Across a border
Where cover changes hands
A domestic move has two parties. An international one has five or six, most of whom you will never speak to: a consolidator, a carrier, port operators at both ends, a destination agent, and whoever carries the inland leg at the far side.
Ask where goods-in-transit cover ends and marine cover begins. Almost nobody does, and it is the whole question.
Four routes, four different handovers
Oman, where a residence card gates clearance and the waiting is chargeable to you. Thailand, where a shared container passes through seven sets of hands. Mexico, where a substantial inland leg is a second movement in all but the invoice. Mauritius, where one realistic route in removes every option if something goes wrong.
Removals from the UK to Oman
The risk on this route is not the sea. It is the gap between a ship arriving and a card being issued.
- Muscat and the capital area
- Compounds
- Sohar and the Batinah coast
- Salalah and Dhofar
Removals from the UK to Thailand
The question on this route is not whether it can be done. It is how many hands you are content with.
- Bangkok
- Chiang Mai and the north
- Phuket and the Andaman coast
- Hua Hin and the gulf coast
Removals from the UK to Mexico
Ask what the inland leg costs and who carries the risk on it. It is a separate movement in everything but the invoice.
- Mexico City
- The Bajío
- Guadalajara
- Monterrey
Removals from the UK to Mauritius
On a mainland route a problem is a delay. On this one it is a wait for the next sailing.
- Port Louis and the centre
- Grand Baie and the north
- Tamarin and the west
- Ebène and the cyber city
Count the hands, then decide
On a shared container the chain runs: our crew at your house, a consolidator at a UK depot, the carrier, port operators at the UK end, port operators at the far end, a destination agent, and a delivery crew. Seven sets of hands, five of which are not ours.
On a sole-use container it is meaningfully shorter and the container is sealed at your door. Both are legitimate and we quote both — the difference is not a service level, it is the number of people who touch your belongings.
The handover point, in writing
Goods-in-transit cover and marine cover are different policies with different limits, different per-item caps and different exclusions. Where one ends and the other begins is a fact, it can be written down, and it rarely is.
We state it. We would also encourage anybody comparing quotations to ask every firm the same question in the same words, because a figure that looks dramatically lower is sometimes lower for exactly this reason. Nothing here is insurance advice — ask for the policy summary and read it.
The half of the file that is yours
We prepare everything derived from the inventory: the described list, the export declaration, the import entry and the relief claim. That half is finished before the goods leave.
The other half is attached to you as a person — a residence permit, a registration, a tax number, evidence of your own arrival. It cannot be obtained for you, and on several of these routes a container arriving ahead of it simply waits at your cost.
UK origins
We collect from anywhere on the mainland, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol. Where a consignment is consolidated with others before departure we say so on the quotation, because it changes how the goods are handled.
Moving abroad
Questions about international liability
01 Where does your cover stop on an international move?
On a European road movement it generally travels with the vehicle, which keeps the position simple. On a sea or air movement it ends at a defined point and marine or transit cover takes over. That point should be in writing before anything sails, and on a cheap quotation it frequently is not.
02 Who actually handles our goods?
Us at origin, then — on a shared container — a consolidator, the carrier, port operators at both ends, a destination agent and a delivery crew. Most of that chain is neither us nor you, which is exactly why it sits in its own column.
03 Is a sole-use container worth the difference?
It removes the consolidation handling at both ends and the container is sealed at your door rather than stuffed at a depot among other people's belongings. On a long route that is a real reduction rather than a comfort, and we quote both so it is a decision.
04 What happens if a container arrives before our paperwork?
It waits at the receiving end, accruing storage and demurrage, and those charges are yours rather than the carrier's or ours. On several of these routes that is the single largest avoidable cost in the whole move.
05 Should we pack our own cartons for an international move?
We would rather you did not, and we will say so. Self-packed cartons are covered for our handling and not for the packing itself, and on a route with this many transfers they are handled a great deal.
06 Which countries do you cover?
France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland and Czechia by road; Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius, South Africa, Mexico, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by sea and air.
Where is it going?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and where you are in the paperwork. We will set out the handover points in writing before anything is booked.