I'm fairly new here and I've been reading posts about Sparks flying away at least weekly if not more and this concerns me but a little less now than before.

I bought my Spark a few weeks ago but didn't dare fly it outside after reading so many posts about flyaway Sparks. I ran across another post on here that mentioned this insurance but I think it was buried in another flyaway post so I decided I'd post what I learned.

I use StateFarm for home and auto so after I read that they insure drones I decided to call and look into it, here's what I learned.

StateFarm has a Zero Deductible policy called Personal Articles Policy. Since it's zero deductible you don't have to pay anything more to get it repaired or replaced!

It covers all sorts of things (not phones), including drones, laptops, cameras, earings and more.

Let's say the policy requires a minimum of $84/year or $7/month. (I'm making these numbers up, mine was less but forum rules say I can't list prices, so I hope this complies.)

The way it works: the cost depends on what you want to insure, drones (no specific drone, just drones) for instance my Spark is $12/year (yes year), I believe that's based on a $500 replacement cost, so, that would leave $72 dollars of coverage for other things. A laptop might be $40/year or say a camera mibht be $5/year and so on, you can add as many items as you want, if the total exceeds the minimum policy amount you pay the difference for the additional items is all. If all you want to insure is your Spark you can do that for the minimu yearly cost and not just for one year but for every year you're willing to pay for. They also asked if it was for personal/hobby or business use, I only fly as a hobby for now, I'm preparing to take the part 107.

This is a separate policy, it was not added to any of my other policies so I'd imagine that anyone with any other insurance could still get this coverage, not sure if the price is the same or not but I think it's worth a call to an agent to find out, sorry, I didn't think to ask this specific question at the time.

I asked if it covers the drone if I crash it, lose it, it's stolen or it flies away and they said, "Yes".

Link to site: https://www.statefarm.com/insurance/home-and-property/personal-articles-policy

Also, some credit card companies insure purchases for 30 days or more in some cases, so if your drone is damaged or lost and you used a credit card to pay for it give them a call!

Good luck and happy landings!

I have read about this insurance before in this forum. It seems to be very good and really not expensive.

This is so much better than DJI Care Refresh. It's just too bad that we have nothing similar in Europe.

I remembered a couple more details about this, sorry, my memory is slipping in my middle age. ;)

I believe the $8/year was based on replacement cost of $500.00, they did ask that.

They also asked if it was for personal/hobby use or business, I only fly as a hobby at the moment, prepping to take the part 107 now.

I'll update the original post if I can too.

Youv'e made my day...calling my agent monday

This is great info, can you share this on UAVFlyaways.com.

It's a new site keeping track of fly away issues and covers topics like insurance and legal issues as a result of flyaways. The insurance you're describing may help consumers get the UAV replaced when DJI is grouchy, but will it cover the liability if your UAV injuries someone or causes property damage? Overall, great info!

ktsummey Posted at 2018-2-20 15:53
This is great info, can you share this on UAVFlyaways.com.

It's a new site keeping track of fly away issues and covers topics like insurance and legal issues as a result of flyaways. The insurance you're describing may help consumers get the UAV replaced when DJI is grouchy, but will it cover the liability if your UAV injuries someone or causes property damage? Overall, great info!

Ktsummey, you're welcome to re-post this information wherever you'd like.

The insurance I mentioned is intended to insure the drone against damage to itself or loss. I have read a little about the AMA offering its members liability coverage, I have not signed up for this, yet, I might still. Here's a small excerpt from their page located here: http://www.modelaircraft.org/membership/membership/overview.aspx
"Liability Coverage for the Operation of Model Aircraft, Boats, Cars, and Rockets
$2,500,000 Comprehensive General Liability Protection for model activities for members, clubs, site owners, and sponsors"

Another way to go would be a personal umbrella policy from any company that offers one, there are a lot.

Good luck & Happy Landings!

Hey, thanks for the great info I'll also check with my insurance company see if they offer this as well.

I seriously like what I am reading,, unfortunately not available in Europe,,

I had heard some muttering that State Farm was going to stop writing these policies for drones.  I bought a Spark last weekend and started looking to see if there was anything better than care refresh.  I have all of my auto, motorcycle, RV, and home owners coverage through State Farm.  I called my agent and she signed me right up for a personal article policy.  She knew exactly what I was talking about and told me that they paid out a few months ago on a drone that crashed into the ocean and was not recovered.  She knew that there was a minimum charge of $60 per year for the coverage and told me that I should call back with more things to insure under the policy since I'm not even close to what the premium amount will insure.  She was also very specific that it covers any loss, theft, damage, and all of the accessories that came with the fly more combo like the remote control and batteries and that there is no deductible.  So, in Oregon at least, they are still writing these policies.

You insure that which will devastate you financially if you lose it.  Like the new car you have to make payments on.  Or, your house to fire or flood.  Insuring items whose loss will not cause great harm to your finances is not wise.  You are wasting money.  And, if losing a drone will cause great harm to your finances,...

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-1 11:12
You insure that which will devastate you financially if you lose it.  Like the new car you have to make payments on.  Or, your house to fire or flood.  Insuring items whose loss will not cause great harm to your finances is not wise.  You are wasting money.  And, if losing a drone will cause great harm to your finances,...

I guess if you consider $8/year a waste you're right.

I can afford $8/year easier than I can afford $400 + to replace a toy.

And it lets me enjoy flying all that much more. I don't stress over a Flyaway, a crash, a battery drop mid flight, theft, or whatever else can happen to a drone.

For me, it's anything but a waste.

So, I guess it depends on your perspective and depth of your pockets.

Also, the policy covers a lot of things, laptops, cameras, violin, art, jewelry and on... Each item has an annual cost based on replacement value. You can add as many things you want up to the annual minimum then you start paying incrementally for more.


Happy Landings!

Rodador Posted at 2018-5-1 14:40
I guess if you consider $8/year a waste you're right.

I can afford $8/year easier than I can afford $400 + to replace a toy.

Somehow I think your out of pocket is more than eight dollars a year.  State Farm being my insurance company (cars, bikes), I think they are more intelligent with it comes to finances and who will win on the insurance bet they get into with customers.  However, I can't argue against it if the insurance provides you its worth in increased drone pleasure.

I was just pointing out common wisdom from financial professionals when it comes to making insurance bets.

Gunship9 Posted at 2018-5-1 16:26
Somehow I think your out of pocket is more than eight dollars a year.  State Farm being my insurance company (cars, bikes), I think they are more intelligent with it comes to finances and who will win on the insurance bet they get into with customers.  However, I can't argue against it if the insurance provides you its worth in increased drone pleasure.

I was just pointing out common wisdom from financial professionals when it comes to making insurance bets.

Ya, the whole policy is a minimum of $60/year but the coverage for the Spark only takes up $8 of that $60 according to my agent when I signed up. So I'm left with $52 worth of coverage for other things with nothing more out of pocket.