47 million Americans move each year, and an individual can move 11.7 times in their lifetime. This is perhaps the reason experts say that moving businesses such as low movers, interstate movers, and cross country movers continue to earn a lot in the USA. It’s estimated that the collective revenue of all 18,590 moving businesses is $18 billion. And this means that each makes at least $900,000.
Getting commercial moving insurance or simply moving company insurance is an essential step in how to start a moving business. This guide will make you understand how insurance for moving companies helps, who are the best moving company insurance carriers, how much moving business insurance coverage you need, and more.
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Business insurance for moving companies provides coverage to unique moving company business risks. This is a policy that your moving business must get aside from released value protection and full value protection, which the FMCSA requires interstate movers to have (more about this later on).
Another term for moving business insurance is van lines insurance. This is because moving companies is also called van line companies.
So how does moving insurance work? In essence, insurance for moving businesses provides protection from client personal injury or property damage lawsuits as caused by accidents in the workplace, service provided, or errors and omissions. This will also take care of lawsuits from hired laborers who aren’t part of your company’s payroll. To be clearer, what takes care of such lawsuits are liability policies included in insurance for moving company.
Movers insurance can be paired with other business insurance policies. Moving insurance works hand-in-hand with such policies to cover client possessions lost or damaged while in storage or transit, missed employee compensation, and many more. We’ll discuss these other policies in the later parts of this guide. For now, let’s talk about the different kinds of moving company liability insurance.
The FMCSA mandates interstate movers to offer full value protection and release value protection. Note that just like 3rd party moving insurance, full value protection and release value protection plans are not for your moving business but for your customer. You must offer release value protection for free. On the other hand, full value protection will cost your customer 1% to 2% of their property’s total value.
The United States doesn’t have any stipulation laying out the specific moving company insurance requirements. It’s up to you if you want to get insured or not. Nonetheless, the District of Columbia Department of Insurance recommends that moving businesses should have cargo insurance, commercial auto insurance, general liability insurance, and umbrella liability insurance.
Liability policies are always included in mover insurance. These are moving company general liability insurance, professional liability insurance, employer’s liability insurance, carrier legal liability insurance, and cyber liability insurance.
Do I need moving insurance with general liability coverage? Very much. > General liability insurance is the ever-present liability policy you’ll find in business insurance for moving companies. It’s safe to say that professional liability insurance and other liability coverages we will discuss can be excluded by your carrier but never general liability insurance. This is because protection begins with it.
Personal injury lawsuits or property damage your services dealt to the client is what general liability insurance takes care of. Examples of the most common scenarios where this insurance applies are:
While getting the items to be moved, you dropped one of the client’s property and damaged it
You injured the client unintentionally while loading or unloading their things
Note that, in terms of property damage, moving company general liability insurance only applies if the goods were damaged while being loaded or unloaded. If the goods were impaired while in transit or in the storehouse, you need to get another policy to be covered.
You must see to it that your business insurance for moving company comes with a general liability having products and completed operations coverage so that you can also get covered for any personal injury lawsuits or property damage lawsuits after you completed the moving service.
Professional liability insurance for moving company provides coverage when you face a lawsuit and are asked to compensate because you committed negligence, violation of good faith, misrepresentation, or inaccurate advice. This type of movers liability insurance doesn’t take care of personal injuries or property damage. > Professional liability will only pay the client for their economic or financial loss. Common scenarios where professional liability provides coverage for a business mover are:
Failure to meet deadlines
Swapping a client’s belonging with another person’s belonging
Failure to follow the terms and conditions of the contract
US laws mandate that employers have a responsibility when an employee becomes hurt or injured because of a work-related accident. Reimbursing the employee for his hospital bills or lost income is what employers must typically do to satisfy such responsibility.
If your moving business fails to help an employee who experienced a work-related injury, then expect a lawsuit to be filed. When this happens, professional and general liability insurance can’t provide coverage. So what moving company liability insurance do you need? Employer’s liability insurance.
Employer’s liability insurance is a type of moving liability insurance that’s automatically included in mover’s workers comp insurance. What this moving company liability insurance does is help you pay for defense costs and compensation. In moving businesses, the most common scenarios where employer’s liability insurance applies are:
When an employee suffers from a severe sprain
When an employee slipped or fell
When an employee gets injured by a dangerous object being moved
When an employee gets injured by the client’s pet
Consider getting cyber liability insurance if you’re running a website and are using such website to book projects and collect payments. Data breach is very common in the business world. And when it happens, not only will you pay for the damage your company experienced but also for the damage to your clients. A good example is Equifax which had to pay millions to compensate for the losses of its customers. With that said, data breach can be very expensive and you need to get cyber liability insurance for moving furniture and other client belongings.
If your move insurance has a cyber liability policy, then you don’t need to worry a lot. It’s because this moving liability insurance will pay for the cost of recovering stolen data and compensation to affected parties. Cyber liability insurance will even pay for lost business income, which is useful if you had to halt operations to contain the breach.
Last but not least is carrier legal liability insurance. As we said earlier, your general liability insurance won’t provide coverage if the client’s belongings got damaged while in transit or in the storehouse. And so, you have to find another policy. This other policy we’re referring to is carrier legal liability insurance for moving and storage companies. In brief, this policy provides coverage to client belongings under your possession and will give you money in case such belongings got damaged.
What kind of insurance do I need for a moving company aside from the liability policies mentioned above? - wonderful question.
It’s great if you decide to get cargo insurance for moving companies. Moving company cargo insurance takes effect if your client’s belongings get damaged while in transit. Yes, in a way, cargo insurance for movers works the same way as carrier legal liability policy. However, it might be better as it has more generous limits.
You also need to get insurance for moving truck. This can be either a commercial auto insurance or a motor carrier policy .
Don’t forget to get workers compensation insurance too. Forgetting to get this policy is an infringement of the law. You also need this so that you don’t pay for employee hospitalization and compensate for lost income.
Sometimes, the client might require you to do business under the premise of a bailee-bailor relationship. And so, cargo insurance or carrier legal liability policy might not provide coverage in case you damaged the client’s property. To ensure you have protection, get bailee’s customer floater, which also provides money if ever the client’s property got damaged in your custody because of fire, theft, lightning, flood, vehicular accident, and more.
A certificate of insurance for movers or moving company COI is a document showing what insurance policies you currently have. It also shows the amount of money you can get from your insurance policy.
Clients will only work with an insured moving company, and this is why having a COI is important. Don’t worry because right now, a moving company certificate of insurance is offered as soon as you decide to get insured.
Do you pay to furnish a copy? A moving company insurance certificate is free, and many states prohibit carriers from charging a fee if a policyholder wants to get their copy of COI insurance for moving business. On another note, COI for moving company can be published in digital form and in paper form.
The amount of moving insurance coverage you need heavily depends on the scale of your business operations. Practically, you should get at least $1 million general liability insurance for movers. The same also goes for professional liability insurance.
As for other moving company insurance programs, you should decide to get $1 million up to $2 million employer’s liability insurance. As for cyber liability, it will be fine if you only have $500,000 coverage. Most carriers offer $1 million cyber liability by the way. And so, look for moving insurance companies that offer custom cyber insurance limits. As for carrier legal liability insurance, a $2 million coverage will do just fine.
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So how much is moving insurance? Many factors affect moving insurance rates. To give you an idea, we’ll give pricing based on the type of policy, its limits, and the type of moving business to be insured.
Moving businesses pay $104.16 a month or $1,250 a year for a $1 million general liability insurance
Moving businesses pay $80 a month or $960 a year for a $1 million professional liability insurance
Movers insurance cost for a $1 million employer’s liability insurance is $125 a month or $1,500 a year
The cost of $1 million cyber liability insurance for moving companies is $70.83 a month or $850 a year
Moving companies pay $103 a month or $1,236 a year for a $1 million carrier legal liability policy
There are different types of moving companies. And so, we see it fit to show moving insurance cost based on this criteria. Please refer to the table below:
| | Monthly Rate | Annual Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Local Moving Companies | $89 | $1,068 |
| Long Distance Moving Companies | $145 | $1,740 |
| Interstate Moving Companies | $130 | $1,560 |
| Cross Country Moving Companies | $90 | $1,080 |
| Moving and Storage Companies | $140 | $1,680 |
| Household Movers | $82 | $984 |
This table shows the rates of the best moving insurance companies for further reference:
| | Monthly Rate | Annual Rate |
|---|---|---|
| CoverWallet | $36.29 | $435.48 |
| Thimble | $40 | $480 |
| Hiscox | $42 | $504 |
| Aegis | $55 | $660 |
| On The Move Insurance Agency | $60 | $720 |
The average cost of movers in the United States is $600 - $13,000 for a full service and $56 - $3,200 for transport vehicle rental.
On this page is a free and intelligent tool that will help you purchase moving insurance at the lowest price. All you have to do is find the “Get Quotes” button and provide the details of your business. Upon finishing, you’ll receive the moving insurance quote of the best moving insurance carriers in the United States, all showing the policies available and how much you’ll pay!
It’s easier to buy moving insurance if you’re familiar with the top companies. By knowing the offer of the best moving insurance company, you can quickly evaluate whether or not the pricing of another carrier is fair. And so, here’s a review that will help you make the smartest buying decision.
CoverWallet can get you insured within minutes
Gives you the cheapest moving business insurance quotes
Offers moving insurance nyc and other locations in the US
Not an insurance company but an online insurance broker
You should know that CoverWallet isn’t an insurance company, and it offers the moving company insurance of its partners. But still, it ranks first in our review due to very positive feedback from customers and industry watchdogs like Better Business Bureau.
Use CoverWallet’s intelligent online quotation tool to find moving business insurance quotes. Compare them and if you’ve made a decision, there’s no need to contact an agent because CoverWallet allows you to buy the policies of its partners immediately.
Best for: Online quote comparison and fast moving business insurance purchase
Average cost: $36.29 per month
Our rating: 10/10
COI for moving business: Available
Insures moving companies and their employees
Has on-demand or short-term moving company insurance policies
Thimble’s moving company insurance only includes general liability coverage
Thimble’s moving company insurance only offers general liability. Nonetheless, this is fine as you can get insured fast. Thimble’s general liability for moving companies offers protection against 3rd party non-employee bodily injury, 3rd party property damage, and excessive defense costs. If you’re looking for other policies, know that Thimble got you covered because it offers commercial auto insurance, workers comp insurance, and more. Just like CoverWallet, Thimble offers movers insurance nyc and other locations in the United States.
Thimble comes second in our list because its coverage doesn’t cater to companies only. You’re also taken care of even if you’re just an employee in a moving business and want to get insured because you feel your employer’s insurance coverage is inadequate.
Best for: Moving business insurance for contractors and startup moving businesses
Average cost: $40 per month
Our rating: 9/10
COI for moving business: Available
High policy limits
Offers insurance policies for small and big moving companies
Some insurance policies for movers are not offered by Hiscox in the United States
Hiscox covers a wide variety of businesses so you can also get covered even if it doesn’t expressly state that it has moving company insurance. Hiscox has cargo insurance, commercial auto insurance, and liability policies. Let Hiscox insure you and enjoy generous policy limits starting from $1 million up to more than $10 million.
Best for: Moving business insurance with high policy limits
Average cost: $42 per month
Our rating: 9/10
COI for moving business: Available
MoveShield protection includes many moving business insurance policies that other carriers offer as stand-alone policies
Doesn’t offer online policy management unlike CoverWallet and Thimble
Aegis has a specialized insurance policy for moving businesses called MoveShield offering general liability, cyber liability, employer’s liability, commercial auto, cargo, surety bonds, and other insurance policies you will find very useful.
Best for: Moving business insurance with a lot of available policies
Average cost: $55 per month
Our rating: 8/10
COI for moving business: Talk with an Aegis agent or customer service representative
Specializes in insuring movers also offering storage services
Some report that On The Move Insurance failed to follow up and inform customers about the status of their claim
This company, On The Move Insurance, is great if your moving business also offers storage service. Through its Self-Storage Facility Property and Casualty insurance program, you can purchase legal liability, limited pollution liability, business income protection, employee dishonesty protection, commercial auto liability for owned and non-owned vehicles, and equipment breakdown policies.
Best for: Moving and storage service insurance
Average cost: $60 per month
Our rating: 7/10
COI for moving business: Talk with an On The Move Insurance agent or customer service representative
Get moving business insurance because you can easily find yourself on the wrong side of your customers. Lawsuits against your business can result in payments amounting to $300,000 up to more than $1 million. All your clients will require you to reimburse their damaged property. And without insurance, paying for the costs will deal a huge blow.
Before we end, let’s answer two final questions, “What type of business is a moving company anyway?”; A moving company belongs to the moving services sector, which is one of the sectors heavily regulated by US government agencies. “How to sue a moving company for damages if you’re an aggrieved customer?” , you can get help from the FMCSA to resolve disputes. But if you’re set on filing a lawsuit, then the only way to do so is to approach a law firm.
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Use anyone except Employers. Period. They are non-transparent and shameful. After I complained long enough to warrant a call from a supervisor, the supervisor called back from a PRIVATE NUMBER (no caller ID), left a message that they are not reversing their decision (without any communication with me), and failed to leave a phone number for me to call back. She was hiding! They also fact find via email and phone calls, which is terrific for speed and communication. However, after setting a precedence of email or phone calls, they send time sensitive information via email, without any heads up... they are hoping you miss it and forfeit via expiration. Evil policies. Go elsewhere.
This place is an absolute joke of a company and should be ashamed of the way they conduct business. I was hurt on the job at the end of July and it took them just shy of 7 weeks to issue out a paycheck to me. Yes the amount was back dated but still. Not many have the luxury of not receiving a paycheck for almost 2 months. To top it all off, the original adjuster marked me down for the wrong state which caused a problem from the get go, I've had 3 different adjusters now since each one can't seem to figure out the simplicity of my claim. All my paperwork which includes, my job, house, and drs visits all are from the same state and city but yet some how I have been filed under a completely different state 1500 miles away. They do not answer your phone calls or emails no matter how many you leave. I've had to escalate my frustrations to the supervisors of each of these individuals in order to even get some kind of response. I've had more communication and information given to me about my claim from the customer service representatives then the actual adjusters.......... please tell me how that works?! A serious overhaul needs to happen here in order to serve your clients the way they deserve to be taken care of. 10/10 do not recommend this company to a single soul on earth
I have never had the displeasure of working with a more incompetent and disrespectful person in my life. I’m an injured worker and the adjuster that was assigned to my case was named Carrie Furgeson. In the past 6 weeks that I’ve been injured and out of work I have only been able to get ahold of her twice, not for lack of trying. I have left countless voicemails, countless emails, and she ignores them all. When I am finally able to get ahold of her I’m greeted with terrible customer service. She is rude, she talks over me and I’m hardly able to get a word in edgewise. She spelled my name wrong on my documents even after I spelled it for her properly countless times, this caused a whole new issue with my bank. I have bill collectors from the hospital calling me demanding payment and Carrie Furgeson won’t do a single thing to help, or to get them paid. All of my documentation is in Colorado, my job is in Colorado, my address is in Colorado, all my Dr offices and appointments have been in Colorado and Carrie still managed to hold my claim because she wasn’t sure what state she needed to file it under. It’s been 6 weeks since my Injury and my company still hasn’t received the wage paperwork to fill out so they can get me my correct wages. When she’s not ignoring me she’s answering my questions with “I don’t know” well I don’t know how she got this job, because apparently she doesn’t know anything about it. She is a disgusting morose individual inside and out and I genuinely wish her the worst in all of her future endeavors. I highly recommend you don’t use this company. Please if you are a business owner and your looking into this company please don’t use them. I’m sure they have the cheapest payment and that’s why companies use them in the first place, but you will be doing your employees a grave disservice by forcing them to venture into this absolute dumpster fire of a company. I would rate 0/5 if possible but 1 was the lowest I was allowed.
Their general liability insurance purchase process is simply the best online experience I've ever had in my life!
As long as they cover your line of business, you're literally covered! best rates, best coverage, best online experience, best professionals, can't be happier that I chose them!
Not all those who wander are lost.
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