When moving to a new home, there's always at least a little bit of risk that some of your items may become damaged while in transit – no matter if you are moving yourself or have hired a professional moving company to do the heavy lifting for you. For this reason, you may want to consider purchasing a moving insurance policy to financially protect your belongings in the case of any damage. Understanding the different types of moving insurance plans available on the market can help you choose the one that best fulfills your needs.
Total Loss Only Moving Insurance
Total loss only moving insurance, like its name would suggest, is designed to cover you for the full value of your items only if the entire shipment is lost. This is because of theft, accident, or a natural disaster that causes excessive damage to all of your items. The likelihood of this happening is, of course, relatively low, but it's a good policy to consider just to gain some peace of mind (or if you happen to be moving during a hurricane).
Full Value Moving Insurance
Full value moving insurance is at the other end of the spectrum, and provides complete coverage for all your items if they are damaged during a move. This means that damage from normal shifting during moving, any sort of damage from handling, or literally anything else, will be covered by your insurance policy. Items will have to listed in detail before the move actually happens, however, and the cost of this plan is significantly higher than other available options. Keep in mind that some plans offer the opportunity for items to be repaired or replaced instead of reimbursed with money, so remember to read the fine print before you sign to make sure that you know what sort of coverage you're getting.
Released Value Moving Insurance
A released value moving insurance plan offers a middle ground between the comprehensive coverage of full value insurance and the end-of-the-world coverage offered by total loss insurance. Instead, released value places a certain value on each pound being moved (usually somewhere from a few cents to a dollar per pound). Items that become broken are weighed and you are reimbursed based on that weight. This makes released value insurance plans ideal for large items that are particularly heavy and valuable, but not so much for technology or jewelry. Still, it provides more coverage than total loss insurance, without the hefty price tag of full value moving insurance.
