subject: Do I Need Insurance On My Shipment? [print this page] Making sure that shipments are properly insured is one of the responsibilities of the intelligent business owner. You would never want to ship something with a Cincinnati courier service without first making sure that it was adequately insured. To do otherwise would be to invite a very large potential loss, should you be unlucky enough for your package to become damaged while in transit.
You always do need to make sure that your shipments are insured when they're being transported by a courier company. In most situations you will find that your courier company actually has more than adequate insurance already in place on your shipment. Part of the day to day operations of a courier company includes making sure that courier insurance is always in place on every shipment that they deliver.
Courier insurance is a special kind of coverage that is unique to this industry. It is insurance which doesn't cover the vehicles or the drivers (they have separate coverage for that) but instead insures the goods that the courier is moving. Therefore, your goods are almost always going to be insured by this kind of a policy whenever you entrust their delivery to a courier driver.
It still never hurts to ask about the exact insurance coverage that a courier has in place. Some couriers may maintain a higher value policy which will pay out higher maximums if you have damage occur to more valuable cargo, whereas others may have more comprehensive policies which can protect against more types of damage. In either case, it can be helpful to get a more complete picture, and your courier will be more than happy to discuss the coverage they possess with you.
There are some situations where you may decide to purchase additional insurance for your courier shipments. This is usually directly related to the maximum amount of coverage that the courier provides under their policy. When you are shipping with them, you will be asked to declare the value of your package. Their insurance policy though will dictate a maximum declared value. This means that this is the most that you can claim if your package was destroyed in transit. If this number is much lower than what your package is actually worth, you might decide to buy your own additional insurance. Some courier companies can get you a good rate with their insurance provider, but other times you may have to purchase this through your own agent.
by: Scott P Gallagher
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