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Moving Company Insurance: Cost & Quotes From $11

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.


Also read:

Moving Business Insurance: Definition

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.


What are Full Value Protection and Release Value Protection?

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 Insurance for Moving Company: General Liability, Professional Liability, and More!

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. 


General Liability Insurance for Moving Company

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 a Moving Company

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


Employer’s Liability Insurance for Movers

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


Cyber Liability Insurance for Moving Company

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. 


Do I Need to Purchase Other Insurance Policies?

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. 


What is a COI for Moving Companies?

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. 


How Much Moving Company Insurance Coverage Do You Need?

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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Moving Company Insurance Cost

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


How Much are Moving Services in the US?

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.


How to Get Cheap Moving Insurance Quotes?

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!

Rank and Review Insurance Companies

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Best Moving Insurance Companies

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 Moving Company Insurance


Why Get Insured by CoverWallet?

  • 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

Why Take CoverWallet with a Grain of Salt?

  • 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





Thimble Moving Company Insurance


Why Get Insured by Thimble?

  • Insures moving companies and their employees

  • Has on-demand or short-term moving company insurance policies

Why Take Thimble with a Grain of Salt?

  • 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




Hiscox Moving Company Insurance


Why Get Insured by Hiscox?

  • High policy limits

  • Offers insurance policies for small and big moving companies

Why Take Hiscox with a Grain of Salt?

  • 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




Aegis Moving Business Insurance


Why Get Insured by Aegis?

  • MoveShield protection includes many moving business insurance policies that other carriers offer as stand-alone policies

Why Take Aegis with a Grain of Salt?

  • 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




On The Move Insurance Agency


Why Get Insured by On The Move Insurance?

  • Specializes in insuring movers also offering storage services

Why Take On The Move Insurance with a Grain of Salt?

  • 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


Final Thoughts

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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