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Moving Insurance and Moving License requirements are a wide subject that can be hard to understand and keep track for many people. When you are looking to move your house belongings or your car, its very important to make sure that the moving company you are using has a valid license to operate and offers the right kinds of moving insurance.
Moving Insurance and License requirements can vary from state to state and differ between the three types of moves – local, long-distance and international move. Before, we dive into the insurance and license regulations, lets take a quick look on the difference between the three types of moves:
Looked at types of moving companies and moving insurance regulation
Local Moves
— Moves that originate and end within the same state; generally between 50-100 miles range.
— Local Movers usually charge by the hour and the number of people required for your move.
Long Distance Moves
— Moves that go from one state to another.
— Mileage is usually over 100 mile range
— Moving Cost is calculated based on the weight of the shipment.
International Moves
— Any move that involves crossing national borders, like going through Canada to get to Alaska or moving to an entirely different country.
— International movers charge by the weight or volume of the goods.
Now that you know about the 3 kinds of moves, lets take a look at the insurance and license requirements for each kind.
Local Moves
Each state has individual license requirements, so if you are moving locally, the first thing you’ll need to do is contact the Department of Transportation of you state and find out the license and insurance requirements. Usually companies that specialize in local moves are only required to have their respective state’s transportation license. However, about 28 states in the US require even the local movers to have a USDOT number, which is generally a license for companies doing long distance moves.
Long Distance Moves
Long Distance movers or Interstate movers, as they are also referred to, must have a federal identification number known as the United States Department of Transportation Number (USDOT Number). This is a unique number issued to a moving or transportation company by the government, in order to keep track of the companies records, inspections, compliance reviews etc.
You can find out a company’s USDOT number by going to the FMSCA website and check if the number and the company details match. Its very important you do so in order to avoid being a victime of any possible scam. Verify if the license is valid and in good standing before trusting the mover with your possessions.
International Moves
Moving internationally is the hardest and the most trickiest and requires you to be most careful when choosing a moving company. Since there are no moving regulations enforced by an single country, you need to make sure that the mover MUST have a Freight Forwarder permit or a Federal Martime Commission number. The American Moving and Storage Association (AMSA) also provides Registered International Mover Certification, a program that continually monitors international carriers. As very few companies hold this certification, if you see an international mover that does, they are more than likely to be reputable. You can also pick a mover that is part of a federation like the FIDI Global Alliance, an independent network of international movers founded in 1950.
In the end its completely your responsibility to safeguard yourself and your belongings from any damage or scam, and for that its very important that you know all the options available to you. We hope this article will give you some knowledge about how to make your move a safe one.
Make sure you also check a company’s BBB rating to make sure there are not too many complaints against them. Its natural for any company to have a small amount of complaints against them, considering the huge volume of moves they do every year, but you definitely want to watch out for companies that have a high number of complaints or unanswered complaints.
