Trackimo vs. Insurance?

winterkill · Apr 3, 2017

My State farm Insurance covers both.

Grey Wolf said:
The insurance you need is really for coverage to the other party, such as property damage or injury.
One should never fly without that.
Does the $60.00 Sfate farm do that or is it just covering damage to the drone?

winterkill · Apr 3, 2017

Trackimo works perfect. Around 40 gr. Industrial strength velcro. (Pics attached) Logged 50 -100 flights like this. Have a piece of velcro on each battery I can pick up mavic by trackimo unit velcro is that strong. Marco polo doesn't work for long range.(miles) Only under 1/2 mile to 1 mile tops. you get fly away. For those long distance guys need gps. My opinion Trackimo is best. Less to carry. Use app on cellphone to track. Tested it and it works great.

SRJ_Mavic_PRO · Apr 3, 2017

I got State Farm and the $60 no deductible covers both of my drones, P4P and Mavic. Every time there is a post about State Farm insurance inevitably someone has to chime in about "your rates will go up". Well can someone actually show us just how much? Will they go up more than the cost of replacing a drone that sells for $799 to $1500? And the likelihood of the rates going up for someone that doesn't shop around and keeps their insurance company is slim to none.

Passes soap box on ....next....

msinger · Apr 3, 2017

winterkill said:
Marco polo doesn't work for long range.(miles) Only under 1/2 mile to 1 mile tops.

The manufacturer advertises it as having a range of 2 miles tops. If you're flying VLOS, that should be no problem. If you're not flying VLOS, you should be close enough if you start searching at that last recorded location.

method007 · Apr 3, 2017

SRJ_Mavic_PRO said:
I got State Farm and the $60 no deductible covers both of my drones, P4P and Mavic. Every time there is a post about State Farm insurance inevitably someone has to chime in about "your rates will go up". Well can someone actually show us just how much? Will they go up more than the cost of replacing a drone that sells for $799 to $1500? And the likelihood of the rates going up for someone that doesn't shop around and keeps their insurance company is slim to none.

Passes soap box on ....next....

Yes I can tell you how much. The average increase in home owners insurance after a claim is filed is 9% (nationwide average in America using data from 2014). The average increase after 2 claims is about 20%. Filing a personal accident protection claim is the same as filing a home owners claim. It does not matter if you have your PAP coverage with one insurance company and have your home owners with another, everybody uses the same reporting system.

Here is a good article that sums up my feelings on the subject:

Think carefully before filing a homeowners claim

SRJ_Mavic_PRO · Apr 3, 2017

There's another "the sky is falling" insurance expert.... Don't cut and paste me some article, show me real numbers! 20% of what? After 2 claims? I'm thinking one claim.... so for $60 I get a new bird. Did my insurance increase $799 -$1500? (The cost of a Mav & a P4P).

method007 · Apr 3, 2017

SRJ_Mavic_PRO said:
There's another "the sky is falling" insurance expert.... Don't cut and paste me some article, show me real numbers! 20% of what? After 2 claims? I'm thinking one claim.... so for $60 I get a new bird. Did my insurance increase $799 -$1500? (The cost of a Mav & a P4P).

Actually you don't have to be an expert, this is basic stuff that anyone who has anything insured should understand. If you file a claim, your insurance premium will go up. So when I say "average increase", I'm referring to the only thing your paying - your premium. Being aware of how insurance functions doesn't have to be scary. It certainly shouldn't make you feel like the sky is falling! Let me know if you have any other questions.

If you pay $1,100 a year for home owners insurance and file one claim, your home owners insurance premium will increase (on average) of 9% This makes your new premium $1,199 (9% = $99). Your home owners insurance will stay that way until it increases again or if you change insurance companies after the claim history drops off whatever period the insurance company uses for review, generally around 7 years. Most of the time your existing insurance company will not proactively lower your rates. So if you paid the increased home owners insurance for 7 years, that would mean you paid $693 extra in home owners insurance due to filing the claims. Future policies will cost more as will any other insurance you buy to protect personal property.

Don't forget, your insurance will increase year over year anyway - which makes the premium bump worse. Without anything specific, here is essentially what we're dealing with regarding the changing costs of homeowners insurance:

Year 1 (No Drone Claim): $1,100
+4%
Year 2 (No Drone Claim): $1,144
+4%
Year 3 (No Drone Claim): $1,189
+4%
Year 4 (No Drone Claim): $1,237
+4%
Year 5 (No Drone Claim): $1,286
+4%
Year 6 (No Drone Claim): $1,337
+4%
Year 7 (No Drone Claim): $1,390
Total over 5 years (no claims): $8,683

VS.

Year 1 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,199
+4%
Year 2 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,246
+4%
Year 3 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,296
+4%
Year 4 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,348
+4%
Year 5 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,402
+4%
Year 6 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,458
+4%
Year 7 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,516
Total over 5 years (1 claim): $9,465

As you can see, by having an increase on your insurance, it makes all other increases that much worse. The difference over 7 years is now $782 (for 1 claim).

Now let's assume that you filed a Mavic claim in year 1, then a hail claim in year 2 - and compare those.

Year 1 (No Drone Claim): $1,100
+4%
Year 2 (No Drone Claim): $1,144
+4%
Year 3 (No Drone Claim but home owners claim - effect next year): $1,189
+9%
Year 4 (No Drone Claim but home owners claim): $1,296
+4%
Year 5 (No Drone Claim but home owners claim): $1,347
+4%
Year 6 (No Drone Claim but home owners claim): $1,401
+4%
Year 7 (No Drone Claim but home owners claim): $1,457
Total over 5 years (1 claim): $8,934

VS

Year 1 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,199
+4%
Year 2 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,246
+4%
Year 3 (W/ Drone Claim & home owners claim - effect next year): $1,296
+20%
Year 4 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,555
+4%
Year 5 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,617
+4%
Year 6 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,682
+4%
Year 7 (W/ Drone Claim): $1,749
Total over 5 years (2 claims): $10,344

The difference is now $1,410 (for 2 claims). Keep in mind, you can simply swap out the home owners claim for a second Mavic claim, there is no difference in regards to how it effects your premium.

So what happens if you file 2 Mavic claims, then have a home owners insurance claim?

Year 1 (No Drone Claim): $1,100
+4%
Year 2 (No Drone Claim): $1,144
+4%
Year 3 (No Drone Claim): $1,189
+4%
Year 4 (No Drone Claim): $1,237
+4%
Year 5 (No Drone Claim): $1,286
+4%
Year 6 (No Drone Claim): $1,337
+4%
Year 7 (No Drone Claim): $1,390
Total over 5 years (no claims): $8,683

VS

Year 1 (1st Mavic claim - effect next year): $1,100
+9%
Year 2 (2nd Mavic claim - effect next year): $1,199
+20%
Year 3 (Home owners claim (roof/personal injury/theft) - effect next year): $1,438
+35%
Year 4 (No Drone Claim): $1,941
+4%
Year 5 (No Drone Claim): $2,018
+4%
Year 6 (No Drone Claim): $2,099
+4%
Year 7 (No Drone Claim): $2,183
Total over 5 years (3 claims): $11,978

The difference is now $3,295 between the two above scenarios (no claim vs 3 claims). The worst case scenario (3 claims) vs 2nd best scenario (1 claim) creates a difference of $2,513.

As you can see, insurance cost can really snow ball. Keep in mind - after year 7 it's not like the insurance company calls you and drops your rates.
This is not unique to the Mavic however, this is what happens when you file any claim. That's why the article I linked to is such a good one to read. It's specific that if the damage is less than $2,000 or so, you should probably pay for it out of pocket.

Spanishcop · Apr 3, 2017

Where this benefits you having insurance is when your drone has a malfunction or user error caused accident and you injure someone or cause a bad enough damage to property such as dent a car casing paint damage etc. That's where it may payoff to have drone insurance. No so much to have insurance replace your drone. My 2 cents anyways.

Which is what I was trying to say before. You file a claim and insurance will go up. They are not going to just cut you a check without some kind of penalty. They are here to make money not lose money.

Baroudeur · Apr 3, 2017

So far i use an RF V16 tracker, on side of Mavic no interferences

Photo Beaty · Apr 3, 2017

I posted a long reply on another thread about my experience with Marco Polo and how and where to attach the tag to a Mavic. In brief, the Marco Polo tracker communicated easily with the tag when i was one mile away. I have not yet tried a longer distance. Since cell service is spotty at best and nonexistent in much of the area where I fly the Marco Polo is my best choice. I move the Marco Polo tag to my Inspire 2 when flying it.