Removers Insurance

Hi all,

We have been advised by our Removers that we have to take out their insurance, looking on here many people arrange alternative insurance, they are adamant that we use their insurance even though I can get comparable cover elsewhere for nearly half the cost.

Is this right? the company is Brittania Lanes.

Any thoughts?

My understanding is that they can't force you too. But I could well be wrong. We are using a different company from you but are not taking their insurance. Have had no issues with that.

I also thought that company could only recommend you take their insurance and of course will try to convince you that the other insurers don't provide same level of cover, I had exactly that conversation this morning with man saying its up to me but if I did use them he could give me slightly cheaper price on container as they got commission from insurers. I asked for quote with and without but only got price for without so guessing the discount would have been minimal

I don't know if you *have* to, but I would be thinking that they can't force you. Just tell them that you will go elsewhere entirely if they try to force you, plenty of other shippers won't make you.

The shippers we used didn't even give us a quote, they sent a form with a box we had to tick and sign saying we understood there would be a further charge for their insurance, I sent all my forms back except this one, which was blank, with a note saying we would not be using their insurance as we had found it considerably cheaper elsewhere. They sent a rather nasty email saying that if we didn't use their insurance, they would give us SFA if anything happened, and that any other shipping insurance was inferior and we would end up disappointed. I said I would take my chances. They have been pretty rubbish to be honest, almost 15 weeks now and still(!) waiting, zero concept of customer service, unresponsive to emails, sending incorrect tracking information, etc etc but that is another thread.

Call their bluff, and say you will use someone else entirely if they get militant about using their insurance.

Most removal companies only make a profit on their insurance. So they may have given you a cheaper rate so that they can make the profit on the insurance.

You have two companies in the UK who are independent one is Insure Your Move the other is Letton and Percival. Although Letton are a few pounds cheaper I don't think they cover you for mould/mildew or things like sets, ie if you have a 3 piece sofa and a chair ended up covered in mould you couldn't claim, but on the Insure Your Move policy I think the full 3 piece suite is covered even if the damage is to one chair. I'm sure there is a comparison on here somewhere

I am a Dircetor of Insure-Your-Move.com

Both Letton Percival and ourselves offer very similar insurance in terms of cover to that being offered by the removal companies, in fact the extent of cover is wide, but the main variance being the price.

Stating you have to buy the insurance from the remover is certainly misleading and smacks of 'protectionism'. Both LP and ourselves offer a regulated viable alternative who many PIO members have used and who have been able to save considerable amounts of money in terms of premium costs.

We used another shipping company (crown) and while they did quote for our insurance we were under no obligation to take it. The only thing they said was to double check the terms on all our options to make sure we were getting the cover we expected. We found the third party options gave better cover, so went with them.

Given how heavily regulated insurance sales are, I would be very surprised if the shipping company can say you have to take their insurance but if they get uppity over it then I guess you need to decide whether you are willing to go through getting more quotes or whether you're ok paying it for an easy life? I'm not sure I'd be happy handing over all my possessions to a company that are a bit pissed off even if I managed to argue the point...

Most removal companies only make a profit on their insurance. So they may have given you a cheaper rate so that they can make the profit on the insurance.

You have two companies in the UK who are independent one is Insure Your Move the other is Letton and Percival. Although Letton are a few pounds cheaper I don't think they cover you for mould/mildew or things like sets, ie if you have a 3 piece sofa and a chair ended up covered in mould you couldn't claim, but on the Insure Your Move policy I think the full 3 piece suite is covered even if the damage is to one chair. I'm sure there is a comparison on here somewhere

We used Pickfords but refused their expensive insurance. On arrival we found damage to the tune of £1500+ and made a claim through Insure-your-move. They were excellent in giving advice and supporting our disputed claim. I strongly recommend on both price and service.

We used Pickfords but refused their expensive insurance. On arrival we found damage to the tune of £1500+ and made a claim through Insure-your-move. They were excellent in giving advice and supporting our disputed claim. I strongly recommend on both price and service.

Sorry this message should have quoted the post by Insure-Your-Move

We had a shipping company out last week to have a look at the stuff we are taking. The guy who came out seemed pretty good but now it seems that they won't even give us a quote until we send in the forms for insurance. I think I'll be contacting IYM!

​Right now, I'm here trying to figure out replacement values in Australia for the stuff we plan on taking. I started with the Ikea things which was easy enough but this is tricky. I've no idea where to look for comparable items that would potentially replace ours if they got damaged beyond repair.

​Right now, I'm here trying to figure out replacement values in Australia for the stuff we plan on taking. I started with the Ikea things which was easy enough but this is tricky. I've no idea where to look for comparable items that would potentially replace ours if they got damaged beyond repair.

It is much less onerous with IYM and is the main reason - other than price - that I went with them. You just have to give replacement value for any item worth more than £750 as well as the grand total.

We used Pickfords but refused their expensive insurance. On arrival we found damage to the tune of £1500+ and made a claim through Insure-your-move. They were excellent in giving advice and supporting our disputed claim. I strongly recommend on both price and service.

£1500 - ouch! We was going to confirm our shipping with pickfords today........!?!?!?!

We used Letton Percival, sorted very quickly, John Mason were happy to have these as our insurers. Had to supply a list of items over a certain value that were pairs or sets..such as bedroom suite, 3 piece sofa etc.. Furniture arrived and except for a lampshade that was broken everything else was fine. The lamp was less than the excess so didnt claim. Got be honest John Mason were very good to us as they packed the house up and stored everything whilst we lived in short term accommodation in the UK. Once our visas arrived we nipped down to their dept and gave them various other items to ship..more shoes clothes etc.. The whole lot arrived together ( I was worried that it wouldn't) Oh and Letton had insured us for the storage. Good luck..its so lovely when all your things arrive.

I will get my act together and contact them today or tomorrow.

I can't help feeling a bit annoyed that the shippers won't tell us how much it will cost (excl. insurance) until we tell them the value of our stuff. They have already said that we will need a 20 foot container.