Shipping insurance... what did you do?

[thedans]

Just a quick question.. should we spring for the insurance? I know it's not that much for a little peace of mind.. but it's hard parting with that money. haha! I am thinking I probably should as I can't afford to replace it. :/

[adotie]

We did pay for the insurance, and luckily didn't need to claim. However, friends of ours who moved at around the same time did need to claim for some fairly substantial damage to their furniture and some missing boxes. We were lucky, they weren't. When we had totted it all up we were surprised by actually how much our stuff was worth, and would cost to replace, and thought it was small price to pay. I guess it depends on whether you're willing to shoulder the risk or not!

[doreysc]

It would be daft not to. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Rena

Simon

[girlwithanewf]

Yes. Get insurance. Most unlikely that anything would happen but you really wouldn't want to have to replace everything from scratch in NZ.

[RejjieM]

Our shippers won't accept our belongings without us having insurance in place.

[thedans]

haha... yea I like the Rena reference.. It's not a huge price to pay, plus as others said, I don't want to have to pay to replace everything! We are going to pay for it after all. Thanks everyone!

[mylesdw]

You might be able to get a lower price if you insure for total loss only rather than damage, if you are prepared to accept that a few things may get broken. We took a chance and didn't bother with any insurance. Only one picture glass was broken.

[Super_BQ]

Shipping insurance a good thing? I suppose so to the risk adverse person. Factors of wanting to get insurance is where the boat is sailing (is it stopping in hot humid countries where your container can sweat and cause damage inside to the container being double handled, say if it's transferred to another carrier). If you're shipping from the US and choose a direct sailing to NZ, it may not be a worry to have insurance.

What I find interesting is we import goods from China by container and have never ever needed to make an insurance claim (or the need to even have the goods insured). I suppose the level of risk when shipping personal belongings is more to do with how the items are handled. If say the movers don't properly pack the items in the boxes and the owner of the container is unaware how their items are packed in the container - to problems of boxes going missing, etc. - all these issues that is rarely the case when shipping commercial goods in a container.

When I had a container shipped from Vancouver, BC. I had an insurance contract with Loyds of London and that was only to insure the car being shipped.

[Dell]

I've got to decide today if I'm going to insure my shipment. My 20' container has insurance until it arrive in L.A. Once on the ship, I need marine insurance.

I'm an artist and have a substantial art collection that I've traded with other artists. The artwork is probably worth more than the rest of my household. The insurance will not cover any of my art work unless I had the art appraised prior to shipment. Also, the insurance will NOT cover any damage caused by humidity such as mold, mildew, rust and warping. My cousin who has lived in other countries, tells me to forget the insurance - that it isn't worth the cost.

I'm undecided. The cost would be US $1500 for the shipment. The chances of another Rena are slim but there's also fire, theft, etc. to worry about. Any advice?

[Dell]

I ended up insuring my shipment for just the value of the things they'd cover. Rainier made it easy with a Google doc. I just filled in the number and value (1 chair = $300) and it was tallied automatically. At least if the ship goes down, I'll have a little $$ to buy the basics in NZ.