Insurance is a must-have in any home or office relocation

Insurance is all about peace of mind.  There’s also a little bit of Murphy’s Law involved.  You can just about bet that if you don’t invest in insurance for moving, something will go wrong.  But to what extent things go wrong is the real issue.  The odd breakage of plates or an inconsequential item of furniture probably won’t break the bank for you, but what happens if there is a total loss?  How would you feel – and how would you recover – if the truck carrying your goods was involved in an incident and caught on fire?  All your worldly goods go up in flames and you’ve lost most of what you own.

Moving insurance is kind of like your contents cover, but in transit.  Consider all the things that could potentially go wrong with transporting your furniture and other personal effects around.  You might be moving across the street, but if your precious antique clock slips out of someone’s hand and smashes, will you be able to claim for its value?  Or you could move across the ocean to Tasmania or indeed across the world.  What if there’s a maritime catastrophe and the container/s carrying your goods fall overboard?  You simply cannot be without moving insurance, can you?

Types of moving insurance

First of all, it’s important to remember that your Home Contents Insurance is not the same as moving insurance.  Generally, your contents cover only insures your goods while they are in your home.  Once they are transported away, they need to be covered by transit, removal or moving insurance.

You can organise Full cover which is usually only available if your goods are packed and/or moved by professional removalists.  It covers loss or damage to your goods by accident or natural hazards and by wilful and deliberate actions of a third party.  Then there is Restricted cover which is for when you are moving your own goods or having them moved by a professional removalist.  The range of contingencies that are covered include fire, lightning, flood, explosion, collision of the transportation vehicle, overturning, jack-knifing, derailment, grounding, sinking, capsizing, jettison of goods and more.

FAQs to ask your insurance provider

When you arrange your removals insurance, be sure to ask the following:
•    full details of what is and is not covered in your moving insurance
•    the level of excess required in the event of damage or loss
•    whether you are covered for items stored for short or long periods
•    who underwrites the policy
•    how you can make a claim if necessary
•    whether you are covered for replacement, repair or partial reimbursement

Once you organise your insurance

When you do finalise your moving insurance, check it in detail to make sure it covers you for the kind of transit you’ll be utilising.  It’s no use having rail cover if you’re transporting by truck and ship.

Keep a copy of the documents in a safe place as you don’t want them to be hard to get a hold of if you need to make a claim.  Keep them somewhere other than with your goods that are being moved.  You could take a photo on your iPhone or email it to yourself at a web-based email account.

Don’t risk believing that your entire move will run smoothly. Things happen and when they do, you need to make sure you’re covered!