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Thread: Result of claim for our Container Shipment

  1. #1
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    Default Result of claim for our Container Shipment

    Just fyi on your insurance policy for your shipping container be aware of language such as what I've pasted in below. Thankfully the insurer is sending us a "courtesy" cheque for $500usd anyway for our cracked patio table (that still 'works' as a table but has cracks)...better than nothing given the policy terms, so we're happy enough..

    Thought I would share the result of the claim.

    The terms and conditions of your policy states that you insure your entire shipment to the extent of the full value at the time of shipment and failing to do so, the insured shall, to the extent of such deficit, bear his/her or their proportion of any loss. With the information that has been provided it would appear that your shipment had a 60% deficit in coverage.

    Although circumstances prohibit obtaining a repair estimate the table was not a total loss. In an attempt to amicably resolve your claim we are extending an appearance allowance of $500. as a goodwill gesture.

  2. #2
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    We've the loss adjuster getting in touch next week for hte 3 boxes of books and 1 of kitchen crockery that went missing. Initial feeling is that this isgoing to be stressful as they asked for photographic records, reciepts and other evidence of ownership and loss for 3 out of 11 containers of mixed fiction books and 1 box of everyday glassware, plates and use once in a blue moon kitchen nicknacks.

  3. #3
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    I HATE this kind of weaselling. And I can't think of anything much more soul-destroying than having the job of sending out off-putting sneaky letters to ordinary decent people who in all good faith thought they were covered for some eventuality.

    Duncan, thanks for the warning. If we ever get to the stage of packing up to go, I must remember to have the packers take a shot of the two of us hanging lovingly over every box of random belongings.

    cantwait, did they have some procedure after the claim in order to come to the conclusion you weren't insured to full value? As, if they knew beforehand, what were they doing accepting the business, just to refuse you in the end?

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by JandM View Post
    cantwait, did they have some procedure after the claim in order to come to the conclusion you weren't insured to full value? As, if they knew beforehand, what were they doing accepting the business, just to refuse you in the end?
    Business as usual... when we shifted back to the northern hemisphere in 2004, we completed the insurance form in the presence of the shipping/insurance agent (Whangarei not being big enough for one of each it seems), asked him questions about how it all worked etc.

    But when we tried to claim for broken plates, given that we'd taken out "pairs and sets" insurance, they came back with the fact that for this claim to be valid we should have also insured each and every item in the dinner set separately. We eventually got a measly £50 on the basis that the policy was mis-sold.

  5. #5
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    A friend of mine came on a coach trip I organized, and when we got back, discovered that her suitcase had got cut diagonally across the lid by something while in the coach boot. There was a group insurance that included luggage, so I got a claim form for her. The hassle! They wanted to know exactly when she'd bought it and how much it cost, and of course, very often, you wouldn't know, if a case has been around in use for a while, but by a fluke, she'd bought it just before the trip and still had the receipt. It was a chain-store thing which had been about £25 (normal for the time), and that was what she was claiming. They wanted a witness statement that the case had not been damaged before the journey - as if you'd pack your things in a bag with a darn great slit in it - and her neighbour who'd driven her to the pickup point and was a policeman, provided that. They then wanted a quote from somebody for repairing the suitcase, or their say-so that it wasn't possible or wouldn't make economic sense. This was the point at which my friend gave up, because she would actually have had to pay someone £20 to look at the thing even if she didn't want a repair done, so would have ended up out of pocket (bearing in mind time and fuel) even if they'd paid up.

  6. #6
    Manks's Avatar
    Manks is offline Serial procrastinator and general busybody
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    GLad to hear you got something. We received about US$1,000 back for damage to our stuff, which we were happy with.

    It does make me laugh though that the insurers have insured you from one country to another, yet they pay out in the currency of the country you left!! Go figure!

  7. #7
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    I'm pretty sure that I won't bother with insurance when I move again. As you all have pointed out, the amount of time and effort required to get a minimal return is not worth it. Of course, I'm only planning to move a small amount, so that makes a no insurance decision easier.

  8. #8
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    When we calculated the value of everything in the container it would have been very expensive to insure it for the whole amount, so we came up with a number we were comfortable with should the whole ship sink! At the time, we didn't realize that we'd only get 40% of that insured amount should the whole thing sink!

    When the claim agent asked me how we calculated the worth of the container, I should have said that we filled in the spreadsheet they gave us with the exact value of each item, but instead I told the truth! But regardless, I'm sure there would have been another reason not to pay the whole claim...or she would have asked for a copy of the spreadsheet or something.

    Really & truly we're thrilled to have gotten the $500.00 -- it's just a patio table and actually, although cracked, it still works. We ARE, however, relieved that it didn't happen to something more dear or impossible to replace as they'd have still only paid 40% of what it was worth...or God Forbid if the whole thing sank!


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