Before a move: valuation and insurance

Most movers' base price includes general liability cover — but it's typically tied to a weight or flat-sum limit, not the object's real value. Compensation for a painting weighing a few kilos can end up a fraction of what the work is worth.

For valuable belongings, always ask two things: what is the ceiling on cover, and what is it measured against. If the answer comes back in kilograms, the art isn't really insured.

Policies pay out on one of two logics. Replacement value is the cost of buying the same item again — the right choice for things you can replace. For irreplaceable art or antiques, agreed value is the one that fits.

With agreed value, both sides set the sum in writing before the move, so there's no argument over the estimate if something happens. That's exactly what a recent, credible appraisal is for.

Paintings, sculpture, antique furniture, jewellery, collections, instruments — these are worth having valued by an expert before the move, with provenance documents attached where they exist.

An itemised appraisal isn't only the basis for insurance: it's worth exactly that at any later sale or in an estate. An orderly file pays for itself twice over.

Any claim stands or falls on evidence. Before the move, prepare an itemised inventory and detailed photos of every valuable piece — existing wear and cracks included.

Keep receipts and past appraisals together in one place. A careful mover does this condition record as a matter of course and hands it to you at the end of the move.

Read the exclusions. It's common for owner-packed boxes to be uncovered, for sets and pairs to be paid only as a whole, or for climate damage — mould, cracking — to sit under a separate condition.

Check the deductible, the claim deadline, and whether cover extends to both transit and storage. If anything is unclear, ask before the move — afterwards is too late.