Transit Insurance

Depository & Transit Insurance

Our moving company in McAllen may sell you risk insurance or even purchase it from an insurer on your behalf. This is to cover your shipment against any losses or damages while it’s in our custody. The premium that you might pay will be based on the value that you declare along with your choice of a deductible.

If you happen to store your goods with us, a recurring premium may be applied each month until delivery. A policy or certificate will be issued to explain the limits of coverage and any exclusions that apply. You’re more than welcome to opt for depreciated value or replacement coverage as well.

Be sure to declare a value equivalent to the real value of your goods or any claim may be subject to a co-insurance adjustment. If you insure $10,000 worth of goods for $5,000, the insurance may only cover 50% of your loss.

What You Need to Know

Almost all insurance policies have standard exclusions. “Political risks” aren’t normally covered on domestic shipments. This includes:

  • Riots
  • Acts of war

Transit or storage coverage excludes certain factors such as:

  • Infestation
  • Mold
  • Mildew
  • Rust

The customer is expected to prepare his/her goods for transit or for storage by properly treating articles so they may be handled with normal care. Appliances should be cleaned out with a dilute solution of water and bleach if they are going to be in storage or in transit for an extended period of time.

Be sure to treat certain items to kill any stray insects or their larvae. These items include:

  • Clothing
  • Carpets
  • Rugs with silk or wool fibers

You should avoid waxing or polishing furniture surfaces, especially in hot weather. When padded with cloth pads, many furniture items with excessive wax or polish may absorb pad fibers that can become embedded in the finish.

Liability for damage may be denied if items were tendered to the mover in a condition that resulted in damage when handled with normal care. If an article is cracked and, when subjected to normal road vibrations, breaks during transit, liability may be denied on the basis of a pre-existing ‘inherent vice’ in the article itself.

Most coverage excludes liability for matching sets, so if a sofa needs to be recovered, the love seat may not match. If mismatching causes loss of value to a set, you may file a claim for the loss of value.

Inventory Procedure

When our drivers load your goods, they’ll make a written inventory of the items and cartons. A numbered tag will be placed on each item along with a description of its condition. A special declaration will be made for items valued at over $100 per pound.

If you’d like for contents of high value packed items to be covered for “mysterious disappearance”, then it’s best to request a “piece count”. This is an inventory of carton contents. A labor charge may be applied. Upon delivery, if anything is lost or damaged, let our movers in McAllen know immediately.

Movers May Sell Insurance

Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations
[CITE: 49CFR375.11]: 
(a) Whenever a shipment is released for transportation at a value not exceeding 60¢ per pound per article, and the shipper does not declare a valuation of $1.25 or more per pound and pay or agree to pay the carrier for assuming liability for the shipment equal to the declared value, any common carrier of household goods as defined in Sec. 375.1(b)(1), or any employee, agent or repre-sentative thereof, may sell, or offer to sell or procure for any shipper, any kind of insurance, under any type of policy, covering loss or damage in excess of the specified carrier liability to a shipment or shipments of household goods to be transported in interstate or foreign commerce by such carrier; Provided, that the shipper is issued a policy or other appropriate evidence of the insurance purchased, and a copy thereof be furnished to the shipper at the time the insurance is sold or procured. Carrier issued policies shall be written in plain English and shall clearly specify the nature and extent of coverage. Failure to issue a policy or other appropriate evidence of insurance pur-chased shall subject the carrier to full liability for any claims to recover for loss or damage attributed to the carrier.

(b) Any carrier offering or selling or pro-curing insurance as provided in paragraph (a) of this section shall provide in its tariff for the provision of such service. The tariff shall also provide for the base transportation charge to include assumption by the carrier for full liability for the value of the shipment in the event a policy or other appropriate evidence of the insurance purchased by the shipper is not issued to the shipper at the time of purchase.

[49 FR 16218, Mar. 11, 1981. Redesignated at 61 FR 54707, Oct. 21, 1996, as amended at 62 FR 49941, Sept. 24, 1997]