Moving Company Insurance Tip: Prevent Liability Claims from ‘Helpful’ Customers
Managing a successful moving company is rewarding but can come with enormous amounts of stress and responsibility. You have to make sure your employees are professional; keep customers’ personal belongings safe; and ensure no one gets hurt – especially the customer.
All moving companies have encountered helpful customers who want to lift boxes and load the truck alongside professional movers. Needless to say, this is extremely unsafe. If customers are injured, they can file costly liability claims!
How can you protect your moving company from the helpful customer?
If you haven’t already done so, we recommend training your team and providing a customer handout, such as “Your Role on Moving Day,” to establish expectations up front.
Below are some helpful talking points you can customize as needed to communicate your company’s procedures to customers:
*When you hire a professional mover, please be present and available to provide direction and answer questions about the services you want.
*When our professional movers arrive at your home, they will ask you to give them a “walk-through” and show them everything that should be packed and/or moved.
*Please do NOT try to “assist” your moving team. Due to insurance guidelines, no one is allowed in the truck except our professional moving personnel.
*Upon arrival at your move’s destination, please be available for another “walk-through” of your new space and clearly communicate your expectations for unloading.
*You will be responsible for checking off the inventory form or “bingo” sheet, to make sure all items have arrived, and to note any loss or damage to your items on the mover’s copy of the paperwork.
*Generally, most items will enter your home through one central location such as the garage or front door. Consider this the staging area where you can inspect and check off your items as they come off the truck.
In addition to providing a handout to customers prior to the move, educate your team and keep extra copies of the handout in your trucks so moving professionals can provide extra copies to customers if needed.
By providing customers with a clear set of roles and responsibilities and by instructing them not to move items themselves, you can avoid awkward situations and protect your moving company from costly liability claims.
By the way, the busy season is here! Are you adequately prepared with FVP insurance?
