Moving to a new office is complicated because of all the different logistics to coordinate. You want the process to run smoothly so you can get off to the best possible start in your new place of business.

Part of this means taking out suitable insurance cover for the removals process, so that if there are any issues, you can avoid paying lots of money to replace lost or damaged items. Below is a look at how to choose the right business insurance for your office removals.

Understanding insurance value types

Knowing the different types of insurance is a good place to start. These are:

• Complete value, which covers your property against damage, loss or breakage
• Assessed value, which the insurers base on a valuation of your goods and increases in line with the perceived value of the goods.

If you’re conducting an international move, you may also have the option of assessed weight, which insures the goods on an agreed weight per kilo. This is a less frequently purchased form of insurance.

Choosing your insurance

Moving on to choosing your insurance, you should follow these steps:

Review your business insurance policy

Before you take out removals insurance, check your existing business insurance policy (or policies). You may find they incorporate removals into the insurance cover.

It’s best to do this well before the move. Once you’ve made your arrangements, you should provide your insurer with details of the moving date(s), of the removal company you’ve hired and of the final destination.

Compare costs

Just like many other products, it’s best to shop around for insurance. The marketplace is competitive and the price can depend on when you buy your policy and how much competition there is at the time. Firms will try to drum up business by creating special offers at certain times of the year. Keep your eyes open for them.

Decide your excess level

If you had to pay part of the cost towards replacing items, how much would you be willing to pay? The ‘excess’ refers to how much of the claim you’ll pay. If your excess is £100 but your claim would be for less than that, the claim wouldn’t be worth it. Note that taking on a higher excess can lower your insurance costs.

Insurance and your removal company

Removal companies have several types of insurance policy, such as public liability, goods-in-transit (which covers your property throughout the removal) and employers liability insurance. Some will incorporate the insurance into the removals agreement, whereas others may offer it as an optional extra.

Here’s some advice on deciding about insurance when hiring your removal company:

Read the terms carefully

Check what the insurance will cover. Do they cover accidental damage? If you were unlucky enough to lose everything during the removal, their insurance would be likely to cover all of it or, failing that, most of it.

Go over everything with a fine tooth comb. What do they class as ‘accidental damage’? Some policies will cover scuffs or minor damage, whereas others won’t.

Consider valuable items

Some policies will cover tech items but not the loss of the data on them, so back up laptops and tablets. Confirm, too, whether the cover includes ‘acts of God,’ such as lightning and other unforeseeable circumstances. Some policies will, some won’t.

Check the removal company’s maximum claim

If your removal company is already insured, it’s important to ask them about their maximum allowance and whether their coverage includes any excess. Often, a good removal company will have a solid level of cover the year round, which allows them to pass the benefits of economies of scale on to you.

Moving to a new office is a big project and you don’t want the expense of replacing costly items that have become lost or damaged during the removal. Look into insuring your office removals so you can enjoy peace of mind and get operations in your new office off to a flying start, rather than beginning them with a hole in your business finances from replacing expensive equipment.