Container insurance advice
 

Me again! Sorry,been on quite a bit today but have lots of things going on in my head right now:p

What is the best insurance to get? Have heard marine is best....Letton & Percival have been recommended on here before. But.......

do you get mould and mildew cover or not?
Or what about pairs and set cover?
Do you choose lump sum cover or valued inventory option?
Anyone do anything else / different?

Phyl x

Re: Container insurance advice
 

We insured ours with Letton & Percival, we listed down most items and the value of what it would cost to replace new and insured against that amount. I don't think mildew etc would be covered (not sure), but if you ask then to send you the info you will get the terms and conditions which will state everything.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

We got marine, inventory option..well worth it for 700 gbp, think if the container went over the side uninsured..all our stuff was dry as a bone..didn't know about the damp and mildew stuff..would have gone for it if I had..if you don't get it you know all your stuff will arrive covered in damp and mildew. Sod's law innit??

Re: Container insurance advice
 

We included mechanical and electrical derangement as that covers electrical items that arrive looking Ok but don't work. It was worth it as we were bringing over a TV that was worth a bit.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Hubby is in the process of sorting ours with Letton Percival, apparently very very helpful and are emailing all their cover documents to us today to check through. I think 1.6% of value is their quote. Our shipper is quoting 2.75% so that can be quite a difference.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Do Letton Percival only cover your belongings whilst on the ship? Is that what marine insurance is?
If so, what happens if something gets broken or damaged whilst packing, in transit to & from ports or on delivery?
:blink:

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Hi yes I think Letton & Percival will only cover belongings whilst on the ship. As soon as the ship is unloaded the insurance will stop. We are just going to take the risk and hopfully there wont be any damage in transit and unpacking. We watched them pack everything and they did a great job so far.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Letton Percical quoted us today and it is door to door insurance. We are going with them they seem nice people!

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Maybe I should have a closer look at my insurance.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Hi, we went totally uninsured. Look at the total insurance cost on your goods and then add the deductible if something is damaged. Compare that to the cost of repairing or replacing something that gets damaged. Consider how things are packed and what are the likely breakables. We figured that if anything did break, the cost of repair or replacement would be less than insurance. We didn't insure and we had not losses or damage. This isn't for everyone, but the insurance is a fantastic money maker for the carriers and money is scarce these days you know.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

But what happens if your container gets lost over board, long shot I know, but it does happen, it happened to friends of ours when we moved to Cyprus, and on one of the shipping articles it says 2,000 - 10,000 get lost over board every year (that is a very small percentage compared to the amount of ships and cargo every year).

Just makes you think.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

We used Letton Percival and they were brilliant. Their insurance does cover door to door. In fact when our stuff was delivered to our house we asked them how long we had to notify them of any damages and we were told about a week. Luckily everything arrived in perfect condition.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

That's the point of insurance. Yes some containers get lost, but it is not likely going to be yours. Anyway, insurance covers you for your risk. Typically, I think that the cost of the insurance is not comensurate with the level of risk and is another highly profitable sales line of the shipping company. Now, if you are shipping your $45,000 concert grand piano, then I would insure. If it is really just your regular household goods, maybe you don't. Of course, it is about risk and how you perceive it. I am not advocating anyone copy us an dnot insure, it is just that we didn't for the reasons above.

Re: Container insurance advice
 

Good point and something to make you think.:)

Re: Container insurance advice
 

It would have cost us the best part of 50k GBP to replace everything (40 footer..25 years of junk and stuff). The premium of 700 odd GBP was well worth it. Claimed for about 100gbp in damages ....but I would have never been without it. Obviously stuff like pictures and other sentimental stuff are never replaced, but we are talking about furniture that I liked, that was old but very good quality. If you search on youtube for 'shipping catastrophes' you would get container ins. everytime.:eek: