Is Moving Insurance Worth the Cost?
Tuesday, December 5, 2017, 6:00 PM | Leave Comment
Moving can be incredibly stressful. Finding a home, packing your things, unpacking them later, living with half your belongings packed and doing it all in a relatively short period of time can exhaust and overwhelm you.
Moving insurance is something that should help relieve some of your stress, but often, it just adds to it. Is it worth the cost? What does it cover? Do you really need it? Trying to answer those questions just makes more work.
But you can find some of the answers here. Let’s go over what moving insurance is, what it covers, and whether it’s worth the money.
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What Is Moving Insurance?
Moving insurance, like all other insurances, is exactly what it sounds like: insurance that protects your belongings during a move. It can apply during an interstate move or even a move across town.
Moving companies like Wheaton World Wide Moving often offer different forms of insurance for purchase. If you rent a vehicle to move your own things, you may also be able to purchase moving insurance that will cover the rental vehicle, driver and passengers, and the cargo.
Occasionally, a homeowner’s or renter’s insurance policy may also provide a small amount of moving insurance.
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What Does It Cover?
Depending on the particular company, policy, and what you’re willing to pay, moving insurance can cover almost nothing or it can cover just about everything.
For most moving companies, the basic insurance they provide pays up to $.60 per pound—which means a $1,000 computer that only weighs 3–4 pounds is only going to get you a couple of bucks in insurance, if it’s damaged or destroyed. This coverage is free, and is clearly a case of you get what you pay for.
Higher levels of insurance that you pay for include something called full value protection, or sometimes full replacement value protection. This can be expensive, but it will make you whole again, in the event that your items are damaged.
That computer that only got a couple of bucks with the basic coverage would be replaced with another of equal value. This doesn’t necessarily mean brand-new.
With this kind of insurance, the moving company generally gets to decide if they want to replace the item with a brand-new or one that matches what was ruined (so, if the computer was 2 years old, they could give you a 2 year old refurbished computer, for example), or pay for the repairs to the existing damaged item.
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Is It Worth It?
This answer will be different for every family. If you’re moving across country and trusting a moving company, it is likely that you’ll want to pay for the added protection.
If you’re renting a vehicle and moving yourself across town, the expense of a policy might outweigh the risk of damage, especially since you’re more likely to be cautious with your own belongings anyway.
It never hurts to get quotes on moving insurance before making a decision. Consider all your options before making a decision.
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