chuck26287
lvl.1
United States
Offline
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I'm going to post my latest experience with trying to get coverage for my quadcopter from SquareTrade.com. It's lengthy and in depth, but informative I think, and may be helpful to someone else.
First of all, I don't have a Phantom, I have a Turbo Ace Matrix. It's substantially more expensive than a Phantom, so I was not sure whether a cost ceiling would be reached when trying to get this warranty coverage. I have been following this thread because my father also recently got a quad, and his is a Phantom 2 Vision+, so it was still of interest to us, even if I couldn’t get coverage for my Matrix. I also thought it could be if the unit has no camera, it doesn't get the ADH coverage offered.
My post above about being offered coverage for my drone without the ADH coverage was relative to the more expensive Matrix drone. I had no way of knowing if a cost ceiling for ADH had been passed. However, I was told the quote didn't include the ADH, but did offer standard coverage on the drone/gimbal.
As a sidenote… at this point, I read on another forum a post from someone who has a State Farm Personal Items Policy, and he stated he added his drone to that Personal Items Policy, and he then confirmed with his State Farm Agent that it would be covered if crashed during normal use. This was great… I have computer equipment, pro camera gear, and the wife’s good jewelry covered on a State Farm Personal Item Policy already. So, off to my agent’s office to get this drone added. In the office, the agent confirms I can add it. He tells the office girl to add it under MISC. I confirm again with him that a normal use crash, or landing in our lake would all be covered. He assures me it would. My additional cost on the policy will be about $61.00 a year.
Fast forward to an hour later… the Agent has left for a trip (he was on his way out when I arrived), and the office girl has a question come up as she’s adding it in their system so coverage can start. She calls the underwriter, and he stops her in her tracks. Informs her they absolutely WILL NOT cover drones. Liability is too high for them. It is NOT to be added to the policy. I included this to make sure anyone who gets an insurance agent to add a drone to some existing policy to confirm with the COMPANY, not just the agent, that it’s eligible for coverage.
So, I’m still looking for ADH coverage. Then I saw Cloud9's post where they covered his P2 w/Gimbal separate from his GoPro camera. So, I email a new inquiry to "salesinquiry@squaretrade.com", and explained I wanted the same ADH coverage for a drone & gimbal, but a more expensive one, that they had sold someone else recently. I include a website link so she could see the model, and the next morning I have a reply giving me a quote for the Matrix quadcopter, at full line-item purchase price, for full coverage WITH the ADH coverage. I have the name of the customer service rep who quoted it, as well as her extension.
As a reference, the quad sold for a total pre-tax invoice price of $4401.90. My first quote was $379.00 for standard coverage only. My email quote was $569.00 for full coverage w/ADH included. My rep also said she was able to discount, on phone sales, up to $40.00, so she could sell it to me at $529.00 for 3 years.
I called her back last night, and I went through all the same confirmations about flying it, and it crashing during normal use, and got the same answers everyone else seems to be getting. It’s covered. Just fly-aways and theft aren’t covered under the ADH coverage. You must have the item to send in if required to do so. I then bought the 3 year ADH coverage for my Matrix, at $529.00.
I also bought the same 3 year ADH plan for my GoPro HERO4 Black ($499.00 coverage), for $64.00 (after another $40.00 discount).
Then my father got on the line, and after she went to the website to verify the DJI Phantom 2 Vision+, he bought the 3 year ADH plan for his P2V+ ($1229.00 coverage), for $177.00 (after another $40.00 discount).
If interested, the Rep’s name was “Rome” (female). Her extension is 1573.
To summarize, I would guess this is new territory for this company. It seems the left hand doesn’t always know what the right hand is selling yet. The quoted prices for the same items seem to vary somewhat, as well. I made one call trying to reach Rome about the quote she sent me for my quad, and the initial rep that answered INSISTED they would not cover drones. He claimed it was specifically part of his training. So… if you get a quote working for what you want, stay with that informed person relative to your quote/purchase. Also, if at first you can’t seem to get it covered, send a detailed email inquiry indicating you know they have sold it to someone else. They will hand-verify whether it can be done, then will honor it once they verify it.
One last piece of opinionated advice… if you even remotely want this coverage, and you get the offer, take it while you can. I’m not so sure I think drones are something they will continue to cover for long. One has to think they will eventually start having a bunch of claims coming in, and then it will all get re-evaluated.
Sorry this was so long, but hopefully it helps someone. It was expensive, but this does provide peace of mind flying these things.
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