Why is insurance necessary when moving home or office?

When it comes to moving home or office, we are quick to worry about the possible damage and loss of our valuable possessions, and spend most of our time fretting about what will happen should our dear (and often, expensive) belongings run into rough weather or suffer damage or loss while moving from one address to another.

Fretting and worrying about that eventuality – which, at times, can be quite real – isn’t the answer. Neither is appointing a priest to do a havan, trying the old ‘lemon-and-green-chilli fix’, or consulting a tarot card reader. Insurance, is.

When you are moving home or office – especially between cities or metros – taking insurance isn’t optional, it’s usually considered a ‘must’. After all, we aren’t talking about nominal or insignificant financial numbers here. Often – and this is true especially of offices and workplaces with expensive equipment and machinery to move – the value of the goods being moved can range anywhere between a few lacs to a few crores, or even more.

It simply doesn’t make sense to ‘leave it all upto fate’. Of course, getting the right relocation team on the job can go a long way to ‘insulate’ you against untoward incidents and minimizing the risk of damage or loss. But there are certain ‘unforeseeable’ circumstances and ‘Acts of God’ (such as natural calamities) that even the best packer and mover professionals cannot pre-empt or hedge you against.

Which means that while prevention is certainly better than cure, even prevention doesn’t always work. Thankfully, there’s insurance.

As there are different types of liabilities (goods and items that are being moved), there are – correspondingly – different kinds of insurances one can choose from. Remember that not all of your items and belongings may be eligible for coverage under insurance protection. Also, you may not get full (ie, 100%) coverage for all your goods. Finally, the nature of coverage you choose plays a vital part in determining the manner in which you will be reimbursed should your possessions get lost or ‘dented’. There are legal clauses and disclaimers to consider in each case. But the bottomline is fairly simple: Whatever can be covered, should be insured to the extent feasible.

There are, broadly, two types of insurance you can consider: Transit and Comprehensive.

Transit insurance kicks into action when the entire consignment fails to reach its destination, and suffers loss due to occasions such as fire, lightning, floods and other contingencies. Comprehensive insurance, on its part, covers all kinds of damage that can happen during the shift or shifting journey.

Generally speaking, insurance tends to be affordable, and probably won’t burn a hole in your pocket. But it is in terms of its benefits that it really shines. When something goes wrong, it is only the ‘painkiller’ of an appropriate insurance solution that can be of any tangible help or worthwhile solace

The short-sighted can fall into the trap of treating insurance as a cost outlay. The wise always interprets it as an investment.

Here’s the Rule of Thumb, so to speak: Figure out how much your items are worth to you – both in monetary terms and in terms of your emotional attachment to them. Compare and analyse the different insurance options available for them in the market. If you have a responsible and resourceful relocation partner, approach them for a customized advice. And go for an insurance that makes maximum sense to your specific ‘move’.