Moving Insurance
Possibly the worst part of the moving industry, is the insurance part of it. I have often said the best insurance is a careful crew, but things will inevitably still happen. I rarely think insurance is a good idea, because even when you buy the extra insurance, you usually don’t get made whole.
The standard Department of Transportation insurance is the basic valuation of $10,000 at 60c/lb. This means they will actually pay you based on how heavy the item is. So if you have a $1000 TV, that weighs 80 lbs, and it gets ruined, you would get $48 for it. This hardly seems fair, I know, but it has been this way forever. The truth is, TVs rarely get ruined, because they should be in their proper TV boxes, but the point is the basic valuation is borderline worthless.
Some people have an option to have a rider on their homeowner or renter policy. Some have it but don’t even know it. This is something worth checking into. Aside form that, most moving companies will offer “additional full value protection coverage”. This usually varies between $10k and $75k, and has a standard fee and deductible, much like regular insurance. So you may have an option to purchase $20k in additional insurance for $400, with a deductible of $250 or 10/15% of the claim, whichever is higher, just as an example. Now, that sort of full value protection is obviously much better, but it is also expensive. You sort of have to “pick your poison” here. I do not say all this to scare you, because the overwhelming majority of moves go just fine, I just am not a huge fan of the insurance portion of it in general.
To be honest, I still don’t think the insurance is worthwhile in most situations, and you are truly going to just have to trust your crew. This is why I think as a consumer it is important to be around while they are packing, to make sure the furniture is at least being wrapped properly. Items shift in the truck, and trucks hit bumps, this is inevitable. Especially on a cross country move, stuff is probably going to have a little damage, not everything, but definitely something. I always suggest to clients to talk to the crew, tip them, make a connection so they might take a little extra care of your things……movers are just humans doing a really hard job that nobody else wants to do……..so a little humanity goes a long way!