pipsi

Hi all,

In a few weeks time I'll be making the big move to the US from the UK, I'm taking the bare minimum with me (around 120 cubic feet) mostly books and one or two sentimental items. I've had quotes from a number of removals companies and picked the company I plan to use. However the insurance they are offering me seems to be very expensive, more than the cost of the removal. Obviously some of my books are worth quite a bit but I've tried to be fairly conservative with my estimated value. I'm not obliged to go with their insurance and can shop around. I just wondered f anyone could recommend a particular company to use to insure my goods while in transit. When the removals agent came to give me a quote he did say that in my case cover for damage is not really necessary because I don't have any expensive mirrors or stuff like that, if a couple of glasses get broken in transit it isn't the end of the world. So really I'm just insuring for loss, again the agent said loss will essentially mean the ship has sunk which is obviously a rare occurrence. So it seems a bit of a waste to be paying a ridiculous amount of money for insurance I'm unlikely to claim on.

Pulaski

Insurance usually seems expensive, until you need to claim on it, then it seems cheap.

pipsi

over £1,000 in insurance on a £600 shipping package seems excessive though.

Pulaski

Agreed, it does. You could go without, if you really wanted to, though the risks you face are theft, accidental loss (misdirection of one or more boxes), catastrophic damage (boxes crushed or wetted), or the shipping container being lost overboard, which is actually much more common than you might expect!



If you Google <container overboard> there are hundreds of pictures of other similar incidents!

pipsi

At the moment it's looking as if it may just be cheaper to send boxes via Parcelforce.

BunnyGirl

That's crazy! I'll be shipping a similar size and have been quoted £50 insurance for £2k worth of contents and a shipping quote of £800.

BunnyGirl

Have you tried Excess Baggage if it's just boxes? I don't know what their quotes are like, they're coming round this week to see me.

pipsi

That sounds more like it, is it excess baggage you have used?

JHolden47

Read the small print for insurance... We were quoted £150 for a similar volume but the small print stated it was for total loss, infact a lot states total loss! Hope you are not using MoveCorp??

pipsi

Yes it is for total loss. Not using MoveCorp. The removals firm is called Britannia George Bernard Shaw.

JHolden47

Ok not sure if you know this apologies if you do. Total loss means you are only covered if your stuff is destroyed and never again found. IE it falls off the side of the ship never to be seen again. If however your container drops off the side onto the peer smashing everything to dust. You are not covered as your stuff is not totally gone. We shipped without insurance as we decided that it was basically useless.

pipsi

I understand. Most of the stuff I'm shipping is books, I am also shipping some kitchen stuff (pots and pans, glassware, china etc) and some clothes. I'm not too bothered if a couple of glasses or some plates get broken, it won't be the end of the world. It's really only if for example only 19 of my 20 boxes turn up, I'd want to claim for the cost of replacing the items in the lost box. There isn't anything I'm shipping that I would claim for on household insurance if I dropped and broke it this evening for example. I don't have boxes of lead crystal glasses or Wedgwood china.

JHolden47

Ok fair enough, however given your example your shipment still would not be covered at your shipment was not totally lost. All 20 boxes would have to go. In effect 19 could go missing and the last box could be smashed to smithereens. But you wouldn't be able to claim.

BunnyGirl

That quote was from Anglo Pacific. Haven't decided who I'm using yet, still waiting for quotes to come in.

Will check the small print though. I'm only shipping books, Wedgwood (!) and a couple of paintings. Whilst I want to ship them it's not the end of the world if they don't make it, there's more important things in life etc

pipsi

Based on the information I've been given by the removals company I would be covered if one box didn't turn up and would be able to claim for that one box. It's only damage to items within the box that wouldn't be covered. Also, if the box was visibly very damaged from the outside eg soaked through, I could also claim for the water damage. The agent who visited me to give me a quote and I had quite a detailed conversation about what was and wasn't covered. He said essentially I just wasn't covered for breakages caused by poor packaging.