gdcollectables

Hi

I have shippers arriving on Monday and taking our stuff away on Tuesday!

Problem is I can't quite jump over the marine insurance hurdle!

I keep swaying between paying the percentage, including a premium on the shipping cost in case there's a total loss,or not including the shipping costs.

Then I think, what if there's no breakages, losses or minimal breakages and we've paid out a big fat premium for no reason at all.

I think my problem lies in the fact that the premium percentage is quite high and I'm already having to scrape together the funds for the actual shipping.

Both of our cars are still with us, as the local paper messed up the advertising and I was counting on the sales to pay for these costs. ( What a Mess - Usual Story).

Has anybody used a good insurance company with competitive premium rates??

JayDeee

I went for no insurance, the shipping cost me £1739 door to dor and I couldn't bring my slef to pay for the insurance. I am to be honest really cacking it now and hoping that is is all nice and safe bobbing arround on the ocean.

Its a risk and only comes down to your own decission in the end but just posting really so you know that it is only another stressv to add to the rest if you don't insure.

Kala

CadburysFingers

Hope this helps you both. We did insure our stuff, and one item got broken. We decided to see about claiming, the whole process was so long winded, and all the paperwork needed to be sent to the UK rather than the Aus branch, that we didnt bother. They also wanted 3 estimates to get the thing mended. If I had to do it all again, I definitely wouldnt have the insurance. (The item that got broken, was actually well on its way to breaking before we left, because it had a large crack in it.)

gdcollectables

Thanks for your replies, do you know if I'm right in saying that the insurance kicks in when the shippers arrive.

Which means you are paying a premium just incase the packers break something too, rather than them having their own insurance?

I'm sure that's how the blurb reads!!?

renth

If you want to claim you'd better make sure you have receipts, otherwise I'd say the insurance isn't worth it. I simply don't believe they'd pay out.

gdcollectables

The only receipts I have are for things electrical, ie washing machine, vacuum, etc!

Has anyone found that they needed receipts?

suzysu

Im not 100% sure about marine, as i work in motor and household claims.

If you dont have the original receipt, we would ask for a replacement quotation and for confirmation as to how long you had the item for.
Whether this is the same for marine claims, im not sure.
Another thing you could do, is take photos of your items before they get shipped.

Hope this helps.

Su

gdcollectables

Hi Su

I've already taken the photos, most of my stuff is antique wood, but I haven't got antique certificates for it, so I'm not stating that it is antique!

We've had it for years and I used to sell this type of thing.

Originally we were not going to ship a load of stuff, but I found the items to be really expensive to replace in Oz.

The problem is, though, how would I be able to prove how much something was worth in the 1st place, if you can't find it available in the local shops - I'd have to do lots of contacting dealers in the UK and trying to get letters I suppose.

With this sort of furniture, it's only worth as much as someone's willing to pay for it - there's no set price really. (One Mans Junk, is Anothers Treasure)!

bridiej

Having seen it I would definitely say it's treasure not junk!!!

It's a hard decision to make though...

gdcollectables

Thanks Bridie!

It was nice to meet you at last today - see you in Oz soon?

bridiej

I hope so!!!!!!!

lesleys

We've just put in a claim for £750. An oil painting went missing, the microwave got seriously bent and several pots were broken (all in the same box). The insurance cost a lot more but then we might have lost a lot more.
Take lots of photos and itemise everything on the insurance form (use a spreadsheet).

Having had a tree fall through the roof of our house (in Kent) we believe in insurance. Can you afford not to?

Lesley

bridiej

Hi Lesley

The advice to itemise everything is very good but how do you prove what things are worth? I have no receipts for things bought plus of course items that have been given as gifts...

I also wonder what happens if they lose / damage something which only has sentimental value - as a compensation cheque of any amount would not cover it, plus how would you prove the cost of and item, for instance a cuddly toy given to you by a relative who has now died?

lesleys

Hi Bridie,

Lots of guesswork! It's not so much original cost as replacement cost that counts. Overestimate any breakables if in doubt. You can always settle for less but you'll never get more than you estimate. Lots of counting as well - eg 30 plates with an average cost of £3 each and 10 at £10 each to cover the more expensive ones. If you have got any receipts carry them with you.

It's tedious but worth it. Money can't compensate for everything but it sure can help! A useful extra is to note the dimensions of any large furniture on the same spreadsheet - comes in useful when sizing up rental houses.

Lesley

CHnJ

I had a looong 12 hours yesterday on the web seeing what the actual replacement costs are for things before I insure them. I was actually stunned at how much more the equivalent cost of things would be if I had to replace them in Australia. I've checked things like our dinner service (twice what we paid) and £800 and odd quid to get our wedding photos reprinted to the same standard plus £50 for 5kg of postage etc. etc. basically things we would want to replace as like for like. I've kept URLs and copied over the pics from the websites. We're going to guesstimate the rest - like clothes. We'll try to haggle down the insurance cost once we have an overall figure.