JB Moving

The benefits of moving insurance

Are you planning on moving anytime soon? That’s really great! For most people, such a transition means many good things. But on the other hand; it’s also a process you need to take seriously. Relocation is an ordeal that can become pretty chaotic; regardless of how carefully you plan out everything. For example – even if you hire the best movers, there’s a good chance that something will be broken or damaged during the move. Because of this, we definitely recommend looking into a policy; you’ll find that there are many benefits of moving insurance.

Why do people need the benefits of moving insurance?

Before we explore all of the benefits of moving insurance, let’s start from the basics; what is insurance, generally? And why do people consider it so crucial for our daily lives? Well, it’s simple, actually. As people grow older, they feel an increasing need for two things – security and safety. Which is why insurance policies exist in the first place; to lessen the financial risks that come with our modern lifestyles.

Sure, if you always plan for the worst, it seems like quite a dark mindest; but most adults do it, because it’s really necessary. Imagine; if something happened to your personal property, to your family, or yourself – while you were dealing with this issue, you’d want to have a degree of financial security. And in this regard, relocating to a new home is no different. To put it simply, you want to be sure that there will be no damages to your property. And if that does happen – at least you won’t have to cover the value out of your own pocket. This is especially important when you’re transporting valuable furniture, or something else that’s equally expensive. That’s when you need to think about moving insurance.

A person driving a car down a country road.
These days, having insurance on your car and your home is a must.

Take a look at your home insurance

As you’ve gathered by now – learning about all of the benefits of moving insurance is certainly a good idea; especially if you want to lessen the risks of moving. Sure, looking for financial safety during relocation is normal and admirable; but before you go any further, there’s something you need to know. To be more specific – you may actually have moving insurance already; you just didn’t know it.

For starters – do you have home insurance? If so, chances are that there’s a clause regarding relocation in there somewhere. Which is why it’s a good idea to check out your home insurance policy thoroughly. Of course, moving insurance may not be a part of your particular insurance policy; but even so, your insurance provider may still help you out. In fact, many of them have offers that deal with moving, for their clients who have home insurance. So, if you ask us – before looking anywhere else, give your home insurance provider a call. It may turn out that you’ve had the solution you’ve needed right there, or you may have it already.

Independent moving insurance solutions

Let’s say that you don’t have moving insurance options somewhere in your home insurance policy. Don’t worry – it’s still no problem you can’t easily solve. In fact; you’ll find that there are many other options for you out there, when it comes to moving insurance. Just ask yourself one key question – why do you want the benefits of moving insurance, precisely? As we’ve already mentioned, this exists so that you don’t carry all the risks of your things breaking in transit. But there’s one question that comes naturally next: how do the companies that provide moving insurance determine how much the damaged goods are worth? Do you actually have to provide receipts for everything you own during the move?

How do you determine value?

Let us tell you right away – no, you won’t be needing your receipts; but that’s not as good as you might think. And why is that? Well, because moving insurance has a different way of determining value. Keep in mind though, this may depend on your location and your particular circumstances. But, let’s assume you’re doing a household or a commercial relocation, and you need to ensure some valuables or office equipment. If you were to relocate just one type of item, that would be an easy situation; your movers would simply see what one unit is worth, and multiply that by their amount.

But in reality, the situation is never that simple. Whether you’re relocating a household or an office, you’re never dealing with just one item. Actually, you’re moving hundreds of different things, which always worth a different amount of money. If the movers were to determine their value separately, it would take ages – any insurance would become much more expensive, and you’d have no benefits of moving insurance left. So, moving companies use a different, much simpler method; though it’s not always good for the customer. And that’s just determining the shipment’s value by its weight.

A smartphone with a broken display.
For small but expensive items – determining value by weight is obviously bad.

Common moving insurance policies

As you will soon see, there are many different kinds of moving insurance. But regardless of your specific circumstances, there are a few basic types you need to know about:

  • Third-party policies: While you relocate, there’s something you should know. There’s really nothing that forces you to purchase moving insurance from your moving company. If you think you can get more benefits of moving insurance elsewhere, you’re free to do so. Just remember; usually, this means that your movers will have less liability.
  • Released value: Up next, we’ve got the most occurring kind of moving insurance. And that’s for a good reason; because it costs you nothing on top of your existing moving plan. Of course, this also means that your movers will have the lowest level of liability for your items in transit. In fact, with this sort of insurance; they only have to reimburse you for 60 cents per pound of weight. And while this may be acceptable for less valuable things – your expensive, tiny items are obviously at more risk.
  • Full value: Finally, there’s the option that’s the most expensive; but also the most secure. A full value package means that your moving company has to recuperate all the value for anything its employee’s damage or break.
A one dollar bill.
The amount of money you’re willing to spend will determine what benefits of moving insurance you receive!