This article is part of a set of 3 articles. Please also read The Large Risks Insurance and The All Risks Insurance

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This insurance policy does not cover the contents of parcels or boxes. On the contrary, it considers the parcel or box itself ‘an object’, insuring them directly. It is a policy with a wider scope, but is much less ‘comprehensive’ than all-risk insurance. And that is why it costs less.

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Summarising the particularities of this policy:

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• It does not cover the contents of a packing box if the latter shows no signs of mishandling or damage. It goes without saying that a broken glass in an externally perfect package will not be covered by the insurance.

• The policy will cover theft, fire, damage to items contained in parcels with obvious external damage (discussed below) and total loss (either of the entire shipment or of individual items).

• The contents of a box or package will only be covered by insurance intermediaries if there is obvious damage to their exterior. Thus, a broken glass inside a box with a hole in it, or where a corner has been crushed (because it evidently fell): will be covered. This applies to damaged clothes inside wet packages, and similar cases.

• Boxes that are packed by the transferee and not by the mover are only covered by transport risk insurance. This is because insurers state that ‘the box was not packed by a professional, so we cannot be held responsible for the outcome of the transport’. These items are indicated in the packing list as PBO (packed by owner).

• Similarly, any items found pre-packed by the booker (e.g. items in another mover's warehouse, or a storage unit, garage or residence) are only covered by transport risk insurance. Again, the reasoning of the insurers is: ‘we cannot know who originally packed the goods, nor the quality of their packaging, so we cannot be held responsible for the outcome of the transport’. Again, these items are referred to in the packing list as PBO (packed by owner).

• Even in the case of transport risk insurance, it is important to create a list of insured items, as insurance booking agents will put a cap on the value of each parcel or box. Each booking agent is different, but the cap is usually around GBP 30-50, which is not much, which is why the list of insured items is so useful.

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This article is part of a set of 3 articles. We also invite you to read The Large Risks Insurance and The All Risks Insurance.