Raise your hand if you鈥檝e ever broken your action camera. Personally, I鈥檝e cracked lenses in mountain bike crashes and I鈥檝e had them leak in the ocean. The problems is that we use these expensive little things precisely when we鈥檙e engaged in our riskiest behaviors. Wouldn鈥檛 it be nice to have an insurance policy for them? Well, now you can.聽For GoPros anyway.
GoPro just announced its first insurance plan: . Sound familiar? Maybe a little like Apple Care? Yeah, well, it works basically the same way. You pay $100 for the Black,聽$80 for Silver, and $40 for the Session.* You have to get the coverage聽within the first 60 days of buying your camera, then聽you鈥檙e covered for two years. Scratch a lens, mic stops working, the whole thing is frozen and won鈥檛 start for some mysterious reason? You鈥檙e covered.聽
Also, as with Apple Care, GoPro Care comes with a direct line to customer service. So if you can鈥檛 figure how to pair your camera with your phone, you can have someone talk you through it. GoPro also claims that they can help with tips and trick, should you so desire. For example, 鈥淚鈥檓 going wakeboarding. Which settings would you use and why?鈥 and they鈥檒l say 鈥1080p super view at 60fps because it鈥檒l squeeze more into the frame and you鈥檒l be able to slow it down 50 percent and still keep it smooth. Also, you probably want the wrist strap mount鈥” etc.聽
The question must be asked, though, is two years of coverage worth up to 100 bucks? Maybe not聽if you have the Hero4 Session, which聽only costs $200. But聽If you have the Hero4 Silver or Black, however, which cost $400 and $500 respectively, then yeah, I think it would be worth it, assuming you actually take your cameras out of the house and do things with them. And holy crap, when GoPro鈥檚 drone comes out later this year it will mostly definitely be worth insuring: drones were practically made to be crashed.聽
Cool to see this as an option. The next time I buy a GoPro (Hero5? Later this year, please?) I鈥檒l definitely make sure it鈥檚 covered. It's nice to have one less thing to worry about when you鈥檙e out there doing something stupid and dangerous.
*Correction: We've updated the story to include accurate costs for the GoPro care plans.