Furniture removalist insurance has to follow a customer’s belongings through every stage of a move: packing, loading, the drive, storage and unloading into the new home. The exposures change at each stage, and so do the policy sections that respond. This guide works through them in order. For an overview of the cover itself, see our furniture removalist insurance page.
Whose Goods, and on What Basis
The first question is who insures the customer’s belongings and on what basis. Removalists commonly deal with it in one of three ways:
- Carriers’ liability or goods in custody cover. Your policy responds to your legal liability for loss of or damage to goods in your care. If you were not legally liable, it may not pay.
- Transit insurance for the customer. You offer the customer a transit policy that can respond to loss or damage in transit regardless of fault, subject to its terms.
- The customer’s own insurance. Some home and contents policies extend to removals, usually with conditions about using a professional removalist.
These do different jobs. A liability-based cover does not pay the customer for an event you were not responsible for, while a transit policy arranged for the customer may. Be clear in your quotes and terms about which applies, because the customer’s expectations are set at the booking stage. Our guide to goods in transit insurance explains the transit side.
Your Terms and Conditions of Carriage
Your contract with the customer frames the whole arrangement. Terms commonly deal with:
- How liability for loss or damage is limited, and any declared value system.
- The customer’s option to take up transit insurance, and what happens if they decline.
- Owner-packed cartons and items you did not pack.
- High-value items that must be declared in advance, such as art, antiques, pianos and jewellery.
- Time limits for reporting damage after delivery.
- Storage terms, if you offer storage.
Terms only help if the customer has seen and accepted them before the job. Consumer law can limit how far a business can exclude or limit its liability, so have your terms reviewed by a lawyer and keep signed copies. Your insurer will also want your terms to match the basis on which your policy was written.
Packing and Unpacking
Damage often traces back to packing. Crockery wrapped too lightly, a television packed without protection or a mirror loaded flat can all turn into a claim.
- Owner-packed cartons. Policies and terms commonly exclude or limit damage to the contents of cartons you did not pack, unless the carton itself shows external damage.
- Electrical and mechanical items. Breakdown without external damage is commonly excluded. A television that will not turn on after the move, with no visible damage, is a hard claim to make.
- Scratching, chipping and denting. Some covers exclude these for furniture unless they result from a defined event, such as an accident involving the vehicle.
- Pairs and sets. A damaged chair from a dining set raises the question of whether you pay for one chair or the set. The wording decides.
Photograph high-value items and existing damage before packing. That record answers the dispute about whether a scratch was already there.
Damage to Customers’ Premises
Moving a fridge or a sofa through a home can damage walls, door frames, floors, balustrades and lifts. That exposure sits with your public liability insurance, not your goods cover. Damage caused by the truck itself, such as reversing into a letterbox or a carport post, may fall under the vehicle policy instead. Know which policy responds to which event before you need it.
Apartment and commercial buildings commonly ask for:
- A certificate of currency for public liability before the move.
- Lift bookings and lift protection blankets.
- Floor and wall protection in common areas.
- Loading dock times and vehicle height limits.
Storage
Storing a customer’s goods for weeks or months is a different exposure from moving them. Goods in storage face fire, theft, water damage, vermin and mould, and transit cover may stop or be limited once goods go into storage. Storage needs its own arrangements:
- Your liability for stored goods, set by your storage terms.
- Any storage insurance offered to customers, and on what basis.
- The warehouse itself: fire protection, alarms and security.
- Containers stored outside and their exposure to weather.
Keep an inventory for every storage customer, signed at intake, with condition notes.
Trucks, Trailers and Tail-Lifts
Pantechs and furniture vans carry fitted bodies, tail-lifts and tie-down systems that should be included in the vehicle’s sum insured. Describe the use accurately: carrying customers’ goods for payment is a hire and reward use, and a policy written on a different use can create a problem at claim time. See our guide to hire and reward truck use, and our commercial vehicle insurance page for how vehicles are placed. Trailers need to be declared too, whether they are towed behind the truck or a ute.
Interstate Moves and Subcontracted Legs
Interstate moves bring longer transit, depots and sometimes subcontracted linehaul. If another carrier moves the goods for part of the journey, check that your cover continues while goods are in a subcontractor’s hands, and ask the subcontractor for evidence of their own insurance. Backloads that combine several customers’ goods on one truck also test the per-vehicle limit on your policy. Set it for the fullest load you carry, not an average one.
Your People
Lifting injuries are part of the work. Workers compensation arrangements for employees vary by state, so check the current requirement. Owner-drivers and working principals who sit outside workers compensation should consider personal accident cover for their own income.
Getting Furniture Removalist Insurance Right
- Decide whether you offer liability-based cover, transit insurance for customers, or both.
- Put it in your terms and make sure customers see them before the job.
- Check the per-vehicle and per-item limits against the loads you carry.
- Arrange storage cover separately if you store goods.
- Keep inventories and photographs for every job.
Common Questions
A customer’s antique cabinet was damaged in the move. Will my policy pay?
It depends on the basis of your cover, whether the item was declared, the per-item limit and whether you were legally liable. High-value items commonly need to be listed and valued in advance.
Do I need public liability if I already have goods in transit cover?
They do different jobs. Goods cover responds to the customer’s belongings. Damage to the home and injury to people are liability exposures.
What if the customer packs their own boxes?
Damage to the contents of owner-packed cartons is commonly excluded or limited unless the carton itself is damaged. Say so in your terms.
Talk It Through
Request a quote or call 1300 983 940 and we will match your furniture removalist insurance to your terms of carriage, your storage and your trucks.
General advice only. This article does not take your objectives, financial situation or needs into account. Consider the relevant PDS and Target Market Determination before deciding on a policy.