You know when you have to get a big, heavy sofa out of the home, maybe you have to squeeze it through a tiny door and down two flights of stairs? It’s a task that feels Herculean, impossible, a full week’s workout in a half hour. There is the moment of triumph afterwards, but the process itself can feel like you’re only making an inch worth of progress at a time. If you work in moving, then you know that this is an everyday experience for professional moving companies.
The real tricky part is that a mover has to get a sofa out of one home, and into another one, usually in a single day, and without doing any damage. Throwing a couch out is tricky enough, but you don’t need to worry if it gets a little banged up on the way out of the house. Not to mention, the mover doesn’t get to say “Well we don’t really need this anymore, let’s toss it!” when something won’t fit in the car.
The US Department of Transportation Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (trying saying that three times fast) has ruled that a moving company is responsible for the value of each and every item they transport, so in this industry there’s no getting away with “Hey, you knew the risks.”
The level of responsibility a mover takes can change depending on what level of coverage the customer has selected. With “released value” the mover is only responsible for a certain amount of money per pound, per object, usually around sixty cents. This can be a good deal for the mover, as a $500 chair might only cost the mover $10 if they break it. Full value covers property for the full value.
If your state allows, you may want to consider selling insurance from your own provider so that your customers are completely covered should something go wrong, and you have less risk on your own part.
It’s worth noting: Moving can be stressful for many people, and that stress can manifest in strange ways. It’s not unusual for a mover to deliver a coffee table without a scratch on it, only to be told that they’ve ruined it beyond repair. This is why some movers don’t touch a single thing until they’ve taken a few shots of it with their cell phone. Think of it as insurance on your moving company insurance. You don’t want to be held responsible for a dent that was already on that fridge when you got there.
Coverage is incredibly important when it comes to moving, because you’re not just covering yourself and your own people, you’re covering your customers’ property, as well.
