State Farm Insurance instead of DJI Care

[PyroProdigy]

I had a State Farm Personal Articles Police about 10 years ago for my Phantom 4. I filed a fly away claim and after they paid it out, I received a letter saying my policy was cancelled. Once my Mavic 4 Pro arrives I am going to reach out to them again and see what happens.

How long did you have the policy before calling in the insurance? Did you have any cars or anything else on State farm at the time? That may be a deciding factor for them dropping you or not after calling it in

 

[FlierX]

How long did you have the policy before calling in the insurance? Did you have any cars or anything else on State farm at the time? That may be a deciding factor for them dropping you or not after calling it in

I had the policy for a few years. No, I did not have any cars, home, or anything else insured with them. Someone made the point earlier that if they are going to drop your PAP policy the second they pay out the claim, then maybe they should charge more. It is ridiculously inexpensive and I would be willing to pay more for the peace of mind of knowing that if I ever use, I will not instantly be dropped.

 

[PyroProdigy]

Yeah I was considering moving some of my car insurance with them. They would actually cheaper than Geico is for us for our cars. Maybe if I do that they will not drop me if have to call in the insurance on the drone one day. I don't have to do that! It was $80 a year for the Mavic 4 Pro.
And yes I agree! If they offer a stand alone Personal Articles Policy on just 1 item, which most companies do not, then they should offer it at a price point that you can call it in and not get dropped.

 

[mavic3usa]

Yeah I was considering moving some of my car insurance with them. They would actually cheaper than Geico is for us for our cars. Maybe if I do that they will not drop me if have to call in the insurance on the drone one day. I don't have to do that! It was $80 a year for the Mavic 4 Pro.
And yes I agree! If they offer a stand alone Personal Articles Policy on just 1 item, which most companies do not, then they should offer it at a price point that you can call it in and not get dropped.

How does St Farm even know you have other policies with them (technically speaking)? The purpose of the standalone is to be independent of anything else in all ways. If you have a car accident, your standalone drone policy should not go up. If you file a drone claim, your car policy should not go up. Otherwise, can't you just add the drone to your existing St Farm policy? If you do, you won't be automatically dropped. I have one motorcycle on State Farm and it's a heck of a deal for the type of bike I have and I would prefer they *not* tie it in with my drone (claims). All my other stuff is on GEICO and has been that way forever.

I kinda agree maybe yes maybe no. The $80 is mostly so they can pay you $4,000 when you crash your drone. Exactly how many times are they supposed to do that with a standalone policy? Even if you pay $1000 per year for that standalone policy, they can probably swing it twice before they had to drop you. I would rather keep the price low and I'm saying that even after having been dropped; I would prefer they put you in the penalty box for something like 5 years.

 

[anotherlab]

How does St Farm even know you have other policies with them (technically speaking)?

They would look up your information in their CRM and immediately see that you have existing policies with them. They can also look up if you have filed claims against their policies or from other insurance companies.

 

[AlanL]

How does St Farm even know you have other policies with them (technically speaking)?

I have had my personal articles policy with State Farm for over 15 years now covering my camera equipment. My drones are not the big ticket items in this policy and the agents know me from ongoing changes to the policy items as I have swapped out and added camera bodies and lenses through the years. All of that info along with my homeowner's policy with them are up on their screen from the moment they pull up my name in their data bases.

I would be taken aback if they didn't have all my info for my policies. It tells me they take an interest in their clients and want to keep my business.

 

[mavic3usa]

They would look up your information in their CRM and immediately see that you have existing policies with them. They can also look up if you have filed claims against their policies or from other insurance companies.

Not trying to hide it. It's 2025, of course that information is accessible. The whole point of the standalone policy is for it to be separate, not to be invisible to the real world. Otherwise, why not just say "Sir I see you have a policy with us since 2001, we'll just go ahead and add the drone to that..."

 

[mavic3usa]

But I don't think this discussion is about adding a drone to your insurance policy where it's State Farm or farmer's or gecko or amfam....I think the readers want to know about this great standalone policy that St Farm came up with so you won't have to go into a big long discussion with them about your history, etc when you are signing up. Where to discussion goes off track it when we talk about cancellation and the people who claim they have a long time great history with St Farm won't get cancelled if they claim which is great but it's just realistic and it's not the true experience for the average drone flyer who's looking for standalone drone policy. If that's the case, the advice should be avoid this $60 policy and to just call up your own insurance company and see if you can add a drone. Do you not see a difference? People are looking for alternatives to Care Refresh, the answer can't be just call GEICO or Allstate or Liberty if that's the case who cares if DJI Care is gone. Because we *all* have regular insurance. The name State Farm comes up because afaik they are the only ones offering a standalone policy for drones come one come all. So again, I know this isn't a secret stealth drone policy.

 

[ddublu]

I have hull insurance (normally would use Refresh), and it was $240/year + $300 deductible for full replacement. It's on the same account as my $1M liability policy.

I would advise against a cheap way out via SF (or any basic personal items policy) unless you're ok with being cancelled.

 

[PyroProdigy]

How does St Farm even know you have other policies with them (technically speaking)? The purpose of the standalone is to be independent of anything else in all ways. If you have a car accident, your standalone drone policy should not go up. If you file a drone claim, your car policy should not go up. Otherwise, can't you just add the drone to your existing St Farm policy? If you do, you won't be automatically dropped. I have one motorcycle on State Farm and it's a heck of a deal for the type of bike I have and I would prefer they *not* tie it in with my drone (claims). All my other stuff is on GEICO and has been that way forever.

I kinda agree maybe yes maybe no. The $80 is mostly so they can pay you $4,000 when you crash your drone. Exactly how many times are they supposed to do that with a standalone policy? Even if you pay $1000 per year for that standalone policy, they can probably swing it twice before they had to drop you. I would rather keep the price low and I'm saying that even after having been dropped; I would prefer they put you in the penalty box for something m.

As far as I understand it, car & PAP are connected to you in a way, but the policies are not connected to each other the way you are thinking. You have 2 separate policies. And to them you are a customer who they can count on a reoccurring $1200 every 6 months for car insurance or not. I'm just speculating that may be a deciding factor on whether or not they'd drop you with the PAP if you called them for a payout for the drone or not.
But if your a high risk person who calls in claims on any policy often, yeah I bet they'd raise the rates on anything you have. But doing it once or even twice on your car or drone probably wouldn't do that I bet.

I wouldn't switch over my car insurance to SF just for that, but to save 5 hundred dollars a year in car insurance I would.

Most other insurance companies will not just insure 1 a personal item like that under a personal articles policy unless you have renters insurance or homeowners insurance with them. And then the PAP would then fall under your renters or homeowners insurance. It's pretty nice that SF will do that for people all by itself.

AKKO is another option if you just want to insure your drone BTW. I had a SONY phone with them for a little while and I remember they also had a separate electronics insurance you could get. Laptops, drones, TVS, cameras & even headphones all fall under that. AKKO is primarily a phone insurance company like Asurion. Not sure of the cost for a drone but I had a $2000 phone with them for $168 a year. Covered everything from theft to a cracked screen to a total loss. More expensive than SF but it's another option if you've burned your bridges with SF.

 

[mavic3usa]

I have hull insurance (normally would use Refresh), and it was $240/year + $300 deductible for full replacement. It's on the same account as my $1M liability policy.

I would advise against a cheap way out via SF (or any basic personal items policy) unless you're ok with being cancelled.

I think it's a recreational-only policy for casual drone flyers who don't want to pay a lot and don't need so much liability and will probably only need a one-time replacement if any. Just for the record, I've only had one claim and it has done ZERO to the rest of my insurance including my St. Farm policy.

 

[PyroProdigy]

I have hull insurance (normally would use Refresh), and it was $240/year + $300 deductible for full replacement. It's on the same account as my $1M liability policy.

I would advise against a cheap way out via SF (or any basic personal items policy) unless you're ok with being cancelled.

Can't get refresh on a Mavic 4 pro in the USA or I would have. So what other options are there? I am not getting any kind of license, I have my reasons and that's my business, and other drone ins companies require a 107 or whatever. And they are hella expensive for something I likely will not use. Maybe if I used it for an actual business or monetary purpose or something. So for a person who doesn't require liability it's just fine. Besides the liability what's the difference between what you have & SF? They cut you a check correct? For repair or full replacement -your deductible? And the you deal with the repairs or buying a new drone yourself.

Refresh on that drone costs about the same but the service is different. They deal with all the repairs and replacements and shipping. No liability there either. They don't cut you a check, they repair and replace your drone. And DJI could deny you as well depending on the circumstances.

Also yeah with SF if you call it in as a total loss they will drop you after they pay you out, because the drone is a basically gone & no longer exists. You take the check, buy a new drone and start a new policy with them with the new drone. My SF policy is tied to my serial number. So if the drone is demolished than yeah they cancel the policy on that drone. But you're free to insure your replacement with them. I mean I'm sure there's a limit to that and how often you do it.

 

[PyroProdigy]

But I don't think this discussion is about adding a drone to your insurance policy where it's State Farm or farmer's or gecko or amfam....I think the readers want to know about this great standalone policy that St Farm came up with so you won't have to go into a big long discussion with them about your history, etc when you are signing up. Where to discussion goes off track it when we talk about cancellation and the people who claim they have a long time great history with St Farm won't get cancelled if they claim which is great but it's just realistic and it's not the true experience for the average drone flyer who's looking for standalone drone policy. If that's the case, the advice should be avoid this $60 policy and to just call up your own insurance company and see if you can add a drone. Do you not see a difference? People are looking for alternatives to Care Refresh, the answer can't be just call GEICO or Allstate or Liberty if that's the case who cares if DJI Care is gone. Because we *all* have regular insurance. The name State Farm comes up because afaik they are the only ones offering a standalone policy for drones come one come all. So again, I know this isn't a secret stealth drone policy.

SF does not have a drone policy. They have a personal article policy. That covers everything from laptops to jewelry to drones.

 

[mavic3usa]

SF does not have a drone policy. They have a personal article policy. That covers everything from laptops to jewelry to drones.

I had to call it that because too many people started saying they already had one of those along with all the other personal item they have with State Farm along with all kinds of deductibles and liability and history and no-cancellation; confuses too many people when you call it that. When you get on the phone, you tell them you want to insure a drone, right? Please write me a policy for drone, no?

I'll call it whatever you guys want me to call it but I have to be able to sell to all the US drone community that has been abandoned by government and my DJI thru no fault of their own. Some people hate to invest in such big ticket items and have zero protection so I'm trying to help.