· by Michael Blair, Nashville's Mover
Movers offer valuation rather than insurance. The valuation statement in the Surface Transportation Board’s 2012 released rates decision says it in capital letters: a statement of the level of carrier liability, and not insurance. On an interstate move there are two levels, and the one that costs nothing beyond the base rate pays by weight, whatever the item was worth. The same decision records an industry consultant’s comment that most household goods disputes sent to arbitration involve a customer who picked that level and expected replacement value after damage. These federal rules are the ones we work under on long-distance moves. Tennessee’s rule on household goods claims sets no per-pound levels, so on a local move ask which level your contract uses and see it written down.
How do you end up with released value coverage?
This level costs nothing beyond the base rate, but you only get it by signing a written waiver of full value protection on the bill of lading. Once you do, 49 CFR 375.201 limits the mover to what the board’s released rates order allows, which is 60 cents per pound per article. The same rule lets a mover raise that rate each year by the Commerce Department’s cost-of-living adjustment, so check the figure printed on your paperwork. A heavy old sofa and a light expensive laptop are settled the same way, by weight.
The board’s form gives its own example: an audio component worth $1,000 that weighs 10 pounds would be settled at $6.00. For anything valuable and light, that is close to no coverage at all, and many people initial the waiver without realizing what it does and find out after something breaks.
What is full value protection?
The paid option, and the level you have unless you waive it. Under the board’s form, the mover chooses whether to repair a damaged article or pay for the repair, or to replace it with one of like kind and quality or pay what that replacement costs, and 375.201 caps the total at the declared value of the shipment. It costs more, since you pay the base rate plus a fee based on the value you place on your goods, and many customers expect this level without asking for it. If no value is declared, the form deems it $6.00 times the shipment’s weight in pounds, with a $6,000 minimum; those figures may be adjusted each year, so read the ones on your bill of lading.
Read the deductible, because the board lets movers offer a range of deductibles of their own choosing with full value protection. Then list in writing any item worth more than $100 per pound before the move: under 49 CFR 375.203, if you do not, the mover’s liability for that article can be limited to $100 per pound.
- Released value pays 60 cents per pound per article, and only by signed waiver
- Full value protection repairs, replaces or pays, up to the declared value
- Anything worth more than $100 a pound gets listed in writing before loading
- Ask your insurer in writing what your policy pays while goods are in transit
- Photograph valuables before loading, with condition visible
Your own insurance
Whether a homeowner or renter policy pays anything while a third party is hauling your things depends on the policy. Ask your insurer in writing what, if anything, it pays for belongings in a mover’s truck, and what your deductible is. Check rather than assume. The policies a moving company carries for itself are a separate matter, covered in what licensed and insured movers means in Tennessee.
Separate transit insurance exists and is worth pricing for a high-value move. Under 49 CFR 375.303, a mover may sell or arrange a policy covering loss beyond its own liability and must hand you the policy, or other evidence of it, in plain English; a mover may sell you liability insurance only on a shipment released at 60 cents per pound or less. The bill of lading has to show any coverage bought through the mover from an independent insurer, along with the premium, according to 49 CFR 375.505.
How do you file a moving damage claim?
Note damage on the delivery paperwork before the crew leaves, then file a written claim, because 49 CFR 370.3 says a notation on a delivery receipt is not a claim on its own. The claim has to identify the shipment, say the mover is liable, and ask for a specific or determinable amount of money.
File within the window stated in the contract. On an interstate move, the Carmack Amendment, 49 U.S.C. 14706, bars a mover from setting that window at less than nine months, and 49 CFR 370.9 gives the mover 120 days after receiving the claim to pay, decline or make a firm settlement offer in writing. If you still disagree, 49 CFR 375.211 makes arbitration binding for claims of $10,000 or less when you request it. Inside Tennessee, the state’s household goods claims rule has the carrier acknowledge a claim in writing within 30 calendar days.
Photograph everything on arrival and keep the packaging. No rule requires either, but they are the evidence a claim rests on. When you ask us for a written estimate, ask for the valuation level to be written on it too.
Sources
- Surface Transportation Board, Released Rates of Motor Common Carriers of Household Goods, Docket RR 999 (Amendment No. 5), decided January 10, 2012 — Valuation is not insurance; 60 cents per pound per article by signed waiver; the $1,000, 10-pound example; full value repair or replace at the mover’s option; base rate plus a value-based fee; $6.00 per pound and $6,000 minimum when no value is declared; deductibles; the comment on arbitration cases
- FMCSA, 49 CFR 375.201, What is my normal liability for loss and damage when I accept goods from an individual shipper? (eCFR) — Full value protection capped at declared value; released rates by written waiver; annual cost-of-living increase
- FMCSA, 49 CFR 375.203, What actions of an individual shipper may limit or reduce my normal liability? (eCFR) — Liability limited to $100 per pound per article for items over $100 per pound not declared in writing
- FMCSA, 49 CFR 375.303, If I sell liability insurance coverage, what must I do? (eCFR) — Insurance beyond carrier liability; liability insurance only on shipments released at 60 cents per pound; policy in plain English
- FMCSA, 49 CFR 375.505, Must I write up a bill of lading? (eCFR) — Bill of lading shows insurance from an independent insurer and its premium
- 49 CFR 370.3, Filing of claims (eCFR) — What a written claim must contain; a damage notation on a delivery receipt is not a claim on its own
- 49 U.S.C. 14706, Liability of carriers under receipts and bills of lading (Cornell LII) — No claim-filing period of less than nine months
- 49 CFR 370.9, Disposition of claims (eCFR) — Pay, decline or make a firm offer in writing within 120 days of receiving the claim
- FMCSA, 49 CFR 375.211, Must I have an arbitration program? (eCFR) — Arbitration binding for claims of $10,000 or less at the shipper’s request
- Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1340-06-01-.13, Department of Safety and Homeland Security, household goods carriers (Cornell LII) — In-state carriers acknowledge a claim in writing within 30 calendar days; no per-pound valuation levels in the rule as read
FAQ
What Moving Coverage Actually Pays — questions
Does my homeowner insurance cover a move?
It depends on the policy. Ask your insurer in writing what, if anything, it pays for belongings while they are in a mover’s truck, and what deductible applies. Do it before moving day, since finding out after something breaks is the worst time to learn the answer.
What is released value protection?
On an interstate move, it is the level of mover liability that costs nothing beyond the base rate and pays 60 cents per pound per article, whatever the item is worth. A light, expensive item is compensated at almost nothing. It is not the default: full value protection is, and you only get released value by signing a written waiver on the bill of lading, which many people do without realizing it.
What should I do if something arrives damaged?
Note it on the delivery paperwork before the crew leaves, then file a written claim that identifies the shipment and names the amount you are asking for, since a note on the receipt is not a claim by itself. Photograph the damage right away and keep the packaging. On an interstate move, federal law does not let a mover set a claim window shorter than nine months, and the mover then has 120 days to answer in writing.
Is moving insurance worth it?
For a high-value move it is worth pricing. On an interstate move, released value pays 60 cents per pound per article, so a $1,000 audio component weighing 10 pounds would bring $6.00. Full value protection costs more but repairs, replaces or pays up to the declared value, and a mover can also sell separate transit insurance.