Insurance vs DJI care

Digi_t · May 13, 2020

Just wondering what people do generally for protecting their drones? I’m looking to get my first drone which will be the Mavic Air 2 and want to make sure I have some level of insurance should the worst happen. DJI care is £79 vs around £50 for insurance which also gives me some level of public liability. the advantage of insurance means I can claim pretty much no matter what happens and get new for old replacements if I pay a £50 excess For each claim, with DJI care there is no excess but it’s limited to two replacements and if I lose the drone over water and can’t recover it then I have no protection.

Has anyone got any experience of using an insurance company and made a claim? Was it a good experience and are you glad you chose that over DJI care?

E90RAW · May 13, 2020

Digi_t said:
Just wondering what people do generally for protecting their drones? I’m looking to get my first drone which will be the Mavic Air 2 and want to make sure I have some level of insurance should the worst happen. DJI care is £79 vs around £50 for insurance which also gives me some level of public liability. the advantage of insurance means I can claim pretty much no matter what happens and get new for old replacements if I pay a £50 excess For each claim, with DJI care there is no excess but it’s limited to two replacements and if I lose the drone over water and can’t recover it then I have no protection.

Has anyone got any experience of using an insurance company and made a claim? Was it a good experience and are you glad you chose that over DJI care?

Keep in mind you may NOT get a new unit with DJI care refresh, but likely a refurb. I crashed my M2Z and did get a new unit but my understanding is they usually send a refurb (in case you are wondering where all the broken drones go). They probably didn't have refurb M2Zs at that time. What do you mean by public liability. I was not aware you could get insurance on drones. If you could explain that in more detail it would be greatly appreciated.

Digi_t · May 13, 2020

E90RAW said:
Keep in mind you may NOT get a new unit with DJI care refresh, but likely a refurb. I crashed my M2Z and did get a new unit but my understanding is they usually send a refurb (in case you are wondering where all the broken drones go). They probably didn't have refurb M2Zs at that time. What do you mean by public liability. I was not aware you could get insurance on drones. If you could explain that in more detail it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the tip about refurbs, I hadn’t considered that. The public liability basically insures you in case you damage property or injure someone with the drone.

E90RAW · May 13, 2020

Digi_t said:
Thanks for the tip about refurbs, I hadn’t considered that. The public liability basically insures you in case you damage property or injure someone with the drone.

And they replace the drone with a new? How does that work. Do they pay you cash for today value?

Hawkmaster · May 13, 2020

I just got my new drone from DJI, after my first pilot error crash. I had care refresh and DJI was pretty quick, 3 weeks from
shipping out to receiving new 1. Definitely looks brand new, cost $119 besides what i paid for refresh, well worth it.
Cant wait till i get back in the air tomorrow.

yooper · May 14, 2020

I just put a claim in on my Allstate home insurance. I had it covered as a personal article. I crashed into a tree. They sent me a check within 3 days. No deductible the premium is 36.00 a year

JohnnyD913 · May 14, 2020

I don’t know where people get info from about. Dji care refresh..
I’ve had it now for a phantom 4 and mavic pro.
I went thru the first 2 phantoms quickly and always got a brand new replacement quickly.
The same with the mavic pro..
Before I bought my “NEW” drones I started with
The refurbs and their serial numbers ALWAYS
Have the letter R in them..
Never did my replacement have a R in the serial number

droneloverair · May 14, 2020

yooper said:
I just put a claim in on my Allstate home insurance. I had it covered as a personal article. I crashed into a tree. They sent me a check within 3 days. No deductible the premium is 36.00 a year

That was nice. Isnt it so that it only covers the insurance policy if you crashed within your home or poperty and not outside? Or?

ChipDjipro · May 14, 2020

State farm $30 a year.

Fogfire · May 14, 2020

I would love to know the limitations on the house insurance rider. I do that for my cameras, against theft etc. Didn't know they would do a drone. I have had Care Refresh on my Mini and now My Air 2 the rate didn't seem bad. I suspect a regular insurance company would also cut you off and maybe change your rate if you made two claims in a year. That would be my concern.

Refurb: Just like the drone you crashed, but fully tested and often just a return from a customer who didn't like it. I have bought refurbs and even open box stuff most of my life.. One problem I don't even remember and they replaced it right away. Save a lot of money. Refurbs don't' worry me when from the original maker or even a profesional refurb house.

speedbird_1 · Jan 1, 2021

My drone is 3 weeks old. Loving it and unsure if I should get a state farm drone insurance vs DJI refreah(which I read is a Larger PITA if you bought the drone already and worked it more than 48 hrs. Advisr please?

fullbore · Jan 1, 2021

I just got State Farm insurance for my two drones, premium is $75 annually.

WizardEyes · Jan 1, 2021

I have Refresh but, I'm planning to fly over the ocean a lot so I'm getting a suplement policy on top of it in case I can't recover it.

anotherlab · Jan 2, 2021

speedbird_1 said:
My drone is 3 weeks old. Loving it and unsure if I should get a state farm drone insurance vs DJI refreah(which I read is a Larger PITA if you bought the drone already and worked it more than 48 hrs. Advisr please?

I just activated a Refresh plan on a Mavic that was nearly a year old. I just needed to record a video of the DJI Go app showing that everything worked. It took just a few minutes to do and upload for DJI to review.