Super Cheap Drone Insurance... not what you think...

[Inspirephil]

That includes my Inspire 2, M2P and every piece of equipment that I have

 

[Former Member]

A big draw to State Farm is insuring your UAV with no strings attached and no other policies required. That also means that many agents don’t want to be bothered, I don’t think the commission on a $5. monthly policy is the quietest way to retirement.
My experience:
I had all of my insurance with Safeco, my agent said (after checking into it) she could not help with UAV coverage. I then started calling State Farm Agents, some said can not be done, one said he would look into it and get back to me, never heard back and one said can do but $100. deductible. The last one I called, said yep I can help you with that. She asked a few questions then said she could write it a few different ways and asked if I could stop by and bring receipts for everything UAV related. I dropped off my stack of receipts the next morning, she called me a few hours later and this is what she had. Coverage for Phantom 4 Pro, Mavic Air, DJI Goggles, 7.5 Crystalsky, Hard cases for all, 4 Phantom batteries, 4 Air batteries, filters, SD cards, on and on. $65. per year (0.18 per day). No deductible, full replacement cost, no matter what happens to it and no corpse needed.
The next morning I went to pay up but brought all my insurance policies asked her to take a look, 4 cars, home, umbrella and healthcare.
State Farm now has it all. Her efforts for $65. annual policy resulted getting all my insurance. All of the LAZY insurance agents need to get a clue.

 

[Grumpy D]

If anyone is looking at State Farm Insurance in Tennessee here’s your easy button.

Cassie Boring
865.408.2433

 

[NCjonNC]

North Carolina State Farm...

Josh Benton
919-377-8654
$60 for year no deductible.

 

[CC Rider]

I have 5 drones, each covered for their full purchase value by State Farm under 5 Personal Articleds Policies. Each drone’s premium is very reasonable, less than $60 a year. I’ve had such coverage for close to 3 years.

When my Yuneec Typhoon H Pro suddenly decided to go bye-bye on me about 2 years ago while I was flying it over a nearby bay, one phone call to my SF agent resulted in a check in a little more than a week for full replacement cost.

Then last year, while flying along the coastline where I live but this time with a brand new Phantom 4 Pro just days old, that drone suddenly stopped responding to my built-in P4P controller, about 250’ up & about 1,000’ out. My screen just suddenly went black; the controller hiccuped several times on its own trying in vain to reboot. When it finally did come back online, it only displayed a frozen image. There was no telemetry info displayed. The drone was not where I last had easy VLOS of it over the river. I was temporarily very focused on my controller - so therefore I was momentarily distracted - and when I finally looked up to where the drone last was, it was nowhere to be seen. Although there was no connection between the controller and the P4P, I hit RTH repeatedly while sending up silent prayers that magic would somehow happen and the P4P would return to its home point on the beach where I stood. I only gave up hope after it’s possible battery flight time elapsed and I added 10 more minutes to it, just in case. I went home with just my controller and 4 fully charged batteries.

My flight logs & data spoke for themselves. It was not pilot error. I turned everything over to DJI fully expecting a new replacement P4P since the data clearly indicated a problem with the unit. However, after getting different responses from different people at DJI, and then waiting for a final phone call from them that never came, I turned in a claim to SF and again received a check for full replacement cost very quickly.

This month I got the Mavic 2 Zoom with the Smart Controller & Fly More Combo for $2,002. Annual premium for all of that from SF is just $56.

I can’t speak highly enough for State Farm and how they have worked with me, which has been seamless. I also carry a Personal Umbrella Liability Policy with them to cover me in the event of harm to people or property.

In closing, I want to mention I also have drone insurance coverage through my membership with the long-standing model/aviation group AMA. That coverage includes liability insurance as well as drone coverage. Moreover, my annual dues - which I think are something like $100 - also helps in AMA’s ongoing efforts to protect the rights of us UAV pilots, something I would encourage every drone pilot to do.

 

[Jonesp]

Anyone have an SF agent in Florida that they could recommend? Not had too much luck so far.

 

[430Ferrari]

Umbrella policies are very inexpensive as they often require higher limits of liability on your underlying policies (home and auto.) the state minimum in auto liability in WA is only $60K overall but you would be hard pressed to get and umbrella policy if you did not carry at least $400K in coverage. Home, typically $300-500k is required. The chance a suit goes for more than those amounts is slim so the umbrella is cheap. They are very good things to have just in case.

Correct. I have max limits on all our vehicles and homes. A $4M blanket bond policy costs just a tad over $1,000 per year. It’s used to protect net worth (assets - liabilities).

 

[Grumpy D]

Correct. I have max limits on all our vehicles and homes. A $4M blanket bond policy costs just a tad over $1,000 per year. It’s used to protect net worth (assets - liabilities).

Correct, if your net worth equals more than your DJI case, you need an umbrella policy. Someone slips on your front porch, covered, crash your Mavic into your neighbor’s kid, covered. I carry a pistol at all times (legally, permitted), if I shoot somebody or something, covered. Don’t be caught without it.

 

[Inspirephil]

I had no problems insuring all my drones with State Farm here in Eugene Oregon as long as I provided all the receipts for any/all accessories for all my drones that are on the policy.
And furthermore I just had a catostrophic crash with my Inspire 2 that resulted in a total loss and they paid the claim within 48 hours. Now I don’t know about you but I can’t think of anything better than that. I’m not going to say how much this particular claim was for but suffice it to say that it was substantial!
And my policy wasn’t canceled for the rest of my drones either!

 

[Libertyflights]

I read thru the thread. One question: is State Farm covering you as a recreational pilot or as a commercial 107 pilot. My SF agent said my home owners covered me as a recreational with existing deductible. But if I was flying commercially SF would not cover, and would not write a policy as just a drone company. They would add a rider to an existing commercial account (construction, real estate etc), but not as a company that did drone work only. Is anyone getting SF to cover them just as a commercial drone company?

 

[FLPilotshark]

Its time for you to find a different agent. You might have to shop around, but trust me, you can get a PAP in Florida that just covers your drone.

What State do you life in ?

 

[CC Rider]

To my knowledge and after some research, I do not believe State Farm offers commercial drone insurance per se. That being said, SF does offer different commercial insurance policies for a variety of businesses.

Anyone in any form of business in today’s litigious society would be quite foolish not to have some form of liability insurance to protect themselves in the event of some untoward event coming their way. The absolute best protection is to form an LLC (limited liability company) and work under that as a business, with liability insurance protecting the LLC. (I’ve been self-employed most of my life and have always had such protection. Even when I was a print journalist for more than two decades I carried a Personal Umbrella policy just in case somene tried to sue me for libel.) Working under an insured LLC, your personal holdings and assets - your bank accounts, home, vehicles, etc., - are completely insulated from any lawsuit that may be filed against you, because such a lawsuit can only go after the LLC.

SF’s drone coverage is really for the recreational UAV pilot. Things get trickier when seeking commercial drone insurance. If you are a member of the Academy of Model Aeronautics as I mentioned earlier in this thread, you receive drone coverage automatically with your membership - which is only $75 per year and gives you $1,000 of drone coverage annually. As an AMA member, though, you CAN purchase additional liability umbrella insurance of up to $2.5 million for only $400 per year. Something to consider.

The Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems will also provide insurance programs to its members referred to as DroneGuard, underwritten by a company called Global Aerospace.

Below is a link to a local firm Philly by Air, based in Philadelphia, PA, that gives an in-depth description of drone insurance possibilities and should address any drone pilot’s needs. Here it is:

The Definitive Guide to Drone Insurance

And now, as Forrest Gump would say, “That’s all I got to say about that.”