Marine Insurance
An international move is a major undertaking. Shipping personal possessions overseas is a process that involves various moving / shipping professionals and potential hurdles from the moment they are taken from your current home to the moment they are brought to your new home.
Safeguarding your possessions against possible loss, damage, and / or unforeseen disasters en-route is an advisable option you can have with a marine insurance policy: a policy that provides coverage from the point of origin to the point of destination.
There are two types of coverage available:
- All Risk is an insurance policy that covers damages and / or losses
- Limited Risk which covers losses as specified under the policy.
Both cover types require that you complete a Declared Value (DV) inventory: an itemized listing of everything you choose to insure with a “replacement” value assigned to each one. The value of your items can increase from their original costs in the U.S. because your destination country may attach high import charges to each one therefore increasing their actual replacement value. Make sure your declaration is precise in order to avoid any difficulties or settlement hold-ups. Also bear in mind that a Declared Value inventory is solely insurance-related: it is totally separate from the customs declaration and the list of items you are shipping.
If you pack your household goods, the insurance company will only issue a policy for Limited Risk insurance; you would not be able to get All Risk coverage with an insurance company. Read the fine print thoroughly: they stipulate that coverage under an All Risk policy requires that the packing be done by a professional shipping company.
