Bit concerned about this removal van.....LOL



Beth x x

I bet some of those Insurance boys will tell you they could insure it for a Million bucks, No you dont have to unpack it upon delivery, just leave it parked in the street !

HaHa, A sense of humour at last out there !

Once again "PICKFORDS" shipped my entire household of Furniture and belongings door to door - from South Africa to Surrey, UK! They packed every single thing in my home (except for my mums dinner service as it is highly sentimental to me). Two months later when the large truck with my container arrived at my new home in Surrey they unpacked all the large furniture items etc out of the container. Every box was carried in 1 by 1. As they carried a box out of the Container I stood there (as per their instructions) with the Inventory sheet and ticked off each box number as they put it in my home. They wanted to unpack the boxes then and there! Like I said previously - I had to decline because my home in Surrey was small than my home in South Africa, I was unorganised and didn't know where I wanted the stuff - so it would have been chaos!

I started unpacking the boxes the next day slowly but surely. I had +-1month to unpack my boxes and notify Pickfords of any damages/breakage to my items. By me choosing to unpack my boxes did not affect my insurance cover!!! The only 2 things that broke were 2 dinner plates - which were packed by me and irreplaceable - so I didn't even claim (there was no point).

PICKFORDS are a very very reputable International Removal Company and I know for a fact Mr "Billywhiz" that my household belongings were covered for a month after delivery.

Why do you need to argue about this - it's crazy!

PMSL
Beth x x

I will explain a little secret for you OK !

Pickfords Insure themselves, the premium that they charge is put into an in house fund, Small claims they will pay themselves out of this fund [Just like I do] It is very Good PR to do so, Customers just like yourself praise our services !

Now if the claim was of a large amount, you would deifinatley have had problems !

Cant you see ? Insurers are not going to offer an Open Cheque book ?


Billywhiz

Tx for the lecture - I guess the rest of us know diddly squat then eh!!!

So shall we not bother wasting our money on insuring our container when moving to Aus - whats the point eh - if they aint gonna pay up!

i rest my case!

No, you just dont know the tricks of the trade, thats all !

Take Out the Marine Insurance !

Make sure the Mover packs and Wraps everything upon collection

Make Sure the Delivery Agent Unpacks and Unwraps everything upon delivery, no excuses !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pay on a Credit Card,

Now thats neither a lecture nor Rocket Science is it !

Easy !

Sorry Billywhaz, YOU ARE WRONG, WRONG and WRONG

You're wrong because you say that everything has to be unpacked - if theres damage inside the box which is due to your mens bad packing, you are negligent in law and the insurance you have craftily sold to the shipper will pay (less any excess)

You're wrong because Pickfords are not 'self insured' for their moves to Oz (we are in the Oz forum aren't we?) - Do not speak for another company, it is not professional and you are opening yourself for defamation here. perhaps a Pickfords employee could verify this (They used to use Allianz, then Cornhill in the old days)

And you're wrong, because there is a time-frame after delivery on most policies which allow the insured to make a claim (on my policy, it's 7 days, I know on some it is 30 days).

You are being confused with your own Goods In Transit, Third Party Liability cover which insures you - not the customer. If you run your own business you should know the difference.

It would be unreasonable, for instance, to expect your Australian agent to unpack every box, show the insurer every item and expect you to notice every mark, every dent, every breakage - especially if there was a major mis-hap. Granted if a mirror had smashed, it would be obvious. But if the tv didn't work and you notice that it had a crack in the base after the men left, you can claim...

Please read your policy and then look up the laws pertaining to The Sale of Goods Act, as I think you'll find that the procedures you refer to could be deemed unreasonable and also contrary to Unfair Contract Conditions Act. But then I am not an expert. It's just common sense isn't it?

Everything you have said is correct, don't worry.

Hiya guys - thought I would through my Pickfords 2p in

Billywhiz is mostly right - it is logical really if you think about it.

Lets say I deliver 30 items and on the delivery sheet everything seems okay. Well the customer unpacks a box and discovers its full of broken stuff. How can it be established who caused the damage? It could be that the customer dropped a box of plates and now is claiming insurance for it. This is why according to the terms and conditions a policy would usually end once the professional element is over.

Insurance premiums are high because quite often people make fraudulent claims. Now here I am referring to insurance in general, I will admit claiming myself on a travel insurance policy for a missing item being valued alot higher than it really was.

Having said all that, Devonfamily had a different experience and I personally think it depends on more than just the T&C's. You should be able to make small claims for damage for boxes you unpack yourself within limit, but if a claim happened for an expensive ornament worth £1000s or an xbox 360, you might find yourself in a different situation, and THIS is where the insurance terms and conditions will be pointed out and your claim might be invalid.

Pickfords insurance is underwritten by Lloyd's. I have also done the FSA training.

Basically everyone needs to read their terms and conditions - this should be a given - yes it's a pain in the arse, but if you are paying for it, you should make sure you understand how it works. Insurances the world over are notorious for having many many loopholes. If done right, the marine insurance policy is good if you ever need to claim, just be careful when you take delivery to note anything awry on the delivery sheet and make sure you check stuff quickly in case you need to make a claim.

Read read read those T&Cs!

BTW I got paid so not bust yet! Still waiting on the official announcement.

But I am the expert here !

Does not matter what law apples, Liability will end once the professional element has ended, read other posts in this thread, now could we have an Insurance Salesperson in this thread ?

What I recommend then, if what is written by yourself is correct, Write to your Insurers and ask them to confirm in writing.
That effects will be unresevedly held on full cover for a period of XYZ amount of days after delivery,

You have got not a Hope in ---- chance of that happening, Insurers will be leaving themselves wide open !

The buck has to end somewhere,

"Removal Insurance Premiums" are not that high to the trade, but they are to the client, there is a lot of money to earned for the salesperson

Ive been paid as well !


Seems that there is a lot of misconceptions been written here, probably by an Insurance salesperson.

Yes Pickfords is underwritten, they have to be by law, but they have a huge Excess, makes good business sense.

Just to say that Im no longer going to pass comment any more on this matter, lets just say that I hope the readers in this forumn do not experience any problems, and if they do, I just would hate to tell them, I told you so !

...LOL.... the Dudes from "Little Britain" say.....................
Wot evaaaaaaaaaa!!!

You still don't get the point, do you? Whilst the extent of cover may well terminate at the point of delivery (and on the date of delivery as you rightly say), there is still a time allowed for making a claim. That time could be 7 days or 30 days. Provided you can reasonably prove damage was caused whilst insured, you can claim. So take pictures when you unpack.

You and your customer sign a contract under English law - that is the law that counts.

I think that Removals Firms all go to the same meetings, get taught by the same people, read the same books and wear the same Badge. That doesn't mean they are right, does it? ...anyway, so what!

I was hoping to ignore any reply to my previous message,

But lets quote Quote Mr Steve Lawson as above

"
Whilst the extent of cover may well terminate at the point of delivery and on the date of delivery as you rightly say), there is still a time allowed for making a claim. That time could be 7 days or 30 days. Provided you can reasonably prove damage was caused whilst insured "


Hooray he admits what I am saying is correct !

The Cover will terminate upon delivery,

Now its all well and good "saying" that cover will be extended to another 7, 30 days, whatever, how can you prove that the damage MAYBE was caused by negligence !

So the scenario goes like this,

Acme Shippers have delivered your effects to your new home at the other side of the World.
You have Paid for "All Risks" Insurance on your effects
The Collection Company Packed & Wrapped Your Effects
You do not want the Effects unpacked at your new home

The Consignment is delivered to your new home in VISIBLE perfect condition.
You will then have to sign,
That The Effects as per the Inventory have been delivered
That is is under your (customer) instructions that the effects are not unpacked

Now the Amount of Items delivered is correrct, no noticable damage.

How can an "Insurer" possibly work out their liability if they then have to extend an open cheque book ?

They Cannot,

The client might be moving his own effects around the new home, dropping a box of china ? . Saying there is something missing from inside a package etc ? Believe it or not more damage is caused whilst Unpacking than at any other time !

Now I have seen some claims in my time, and "some" clients are making out an Insurance claim even before the Move commences, sorry its true !
As an Agent for many "Shippers" I sometimes have to do a report on alleged missing, damaged goods, the vast majority are being colorful with their "claim"

It is for this reason that the "Insurer" will want to protect their liability, for this reason they want

The Effects Unpacked & Unwrapped upon delivery
If left "Unpacked" The clients signature accepting delivery,

NOW THIS IS WHERE YOU MUST READ THROUGH YOUR POLICY 100%
UK Law Yes, But you signed Accepting their Terms & Conditions didnt you ?

If you are not sure, make the Insurer confirms in writing your requirements.

If you really think any Insurer is going to say to you,

Yes we accept full liability for your 20K GBP consignment, After you have signed saying that all the Inventory has been delivered and none of the packaging is damaged,

I dont think so, lets be honest do you ? Would you invest in an "Insurer" that had that policy ?


If you packed it yourself, well your Cover is Total Loss Only, (However if the carton shows signs of external force you may well be able to prove the Mover was negligible ?

Good Luck !