[Jaywalker]

Really panicking now.

We're on a very tight schedule due to my wife's work start date and will be shipping goods with Pickfords on Wednesday 8th November.

Problem is, we have no insurance cover yet and after reading all the scare stories regarding damage during shipping, I'm desperate to make sure that we're covered.

We're not taking a huge amount of stuff, but there are a couple of electrical items that we use every day. We're taking a load of hi-fi separates, the PC and most importantly for me three guitars and a couple of guitar amps (I'm a musician). If anything's gonna get broken, it's gonna be the amps.

My question is this:

What do I do about insurance? It seems to be a complete minefield.

We've been messed around with shipping companies taking so long to come back with quotes that we're now on such a short timescale it seems the easiest thing to do would be to take out the "total value cover" insurance that Vero Marine are offering through the NZ branch of Pickfords are offering.

Basically we pay 3% of the total value and are covered for up to $4,000 per cubic metre. We've got 4 cubic metres of stuff, so are covered for up to $16,000. This will cost us $480. There's also an option to cover for electrical derangement which we'll almost certainly take out for all the electrical goods.

Has anyone else taken out total value cover? Are we fully covered, or is there some nasty surprise instore?

Any help would be invaluable.

Thanks

Matt & Jacqui

[jonSE]

Get the small print and read carefully the cover for electrical derangement -IIRC it excludes a heap of stuff.

Find a broker who will deal direct with Vero Marine for a comparison quote - if you have a number for Vero Marine in the UK call them and ask for a quote for shipping insurance - they will probably refuse but will give you a brokers number. Failing that speak to this chap in NZ he is a broker for Vero and did us a good deal.

David Brown QPIB
Relationship Manager
Crombie Lockwood (NZ) Limited
DDI (09) 623 9912
Mob (027) 249 6859
Fax (09) 623 9901
David dot Brown at Vero dot co dot nz
remove the spaces and replace "dots" with "." etc.

We paid approx 1% of insured value for £60k of cover through him but we did take a voluntary £3.5k excess. (Our shippers wanted 7%) Thinking being that in a FCL (full container load) the risk is that you have total loss or substantial damage to the container like it gets dropped or it gets a big hole in it and everything gets wet, but minor damage is unlikely and expensive to insure for because people make fraudulent claims. (More containers fall of ships and are total loss than have major damage)

As you don't have a FCL you may well be restricted to the Pickfords cover, as lots of brokers won't touch part loads.

Hope this helps

[Trigirl]

have you tried letton percival? www.lettonpercival.co.uk

try searching for them on here and you'll get lots of info

[Jameelka]

We had Letton P for insurance, even though Pickfords moved us, but Pickfords insurance was outragious!
Touch wood, not had to make any claims, but there are alot of boxes unopened!

[scotia]

As we had self packed our removal company was going to charge us £3.50 for every £100 worth of goods and that was total loss only ie. the ship going down! Our goods have already been picked up ready for shipping and we are seriously considering not bothering taking out insurance as we only have 20 boxes of sentimental effects and a few peices of furniture. I've contacted LP today but wondered whether anyone who had self packed their stuff shipped without taking out insurance.Its a gamble but it seems that even with full insurance, its a real hazzle trying to get a claim settled.
Scotia

[Jaywalker]

Thanks for the comments guys.

I spoke to the chap at LP and he said that basically M&E derangement is a complete waste of cash, as is mould and mildew cover.

Has anyone actually used it? Has it been any good?

All replies very gratefully received.

[tick tock]

Not sure this will help. Hubby CEO of an insurance company...specilizes in Marine insurance....we always take out seperate insurance..NEVER the packers as it is over priced and under covered....this is how alot of moving companies make money...( anyway they always self insure for the 1st $10000 or so.....that should tell you somthing.

Mold and mildew can be a real problem, its 50-50 if you will be affected by it. Most stuff going down to NZ will transist through the tropics and its hot and humid here. You MUST MUST have absorbers put in the container, nothing should be damp....too late for you but most people make the mastake of having things like sofas , carpets etc cleaned before they pack up.... Not a good idea. Also remember if you part ship, other peoles stuff are in your container and it may be repacked in somwhere like Singapore and who knows how long it will sit around


A broker should find you good deal but remember to check it covers what you want and the price of any replacment is the right price for your destination..ie if a TV in the uk would cost 100 to replace and 500 in NZ make sure thats the replacment price..most people forget to factore in the price difference at destination


I can not stress enough that it pays to use a reliable insurance company which has a good claims dept.....Associated Marine, Vero...are really good in my experiance. In the end you get what you pay for

[scotia]

Good advise tick tock. Will look at these companies, thanks
Scotia

[kiwidebs]

Mold and mildew can be a real problem, its 50-50 if you will be affected by it. Most stuff going down to NZ will transist through the tropics and its hot and humid here. You MUST MUST have absorbers put in the container, nothing should be damp....too late for you but most people make the mastake of having things like sofas , carpets etc cleaned before they pack up.... Not a good idea. Also remember if you part ship, other peoles stuff are in your container and it may be repacked in somwhere like Singapore and who knows how long it will sit around



Just out of interest, has anyone on here had major (or even minor) mold/mildew problems. We had none at all on 20ft full container of goods and I only ever remember reading one account of major mold/mildew damage (and boy was it a biggie - on another forum). As so many of us already here have shipped stuff thru the tropics I'd just be interested to see if it really is a major problem.

Debs

[tick tock]

Been moving around the world for 20 yrs and ...touch wood .....never had problems BUT I have had friends who have.

A lot depends on the area you pack from..ie is it humid at departure point...and the stuff you put in...some goods just attract mold AND if you have enough absorbers.....most moving companies will include them in the cost if they feel they will have problems.

It has been my experiance that the people who have had problems have either had part shipments or have packed them selves and not put the absorbers in.

Part shipment have the possiblity of all sorts of problems as you can be at the mercy of the moving company and it can be trans shipped at any port. As this tends to be in Singapore or Hong Kong it depends on what the weather is like at the time.

Remember when you ship anything around the world you can get any amount of problems and this is why you need insurance BUt you have to work out if its worth insureing the stuff in the first place.

Just had a friend who opened her 40 foot to find it had, at some stage, been submerged in water!!!!!!! lots of water damage that turned into mold too!


Life sucks!