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Originally Posted On: Protecting Your Valuables When Moving Home | Rain and Pine

When transporting your belongings from one property to another, there’s a risk that certain items may be damaged or could go missing. To make sure that this doesn’t happen, it’s worth taking measures to protect your valuables. Below are just some of the ways in which you can do this.

Hire a professional moving company

Professional movers are trained to move valuable items. When it comes to fragile ornaments or expensive machinery, they will likely know the best way of transporting it and may have equipment to make it easier such as trolleys and lifts.

Consider whether your belongings are safer in the hands of a professional moving company rather than attempting the move yourself. Hiring professional movers could also speed up the process, reduce the risk of injury and take away a lot of the stress of moving. Always make sure that a company has a good reputation before choosing them.

Create an inventory list

While packing, it could be worth creating an inventory list. This is a list of all of your belongings. You can then tick this off when you unpack in order to check that nothing has gone missing.

It’s better to know immediately what is missing than to find out something is missing several months down the line. Knowing immediately what is missing could help you to more easily retrace your steps and reclaim your items.

Invest in the right packaging

You may want to use specific packaging when packing certain items. This could include placing felt protectors between plates, putting crystal glasses in foam padding or wrapping mirrors in bubble wrap. If items are likely to be exposed to extreme temperatures that could damage them, insulated pallet blankets could even be worth looking into. You may be able to buy this packaging online or via a professional moving company.

Label fragile items

When boxing fragile items, make sure that they are labelled as fragile. If you’re hiring professional movers or getting help from friends, this will help these people to identify such items so that they know to handle them with care. Fail to label these boxes and your items could end up getting damaged.

You could also label boxes that are heavy and boxes that need to be kept up a certain way. Labelling boxes could also help when it comes to keeping track of items and knowing where to place them in your new home.

Consider taking out insurance

It could be worth taking out insurance to cover you against damage or loss of items. This could help you to replace any items if they are lost or damaged by providing financial compensation. There are specialist insurers that are able to provide this coverage.

Some moving companies will offer protection as part of their package. This may come as an extra – if so, it could be worth paying extra for. Always read terms and conditions to check what is included in this protection package.