Almost every carrier can cover the damage or loss of the shipment’s declared value, but only if it’s up to $100. Most items that people order fall under this category, but there are many items that exceed this value multiple times. For such items, it won’t be enough to just declare their value and hope for the best.
In these cases, you should buy third-party insurance that can cover the full value of your shipments. For some fragile valuable items, you should consider hiring a reliable logistics company that specializes in safely delivering valuable packages in a timely manner, such as Unival Logistics.
Not every package you ship needs private insurance, because a lot of them can be covered by their declared value. We have listed some of the most common categories of shipments that we strongly advise to be covered by third-party insurance.
Antiques
An antique is an object that is considered to be very valuable due to its artistic and historic significance. One of the main criteria for an artifact to be considered an antique is for it to be over 100 years old.
Due to their value and fragility, they rarely get shipped today. For the same reasons, many carriers refuse to ship antiques. Some that do won’t be able to cover such items’ full value in case of damage, loss, or theft.
Some companies can offer third-party insurance for such items, but it’s also advisable to hire a shipping company that specializes in shipping fragile and valuable packages, in order to preserve the health of these valuable historical items.
Valuable Collectibles
People often confuse collectibles with antiques, but collectibles actually don’t meet the 100-year criterion. In other aspects, they are similar to antiques, and their value is mostly determined by their rarity/popularity ratio, but also by their bullion value (in cases of coins, for example). Bullion value stands for the intrinsic value of an item based on its material.
Collectibles are usually not as expensive as antiques, but they often exceed major carriers’ declared value coverage. Some collectibles, such as coins, don’t get damaged easily, but there is a risk of loss and theft.
For that reason, you should buy third-party insurance when shipping collectibles, and consider shipping via a carrier that specializes in shipping packages of higher value.
Art
Art is another category of items that shouldn’t be shipped with major carriers that can’t cover such items’ declared value and can’t handle them with special attention. You can imagine how delicate business it is to ship a painting, and how easily it can get damaged.
The same goes for statues, installations, and other pieces of art. You should hire a specialized company that can handle such fragile shipments and covers their full value in case of damage, theft, or loss.
Jewelry
If you’re running an e-store that sells jewelry, then you should be aware of the importance of your shipping plan. Every shipment in this business is a risk, and an unfortunate event that’s out of your control can cost you your business.
With every shipment the chance of something bad happening to your package increases, and after a while, one of your packages inevitably gets damaged or lost. That’s why it’s of crucial importance to ensure every shipment. In the long run, it will pay off, and one day you will be thankful to yourself.
Expensive Electronics
Basically, everybody buys their electronic devices online nowadays. It saves time, it’s cheaper, and the choice is much broader. However, the risk of damage, loss, or theft of sold items is bigger than ever. Smaller items, such as cell phones and similar gadgets are less likely to get damaged, but they can easily get lost or stolen.
Larger electronic devices, such as TVs or PCs, also carry a great risk of damage during transport. If you’re in this business, you should carefully create your logistics strategy and partner with a reliable carrier. Make sure to ensure the full value of all your shipments, so you can sleep peacefully and not worry about things that are out of your control.
Musical Instruments
Musical instruments represent another great example of fragile items that should be protected by private insurance. Musicians nowadays will try an instrument they’re interested in at a local store, but most of them order them online in the end.
Almost any musical instrument exceeds the default value covered by major shippers, so in cases of damage, which happen pretty often, you wouldn’t be able to restore the full value of the package. Third-party insurance would cover any potential damage or loss of an instrument, so you can easily recover the full value.
To Sum It Up
You can now understand the importance of third-party insurance for certain kinds of shipments. We have just listed the most common categories of items that should be insured before shipping, but of course, there are many more exceptions.
It’s enough to follow one basic rule: If the package’s value exceeds the default coverage for the declared value, you should buy third-party insurance. However, there are certain items, such as antiques and valuable pieces of art, that our civilization can’t afford to lose, even if they’re covered by insurance.
Such items should be shipped via specialized services that will devote special attention to them and strictly keep them from getting damaged, lost, or stolen.