Insurance Claim or DJI refresh

Just recovered my Mavic Air that has been languishing in a tree for the past 12 days in the sun, rain, wind, more sun , extreme sun, extreme rain and thunder storms.
On the surface it all looks ok apart from the 2 earwigs that crawled out and the 5 meter drop to the ground in my last ditch recovery attempt.
A quick inspection shows water leaking out from the arm joints so both the battery and drone are in the recovery position in a box of rice.
Given that it has been soaked i am loathe to ever fly it again, I now have to decide wether to claim on Photoguard insurance or punt it of to DJI under my DJI Refresh policy, anyone had a similar quandry? How did it all work out?

If it were me - I’d probably open things up. For two reasons …

  • you can better see the extent of any corrosion/damage, and
  • you can dry things out MUCH faster

Once it’s open you can place it in front of a fan, hairdryer (on low temp!), or something similar to speed things up.

With all the recent weather, there’s a chance that there’s too much damage to “repair”.

But - depending on what DJI would charge - at least you actually get a replacement. (They send everything back to China for actual repair and recycling out to regional centres as replacements.)

Insurance - don’t forget that most insurances demand that you declare claims on other policies … so premiums on house insurance, etc., can be adversely affected, etc.

So - in summary - lots of things to weigh up between the options.

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Depends what the excess is on the insurance policy. You’ve paid for DJI care refresh so depending on your excess I’d be tempted to go care refresh. And chances are they won’t repair they’ll just send a replacement.

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Thanks for the feedback, I am going to avoid opening it up in case it raises questions about tampering.
The photoguard insurance specifically covers drones this one has been out in at least 4 crazy rain storms with the rear vents pointing upward at a slight angle.
Still unsure about which way to go.

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Personally, I would go the DJI Refresh way, what was the point of you buying it, if you don’t use it.
At least you know you will get a drone back that has not been repaired by possibly a third party repair company.

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I took out the care refresh when I got my m2p, if it happened to me that is the rout I would go, not claim on my insurance ! As has been said it will affect your premiums.

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I have just made a claim with photoguard insurance because I crashed my phantom four into a tree the other day as I was slightly too low and it was a relatively easy process and Drone works the repair company that they use, did a very good job at repairing the drone. However there was an excess cost of ÂŁ250 that I was required to pay

Looking at my policy it says the excess is ÂŁ50. Was this on top of the standard excess?

So you are probably looking a a total excess of £100+. So in that case you would be better using care refresh as they will charge less for the replacement craft. Just don’t tell them you have ever flown in the rain.

No idea about the insurance thing but rice is a terrible idea. I really wish people would stop doing it!

Much better to give it an alcohol bath and then dry.

Go read this from I fix it

https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Don't_Put_Your_Device_in_Rice._Here's_Why…

Hmm let me check that for you and get back to you

if you paid for refresh yes it will cost the fee they charge but you will get back either a new or DJI refurbed one.

I had to use refresh and a few hoops to jump through but pretty easy, Piece of mind as well that you’re getting it from dji rather than 3rd party repair.

Also quicker I would have thought

I’d go the refresh route as it’s only available for a limited time and you’ve paid for it. Better to get a fix or replacement straight from DJI.

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Not 100% sure about this, if you got a replacement from your insurance, you wouldn’t be able to transfer your care refresh so you’d lose that.

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i went refresh for my MP and got a completely different unit returned good as new.
the cost was 90 notes which wasn’t too bad.

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Same with my M2Z

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That is a very good point there @Dedpunx

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I’ve have to agree with Ozone. So long as there doesn’t appear to be any physical damage. Remove the battery and put it in the airing cupboard for a week without attempting to start it. Or you can make yourself a “HOT BOX” from a cardboard box and a hair dryer. There are several videos on youtube where drones have worked just fine after drying out, after even being fully submerged.

I believe the real killer is Salt water…

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Yes salt water is a killer

I kinda figured that the amount of water and earwigs would make it a write off.
New Mavic Air in a box , ÂŁ30 insurance ÂŁ50 excess , no postage . Turnaround of 14 days .

:grinning:

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