One major factor, which should be considered from the outset when shipping your worldly goods overseas, is insurance. When it comes insuring goods in transit it is extremely difficult to insure household and personal effects unless they have been professionally packed.  Due to the problem of establishing exactly what is classed as sufficiently packed when dealing with claims, insurance companies now opt for accepting that, if goods are professionally packed, that is, packed by reputable removal companies, then they are considered to have been packed sufficiently to protected against normal damage and are therefore insurable.  The problem with self packing is that the cartons or boxes used may not be of a suitable grade and the materials used to wrap items may not be sufficiently suitable to ensure protection against the rigors of international handling and shipping.  Anyone seeking to move possessions abroad should bear in mind the amount of handling that takes place for these consignments as opposed to a straightforward move in the U.K.  Firstly your goods are loaded into a container at your UK residence, then the container is delivered to the U.K. docks for loading on a vessel.  On arrival at the destination port the container is then unload onto the quay and once customs formalities are completed the container will be loaded onto a trailer for delivery to the final destination.  Each of these movements incurs a lot of heavy handling and so goods must be secured tightly to protect them against the constant movements taking place.

At the end of the day, the little saving made between self packing and professional packing cannot compare to the comfort received in knowing that your professionally packed goods will arrive in good order. If for some reason, there is some accidental damage at least you know that you have adequate insurance cover.

There are three aspects of insurance, which generally cover such shipments.

Marine Insurance

This is the standard insurance raised by the removal company/shipper to cover your goods whilst in transit.  The rates charged are based on a percentage rate of the value i.e. 3% per £100 value, this means that if your goods are valued at £30,000, then the insurance premium will be £900.  To reduce the overall premium it may be worth considering only insuring certain items, those of value or sentimental reasons.  There are many items that you may consider not worth insuring, therefore make an itemised list of goods to be covered.  It also pays to be prudent when putting a value to goods.  Generally, most people when taking out household insurance, under value their effects, and over value when it comes to shipping those same items.  Make sure you request ‘all risk’ and ‘up to total loss’ cover. The insurance underwriters will add this to the policy and make sure you get a copy of the insurance certificate with your shipping documents supplied by the shipper.  The actual insurance cover comes into effect from the point of packing through to unpacking.

It should be pointed out that ‘point of packing’ refers to packing by professional staff.  It is extremely difficult, or nigh impossible, to insure goods that have been self packed

Shipping Line Insurance

The question has been raised on several occasions as to what is the actual shipping lines responsibility if the vessel sinks, or your goods are totally lost at sea, or your container goes over the side and is a total loss.  This question tends to be raised by those seeking to self-pack.

The answer is, not a lot.  Shipping lines operate under the Hague-Visby Rules, which are rules laid down to cover the liabilities of the shipping line in the even of a loss.  These rules have so many opt out clauses that it is unlikely that you would get full compensation and the extent of time to settle a claim is very long winded.  Basically the shipping lines would payout based on the weight of goods not value.  These rules tend to be aimed at commercial goods rather than personal effects, so do not rely on this route as a form of insurance cover.  Always take out full marine insurance cover.

Storage Insurance

Many people when moving overseas require some form of temporary storage for their household effects.  This may be due to vacating a property early or the fact that the new overseas property is not completed and therefore the goods cannot be delivered once they reach the destination. 

There are two alternatives:

1.   Leave your goods in storage in the U.K. until required and then ship out.

2.   Ship goods immediately and store in a local warehouse at final destination.

In the case of storage overseas, the moment your goods are unloaded at the overseas warehouse your marine insurance will cease.  In this case you should ensure that the overseas warehouse has adequate insurance cover in place.  You should ask to see a valid insurance certificate, which should be on display in the premises.