Insurance questions to ask before a business move

Public liability and cover for your goods are different things

Public liability insurance covers a business for injury to other people or damage to their property caused by its work: a lift wall scraped, a building’s door damaged. It is not cover for your own furniture, equipment and stock while they are on the truck. That is a separate question, usually called transit insurance.

Moveall, for example, holds $20 million public liability cover, and asks customers to talk to it about transit insurance for their belongings. Whichever removalist you use, ask for both answers separately.

The questions to ask

1. What public liability cover do you hold? Your building manager may ask for the removalist’s details before a dock or lift is booked.
2. What cover is there for our goods in transit, and who arranges it? Ask whether it is included, offered as an extra, or left to you.
3. What does that cover exclude? Ask whether items packed by your own staff, high-value items or electronics are treated differently, and ask for the exclusions in writing.
4. What does our own business insurance cover during a move? Ask your insurer or broker whether your contents policy covers goods in transit or at the new premises before the move is complete.
5. What will the building need? Ask both building managers what insurance details they require from the removalist, and in what form.
6. What happens if something is damaged? Ask how a claim is made and who you deal with.

Before you sign the quote

Most of these questions are best asked before the quote is accepted, not the week of the move. Ask for the answers in the same email or document as the quote, so the cover, the inventory and the price sit together. If your building manager needs the removalist’s insurance details to book the dock or the lifts, send their request early, because some buildings will not confirm a booking until the paperwork arrives.

If you move often, between sites or for clients, settle the insurance questions once for the whole arrangement rather than job by job. A removalist’s trade account terms are a good place to record what applies to regular work.

Words to be careful with

Be wary of a quote that promises complete cover without saying what is covered, by whom and with what exclusions. Ask what the words mean for your furniture, your equipment and the building.

Equipment, records and stock

Three kinds of business property deserve their own question. Computers and servers carry data as well as value, so ask how equipment is packed and who moves the most sensitive items; often your IT provider carries the server or comms gear separately. Confidential records may need to stay with a named person from door to door. Stock has a resale value your insurer will want to know about. List each of them in the inventory, so the quote and the cover both reflect them.

What the law already gives you

Under Australian Consumer Law, services must be provided with due care and skill. The ACCC says the consumer guarantees cover services bought for business use when the service costs less than $100,000 including GST, and that these guarantees cannot be taken away by anything a business says or does. They sit alongside insurance; they do not replace it.

Reduce the risk before the move

• Back up data before computers are disconnected.
• Keep confidential records and high-value items with a named person, or arrange their transport separately.
• Photograph high-value furniture and equipment before the move.
• Make the inventory complete, so there is a clear record of what moved.
• Check the new premises are ready: floors finished, power on, the building’s protection in place.

Planning the rest of the move

Insurance is one part of moving premises. For the timing, staff and customer side, see business relocation in Adelaide; for multi-floor moves and what building managers ask, see corporate relocation in Adelaide.