What Happens by Default If You Don't Add Protection
Federal regulation requires movers to offer released value protection at no additional cost, and it is the option most customers end up with simply because it requires no extra paperwork or declared value. Released value protection pays out at sixty cents per pound, per item, regardless of what that item actually cost or what it would cost to replace. The terms "licensed" and "insured" refer to the coverage required by the Department of Transportation, not to full protection for your belongings, and the two get confused often enough that it is worth stating plainly.
A Real Example of What That Actually Pays Out
Picture a 100-pound television worth roughly $2,800. Under released value protection, a claim for that television pays out based on weight alone, sixty cents per pound, which comes to $60. Not $2,800. Sixty dollars. That gap between what something costs and what the default coverage actually pays is the real risk of skipping full value protection, and it applies to every item in your home, not just electronics.
The same math applies to furniture, a washer and dryer, a home gym setup, anything with real weight and real value. A heavy dresser that cost $900 but weighs 150 pounds would pay out just $90 under released value protection if it were destroyed beyond repair. The pattern holds across nearly everything in a household: the heavier and cheaper per pound an item is, the worse released value protection performs for it.
What Full Value Protection Actually Changes
Our full value protection option replaces that weight-based payout with coverage based on the actual value of your shipment. If something is lost or damaged, the claim is settled through repair, replacement, or a cash settlement reflecting real value, not a fraction of it. This comes at an additional cost, scaled to the declared value of your shipment, but it closes the gap that released value protection leaves wide open.
The cost scales with how much you are protecting, not with the size of your move. A household with a declared shipment value of $20,000 pays considerably less for full value protection than one valued at $75,000, so the actual dollar cost is tied directly to what you are trying to protect rather than a flat add-on fee.
What's Still Not Covered Either Way
Full value protection is not unlimited, and knowing the exclusions matters as much as knowing the coverage. Items valued at more than $100 per pound, like certain electronics or dense valuables, typically need a separate personal insurance policy. Boxes you packed yourself are generally not covered unless the box itself shows visible, verifiable damage. High-value items such as jewelry, cash, and coin collections are excluded outright. Natural disasters and pre-existing damage to furniture are not covered under either option. Our moving insurance guide walks through these distinctions in more detail, including when a third-party policy fills gaps that neither released value nor full value protection covers.
Where to Find This in Your Contract
This is exactly the kind of detail that gets missed when a contract is skimmed rather than read. Your moving contract should spell out which protection level you selected, what it costs, and what the exclusions are, in plain enough language that you are not guessing at claim time. Our guide to understanding a moving contract covers what to look for and what questions to ask before signing, since a vague or incomplete contract is often the first sign that protection terms were never clearly explained in the first place.
How to Decide if It's Worth It for Your Move
A reasonable way to think about this: add up the replacement cost of your furniture, electronics, and anything else that would genuinely hurt to lose, then compare that number to what sixty cents per pound would actually pay out if the worst happened. For most households, that gap is large enough that full value protection is worth the added cost, especially for a move with any real distance or complexity involved.
If you want to talk through your options before your next move, call us at (928) 277-5822 or request a free quote. We can walk through what full value protection would cost for your specific shipment and help you decide what level of coverage actually makes sense.
