Relocation & Moving Insurance

Insurance, a.k.a (also known as) Protection Coverage, is one of those purchases which may not seem beneficial at first, or seems like a huge waste of your hard-earned money. You pay a premium to protect your goods, and more times than not, nothing happens. While that is a good thing, you may feel like you just unnecessarily threw away some money.

Listen, we do understand your concern. Insurance is just a funny thing. If you don’t get it and something does happen to your goods, then you are left with less than what you had before, and now you are sitting in a puddle of regret saying to yourself “I should have just gotten some insurance instead of trying to save a little bit of money”.

It’s like those cameras for your car that record on a loop while you drive. You don’t get any benefit from it on a daily basis, but on the day where that drunk driver decides to go the wrong way into your lane, you would be very pleased to know that because of that camera you are completely protected financially and by the law.

We assume that whatever you are moving has a lot of worth, otherwise you wouldn’t be paying for a moving company like us to transport it all. You would be doing yourself a disservice if you did not take some form of insurance. This is of course just our professional opinion and in the end the choice is always yours. If you are ever in doubt about the need for insurance, or which insurance option is best for your situation, then please speak with one of our specialists who is always here to help you with the best decision.

International Move Insurance

It is without question, that an international move poses much more risk of damage to your goods than that of a domestic move. Long transit times on the open sea, forever changing weather conditions, and many more factors all constitute a higher need for protection coverage.

Naturally, with higher risk comes a higher price. Fortunately, USP Relocations (Thailand) offers very affordable transit insurance that best suits your needs.

Lump Sum Protection Coverage

Lump Sum is one of easiest and one of the most chosen forms of protection coverage taken.

How does Lump Sum work?

1.Our specialists will calculate the Total Volume of your shipment.
2.Let’s say the total volume of your shipment is 20 Cubic Meters (20 CBM).
3.Now, we must calculate the Total Value. This is done simply by multiplying the value per 1 CBM by your total volume. Example: 20 CBM (Your volume) x $3,000 USD (estimated value per CBM) = $60,000 USD
4. The total value of all your goods is $60,000 USD
5.So how much does it cost you to cover all this? We take the total value and multiply it by the international premium which is 3.5%.Example: $60,000 USD x 3.5% = $2,100
6. You pay only $2,100 USD to cover up to $60,000 USD worth of goods. Not a bad deal indeed.

Detailed Inventory

This option has the possibility of being more affordable than Lump Sum. That said, it is usually recommended for those with smaller shipments as the work involved for you is much more.

How does Detailed Inventory work?

Just as the name states, you will be required to make a detailed list of everything you plan to ship and assign a value to each item. Yes, this means everything and no you can not just list a few items. We also wish this was possible, but unfortunately there isn’t an insurance company that exists which offers this.

Example: 1x 3 Seat Sofa @ $1,000 USD
1x Flat Screen HD TV @ $2,000 USD
20 x pair of men’s jeans @ $60.00 per pair = $1,200 USD
And so on…
Once everything is listed out and the total value is calculated, its smooth sailing from there, as the remainder is calculated the same way Lump Sum is at the same 3.5% premium.

Insurance for Domestic Moves

As mentioned, domestic moves normally possess much less risk for loss and/or damage. Because of this, the premium you pay is much lower as compared to International move insurance.

The types of coverage and the process is completely the same between International and Domestic moves, the only major difference is the premium, which for Domestic Moves is only 1.5% (Almost ½).

Now you may be asking yourself, “Do I really need insurance just to move all my goods from one side of the city to another?”.

That is a smart question. To answer it, yes it may seem utterly ridiculous to buy insurance for a move that takes one day and is only a few kilometers away. We can tell you first hand though, that it is not crazy at all. In fact, it would be even more crazy not to take insurance.

Bangkok, Thailand for example, has some of the densest traffic in the world. Thailand as a whole, has some of the highest rates globally for motor vehicle accidents. While our drivers are some of the best around, there is no avoiding other drivers on the road who decided to run a red light or go the wrong way down a busy highway. Unfortunately, these things can and do happen all the time, which is why we very highly recommended taking some form of insurance. As they say, “better safe than sorry”.

Conclusion

If you are confused or have other questions, you can contact our Moving Specialists any time who are more than happy to help you. During the pre-move survey, our specialists will go over both options in detail and help you to decide which International Transit Insurance is the best option based on your situation and your budget.

Insurance FAQ:

Q: How long will my shipment be insured?

A: For 60 days at origin, during transit, and 60 days at the destination.

Q: What if I need my goods stored longer than 60 days at origin or destination?

A: If you need your shipment to be stored longer than 60 days, you will need to apply for an insurance extension, which is an additional 0.25% of the value/month.

Q: How to value my goods if I choose the Detailed Inventory option?

A: First, make sure never to undervalue. We recommended to always use the replacement value at the destination.

Example: You bought a Kitchen Aid Mixer on sale at a Kitchen fair in Bangkok for 15,000 Thai Baht. You are moving to Switzerland where the same Kitchen Aid Mixer goes for 20,000 Thai Baht. You would need to use 20,000 THB as the value.