alternative scenario - let's say you purchased DJI's Care Refresh plan for your Mavic 3 for $239/year, and had a crash. Even for minor damage, you have to pay a $159 service fee, and send the drone to DJI for repair. If this is a fly away, the replacement fee becomes $739. If you purchased DJI Care Refresh Plan in United States, travelled aboard and crashed your drone, it is not covered at all. Compared to State Farm, there are way more caveats you need to worry about for DJI's plan.

 

[waternut13134]

In the worst case scenario, you receive a full reimbursement check from State Farm for your drone crash, use it to buy a brand new drone, if State Farm won't insure it then go with other options (DJI, Best Buy, Geico, etc). I don't see what you have to lose in this case.

Yes you are correct, State Farm told me they usually don't pay to have it "Fixed" they pay to have it replaced.

 

[jonatious]

In the worst case scenario, you receive a full reimbursement check from State Farm for your drone crash, use it to buy a brand new drone, if State Farm won't insure it then go with other options (DJI, Best Buy, Geico, etc). I don't see what you have to lose in this case.

Actually wait, I completely forgot that they provide a check, I dont know why I was thinking that it was similar to DJI giving a replacement drone but with the same warranty period. I think I am most likely going to get the state farm insurance

 

[jonatious]

One last thing. Is there any State farm equivalent in Canada? I might be moving to Canada in a year and I think DJI Care Refresh I buy in US can also be used in Canada but State Farm coverage will stop once I move there

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

One last thing. Is there any State farm equivalent in Canada? I might be moving to Canada in a year and I think DJI Care Refresh I buy in US can also be used in Canada but State Farm coverage will stop once I move there

Personally I think you should buy the State Farm's plan now, once you moved to Canada just keep renewing it year after year until they deny your renewal. It is a world wide coverage. If you made a crash, as long as your policy is still valid, you are completely covered. They either send you a check or do a direct deposit to your bank account.

By the way, you definitely should not buy DJI's plan right now, since it only works in the original country where you purchased it.

 

[jonatious]

Personally I think you should buy the State Farm's plan now, once you moved to Canada just keep renewing it year after year until they deny your renewal. It is a world wide coverage. If you made a crash, as long as your policy is still valid, you are completely covered. They either send you a check or do a direct deposit to your bank account.

By the way, you definitely should not buy DJI's plan right now, since it only works in the original country where you purchased it.

I meant to say I am permanently moving to Canada, not sure if the world wide coverage you are talking about is for the insurance itself or the person being a resident of a different country

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

Personally I think you should buy the State Farm's plan now, once you moved to Canada just keep renewing it year after year until they deny your renewal. It is a world wide coverage. If you made a crash, as long as your policy is still valid, you are completely covered. They either send you a check or do a direct deposit to your bank account.

If you still have concern, find an agent nearby and talk about it.

I meant to say I am permanently moving to Canada, not sure if the world wide coverage you are talking about is for the insurance itself or the person being a resident of a different country

You should find a State Farm agent in your area, talk about your own situation, and see what they say.

 

[Dbez1]

I believe you got mis-information from the first agent. You should find a different agent to talk.

I have SF for my A2 and it’s $45 per year around here. I got it back when my Mini was over a year old. When I called my agent to ask about it, he didn’t know anything about drone insurance. He ended up calling the main SF office and they gave him the information. I’m not surprised that some of the agents aren’t well informed as they probably have very few requests. It’s a real thing and no deductible, however, commercial pilots can’t be covered and you have to produce the sales slip but it doesn’t matter how old it is. I’ve had no claims so I can’t help you there. I originally learned about it on this forum. Best wishes.

 

[51 Drones]

The disadvantage of State Farm policy is that it’s not in very many states. But it is an extremely cheap policy. I have my computers, cameras and drones on there. Keep in mind, that if you use them at all for commercial purposes, they won’t cover it. The Best Buy plan is overpriced. DJI Care Refresh is revamped a bit, where if you don’t use it at all for your term, you get an additional year of manufacturer warranty, so that’s nice. I will be utilizing the Care Refresh, as I just crashed my Mavic 3 on Saturday. I plan to document my experience and make a video of it for others to see how it all works. Honestly, if you have State Farm available, I would get it right away. But if you fly to make money at all, I would go for Care Refresh.

 

[PetitFrereArmada]

I will go with State Farm. I had them for 2 years when I had my M2Pro. I have never made a claim on the policy. I just contacted my agent today and this is the quote she gave me. Same as last time. $75 a year. When my drone is delivered this Thursday by UPS, I will take it to their local office so they can take pictures and inspect it before they write my policy.

 

[offtheback]

I read about the personal articles insurance and looks like it is tied to your home insurance as well and any claim shows up on your home insurance claims and could affect your home insurance prices for about 5 years

I'll see if I win or lose on the check vs premium increase.

 

[waternut13134]

So I just wanted to give an update, I got my Mavic 3 today and contacted my State Farm agent to see if I could add it as a Personal Article policy. She tried and even contacted adjusters at the company and apparently once you file a claim they will no longer insure any type of drone as you are now considered a "Liability" she was telling me that drones themselves are already considered "risks" due to the nature of the products and now the prices they are having to be insured over. So just keep that in mind if anyone has to file a claim. So I went ahead and just went ahead and did the Bestbuy Total Tech warranty, It covers everything (Except Fly Away) and will replace the drone or issue a gift card to cover the price I paid not to mention I have no restocking fees if I decided to return the drone if DJI decides to delay the firmware update or remove any features.

 

[SkywalkerFeng]

So I just wanted to give an update, I got my Mavic 3 today and contacted my State Farm agent to see if I could add it as a Personal Article policy. She tried and even contacted adjusters at the company and apparently once you file a claim they will no longer insure any type of drone as you are now considered a "Liability" she was telling me that drones themselves are already considered "risks" due to the nature of the products and now the prices they are having to be insured over. So just keep that in mind if anyone has to file a claim. So I went ahead and just went ahead and did the Bestbuy Total Tech warranty, It covers everything (Except Fly Away) and will replace the drone or issue a gift card to cover the price I paid not to mention I have no restocking fees if I decided to return the drone if DJI decides to delay the firmware update or remove any features.

Best Buy's protection plan says that for drones, it covers "Accidental Damage from Handling" - should I interpret "handling" as "drone flight" in this case? If it is not, then it's a whole different kind of coverage.

 

[waternut13134]

Best Buy's protection plan says that for drones, it covers "Accidental Damage from Handling" - should I interpret "handling" as "drone flight" in this case? If it is not, then it's a whole different kind of coverage.

Yes. I even confirmed with the store manager today. He said it can be in a million pieces, just bring it in and they will replace it.