Do you itemize your expensive items when you are moving using a moving company?

[5KidzRUs]

Do you itemize your expensive items when you are moving using a moving company?

I am so nervous about if the movers lose or damage items. I want to itemize everything. Like, do I have them put HOW MANY china plates? How many tupperware items and which kind?

I wish I could hand carry all the delicate/precious items :glare:

[4kiddies]

I wouldn't stress too much about it. I have used movers three times in recent years and have only lost 1 plate and that was because the mover fell down the steps and took an entire box with him. If the stuff is packed properly then even with minor incidents your stuff should be okay.

[elfgivas]

yes and no.

 

for international moves you need to itemize everything, as customs requires it.

 

for in country moves, i take a camera and take pictures of each shelf with all the stuff on it. for the really expensive things, i take individual photos that are clearly in my home. (eg. in front of a painting or distinctive book case or...).

then if anything is missing or broken, i have a record of what it was like before.

 

some house insurance policies require you to list certain types of expensive items for your insurance, so you may already have a record of that.

 

that is a fast and easy way to do it; your dc could even do it. moving is stressful enough without making it harder for yourself.

 

i guess the question only you can answer is: is it more stressful itemizing it all or is it more stressful worrying that it isn't all itemized?

 

for us, itemizing is waaaay more stressful because it is so time consuming at a point when i have no extra time, so unless i was moving internationally i would not itemize each plate.... (the camera is a quick and dirty solution to help those in our family who worry about things being "lost", but who wouldn't be the ones doing the itemizing ; ).

 

hth,

ann

[Shelly in IL]

When we moved with the military - I had an up to date appraisal to back up any claims.

[5KidzRUs]

We are moving internationally.

I have a lot of original oil paintings that are 100 to 200+ years old.

How would I get appraisals on those? Wouldn't that be VERY expensive?

Does anyone know how I should request these to be packed?

[AuntieM]

Yes. But only the *really* high value items, and things that cannot be replaced. If you are worried about your china, make a list/inventory of your own, or take a snapshot.

 

FWIW, we have been professionally packed and loaded 9 times with lots of china and crystal, and I have lost only one thing. Actually it wasn't even totally broken. A Waterford goblet was slightly chipped on the rim. The company paid us for it and I still use it as a vase.

 

It's actually that inexpensive wooden furniture you have to watch out for. If it's particle board (like many bookshelves and desks), that's likely where you need to look for damage on the receiving end.

[AuntieM]

We are moving internationally.

I have a lot of original oil paintings that are 100 to 200+ years old.

How would I get appraisals on those? Wouldn't that be VERY expensive?

Does anyone know how I should request these to be packed?

 

You need to ask for these to be crated. They (a good moving company) should send out someone to build crates specifically for each painting. I also think an appraisal beforehand is a very good idea.

[Cera]

We walk through with a video camera and pause to catch any important identifying marks. For electronics we make sure they are on to prove they worked.

 

I worry less about international moves because items are crated and sealed at your location. The main problem we have had is boxes going missing (electronics/dvds) when doing a stateside move.

[BikeBookBread]

Yes ma'am! We do an inventory of everything (some things, we have to...) including model numbers and serial numbers of all of our electronics every time we move... I'm working on this as we speak, in fact :glare:

 

We do a photo and video inventory of our home.

 

We schedule everything that is eligible to be scheduled on our insurance...it's cheap to do.

 

Definitely ask for crating.

[BikeBookBread]

It's actually that inexpensive wooden furniture you have to watch out for. If it's particle board (like many bookshelves and desks), that's likely where you need to look for damage on the receiving end.

 

ITA with this. We have had several inexpensive pieces with MDF support pieces broken to pieces. Sure they're "cheap" but they cost more to replace than we are reimbursed by the military. If they're lost it would be better. Repairing/replacing broken stuff always costs more.

[5KidzRUs]

All my furniture is antique furniture, except mattresses :D Funny enough, I am not worried about them because they are all solid and well used/loved/marked already.

No TVs going either - Woohoo!

[AuntieM]

All my furniture is antique furniture, except mattresses :D Funny enough, I am not worried about them because they are all solid and well used/loved/marked already.

No TVs going either - Woohoo!

 

Hey Patty, I know it's a stressful time but everything will be fine. I just noticed the ages of your crew - I also have 13yo twins! (I'm assuming yours are twins, at least we both have two that are 13...)

[5KidzRUs]

OK - it is just STUFF right?

We have teen twin boys - or more affectionately known as beAsTs ;)

[Debora R]

Lol! Last time we used a professional moving company (11 years ago now), I itemized and photographed specifically our most expensive items, but then did a photo record of just about everything as they were packing - to the point that I lined the good china up on the cabinet and photographed it with the packing box in the photo...

 

Overkill perhaps, but we had almost no breakage.

[TXMomof4]

For things that are irreplaceable/extremely expensive we had a high value inventory. I put our antique linen tableclothes, discontinued china, etc. on that list. We had 42 place settings of antique china and all of it came through just fine. They also crated our big mirrors which would be expensive to replace. They also were fine. I was very nervous but everything was really easy.

[lovemyboys]

We walk through with a video camera and pause to catch any important identifying marks. For electronics we make sure they are on to prove they worked.

 

I worry less about international moves because items are crated and sealed at your location. The main problem we have had is boxes going missing (electronics/dvds) when doing a stateside move.

 

We do the same...video through the rooms to show electronics, nice furniture, art on walls, good rugs, etc. We also take still photos of the more valuable, irreplaceable, special things, jewelry.

 

I make sure to take a close shot of any damage too, like a ding on the table top, scratched dresser drawer, etc., to show that it was there before move and we were aware of it.

 

There's usually a form for the more expensive stuff and you write down serial #s. For one move I remember that they noted on the inventory list and outside of a box if there was something expensive inside.

 

For the really small stuff, like valuable jewelry, special coins, very special mementos, it's better to hand carry especially the jewelry. (Within reason, of course!)

 

With an international move, there's storage. If it's crated right in your driveway, you should have little damage or loss. If it's truck-loaded and then crated at a warehouse, the handling is rougher and often done at day's end when guys are tired. It's worth asking to get the crating in your driveway in case that's not already set up.

 

With all the chaos of a move and upheaval in your lives, it's just nicer not to have the headache of damage and claims while you're trying to get settled. Doing some documenting beforehand is worth the effort...especially if it's never needed!

 

 

Have a wonderful move! :001_smile:

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Do you itemize your expensive items when you are moving using a moving company?

I am so nervous about if the movers lose or damage items. I want to itemize everything. Like, do I have them put HOW MANY china plates? How many tupperware items and which kind?

I wish I could hand carry all the delicate/precious items :glare:

 

I used to be ok with them just listing dishes. Then I got to thinking about how expensive and difficult it would be to replace my china or Polish pottery.

 

The last move I took digital pictures of the china, crystal, pottery and expensive (or expensive to replace) knick knacks. And I did have them list things in more specific ways (ex. Noritake "High Sails" china, 7 dinner plates, 7 salad plates, 7 soup bowls, 7 bread plates, oval casserole, coffee pot, sugar bowl, creamer). I made sure that the photos showed how many items I had, what size (I had a ruler in the picture) and identifying marks (the back of china plates shows the maker and ofter a pattern number).

 

I only did this with the items that I was declaring to be High Value Items. They had to be noted a little differently on the inventory (I think there was a second high value inventory).

 

To make listing them easier, I typed up what I wanted for the listing and handed it to the packers. The high value items were also segregated in one place in the kitchen and packed together (in better boxes and so that they weren't spread across the whole kitchen load).

 

If you haven't had your walk through with the movers yet, make sure that you point out how much you will have in high value items so that they plan accordingly. If you don't have things separate or if you come back after things are packed and want them listed differently, you are going to irritate the packers.

 

Try to remember that the packers are often paid by the job, not by the hour. So they appreciate things that will make their job go more smoothly and faster (like the preprinted list).

 

Then when all this is done, try to let it go and remind youself that they are just things, people are only people and that bad things do sometimes happen.

[gaillardia]

Moved with professional movers once, I was a freaker over it, but they broke nothing, and treated us with respect. I had 50+year old family china, antique furniture and lots of glass. I actually packed most of the breakables because the first guy that came to look at our stuff and pack the china cabinet didn't do anything special.

 

One person wrote down and gave a number to everything that was going in the truck, every large item and every box got a # sticker.

We probably didn't tip them enough, but we bought burgers and drinks for the packing crew, and tried to give subs to the unpacking crew, which they flatly and kindly refused.

Relax, if they are packing everything...your job is easy.:)

[ElizabethB]

We just inventory the high value things. Annoyingly, they make us inventory a 20 year old stereo that my husband just keeps for sentimental value, he always tells them it's worth like $1 and it shouldn't be on the list, they make us put it on every time since it is an electronic item with serial numbers. They also look shocked when I insist on putting my trumpet's numbers on the list.

 

We bought bookcases that are a bit flimsy for $10 a bookcase when we were in Germany. (Good exchange rate, but not high quality furniture, although it's real wood, just slats.) We expected them to break about 5 moves ago. But, they've kept going! The reason they survive is that they disassemble and are stored together as stacks of wood slats.

 

They ding a few things every move, but never seem to lose anything or do major damage. (We have moved a lot, 6 times in the last 8 years and several more before that, just not quite as fast of a pace.)

Edited May 26, 2010 by ElizabethB

[lynn]

the company won't do that but you certainly can inventory things. Take video of all your household items, be sure to turn on all electronics in the video to show they are currently working. Don't let the driver mark perfect, unscratched furniture as scratched, dented or whatever. Take picutres to show how things looked before the move Unpack immediately for you have limited amount of time to make a claim and file the claim asap. We have never had any problems with ins claimswith allied movers.