Removal insurance: what it covers, and seven questions to ask before you book

Removal insurance pays for belongings lost or damaged on the way, but whether it pays for yours depends on conditions a quote rarely puts next to its headline figure: who packed the box, who carried it to the van, what counts as one item, and how soon you report a loss. Compare those first and the figure last. A customer put it to us in one line in August 2025, before booking: what is and is not covered?

A month before that, another customer asked us where the protection was if they paid before their belongings arrived. We sent a link and one line: our cover's upper limit, and the word "comprehensive". It said how much. It said nothing about when the cover pays, and that is the part that decides a claim.

The rest of this guide is how to find them, and at the end, under each of the seven questions to ask any mover, is our own answer. Hold us to them.

These are two different things, and a quote can say "insured" about either. An insurance policy pays for loss or damage up to a limit, less an excess. A liability limit is the most the mover agrees to pay if it is at fault, and it is often a fixed sum for each item, whatever the item was worth.

If the cover is a sum per item, ask what an item is. Under some terms the whole contents of a box is one item, so a box of twelve wine glasses is worth the same to a claim as a single mug. If the limit is a sum per kilo, a light, valuable thing is worth almost nothing: a laptop weighs about as much as a bag of sugar.

Ask which one your quote includes, whether it costs extra, and what the alternative is.

This is the condition most likely to surprise you. Some cover pays for damage inside a box only if the mover packed it, or only if you used the mover's own boxes and wrapping. Then the price of the cover includes the price of the packing, whether the quote says so or not.

So ask for the quote twice, with packing and without, and ask what the cover becomes in each. A customer asked us for exactly that last year, because they already had boxes. It is the right question for any mover.

Our terms ask for bubble wrap inside double-walled boxes for anything fragile you pack, and removal blankets and plastic film on every side of furniture. They do not ask you to buy any of it from us.

Loading and unloading is where cover can stop. Ask two things: if the crew drops something on the stairs, is it covered, and if a friend helps you carry, is it?

Our answer to the second is no. Damage caused by people you bring in to carry is not covered by our policy, so if you need hands beyond the van, ask the mover to provide them and the people carrying are covered. Damage our crew or a partner we engaged causes while loading is covered, and if a partner caused it, your claim is still with us.

You will not unpack everything on the day, and something can turn up missing a week later, when the last box is open. Deadlines decide what happens next, and they differ: some terms give only a few days from delivery for everything, some bar a missing item you did not report before the van left.

Ours is the second kind, and for a reason: once the van has gone, nobody can check whether a missing thing is still on it. So on delivery day, count the boxes and the large items against your list before the driver goes, and photograph any damage you can see. Damage you find when you unpack, and something missing from inside a box you counted, have longer deadlines; ours are on our cover page. Before you book, ask any mover how long you have for each.

Three answers can shrink a payout after the claim is accepted. Cover that pays only for total loss gives nothing for a table that arrives broken but whole. Cover that pays what a thing was worth, not what it costs to replace, gives little for anything old. And an excess comes off every claim.

Ask too what is left out entirely. If jewellery, watches, money or documents are on that list, carry them yourself. Ask whether an appliance that stops working with no mark on it counts as damage. And ask when cover ends: if it ends when the van arrives, goods put into storage on the way need cover of their own.

If your belongings are worth more than the mover's limit, insure them separately, take the valuable things with you, or leave them out. Your home insurer may also cover goods moved by a professional remover; ask whether that includes going abroad.

Ask them in writing, and keep the answers with your quote. A mover that knows its cover answers them quickly. Our own answer is under each one.

• Is it an insurance policy, or a limit on what you will pay, and is it in the price?

  Our answer: a Goods-in-Transit insurance policy, in the price of every quote. It pays for loss and damage, not only total loss, from loading until your things arrive.

• If I pack my own boxes, am I still covered, and what does packing by you cost?

  Our answer: yes, when packed to the standard our terms set out, with materials from anywhere: bubble wrap in double-walled boxes for fragile things, removal blankets and plastic film for furniture. Our packing service is quoted for your move if you want it.

• What counts as one item?

  Our answer: our terms set no limit per item. The limit is for one incident, and you claim against the lines of your inventory, each with the value you gave it.

• What is the excess, and the most you will pay for one incident?

  Our answer: both are fixed, the same on every booking, and printed on our cover page. We sell no extra cover above the limit.

• Is damage while loading covered, and what if my own helpers carry?

  Our answer: covered when our crew, our driver or a partner we engaged causes it, and a partner's mistake stays ours. Not when your own helpers carry, so ask us for extra hands instead.

• How long do I have to report damage I find when I unpack, and something missing?

  Our answer: anything missing from the count at the van is reported before the driver leaves. Visible damage, damage found on unpacking, things missing from inside a box, and theft each have their own deadline, on our cover page.

• What is left out entirely, and what does a claim pay: repair, replacement or value?

  Our answer: jewellery, watches, money and deeds, which we carry but do not insure; storage outside the journey; and costs that follow from a loss, such as hotel nights. The insurer assesses each claim against the value on your inventory, with receipts or similar listings as evidence.

Our cover page sets out the limit, the excess, what is left out and every deadline, next to each other, and our terms carry the same lines with their clause numbers.

If any mover, us included, cannot answer one of the seven questions in writing, that is your answer.