Removals insurance is really two covers. Goods in transit covers your belongings while they are on the van. Public liability covers damage to property and to third parties. Neither is a promise that every breakage gets paid for, and the gap most people only find out about afterwards is the box they packed themselves.

Ours are £5 million public liability and £20,000 goods in transit per claim, and we will send evidence of either on request. Below is what those figures do, what they do not do, and how a claim works with us — including the parts that are less comfortable to read.

The two covers, in plain terms

Goods in transit — your sofa, your wardrobe and your boxes while they are on the van. The figure is a limit on a claim. It is not a valuation of what you own.
Public liability — damage to property and third parties: a door frame, a stairwell, a parked car. It is also what a managing agent will usually ask to see before letting a van near their building.

If what is going on the van would come to more than £20,000, or one item is worth a large part of that, tell us when you ask for a quote, and ask your home insurer what they would add. A rough total on the back of an envelope is enough to tell you whether this applies to you.

What a claim will not cover

This comes straight from our terms:

What happened	Where it stands
Something broke inside a box you packed	Not covered, unless our team's negligence caused it
Damage caused by inadequate packing	Not covered
A loose or unpacked item we carried at your request	Not covered
We followed your instruction against our own recommendation	Not covered
Cash, jewellery, passports, deeds, important documents	Outside cover. Carry these yourself
Plants	Can travel at your own risk, outside cover
Anything while it is in storage	The storage facility's insurance, not ours

The first line is the one that catches people. We have no way of knowing how well things were wrapped inside a box we did not pack, so a claim cannot cover what is in it. If there is something in the kitchen you would be sorry to lose, ask us to pack it, or take it in your own car.

Some things cannot go on the van at all, and those are listed in what we cannot move.

A firm saying "fully insured" tells you nothing about the limit or the exclusions. Ask to see the figures, from us or from anyone else.

Your home insurance may or may not help

Do not assume either way. Lemonade's guide for UK customers, updated in June 2026, says most standard contents policies offer some level of cover while belongings are in transit, but that insurers will often only extend it if you use a professional removal company, and that accidental damage is often excluded unless you have added it.

So ring your insurer before moving day and ask three things:

Are my belongings covered while they are on a removal van, and up to what limit?
Do I need to declare any high-value items separately?
Are boxes I packed myself included?

The law sits underneath the insurance

Insurance is how a firm pays for a mistake. It is not the whole of what the firm owes you. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, any trader supplying you a service has to perform it with reasonable care and skill, whatever its policy says. That applies to us and to anyone else you book.

How a claim works with us

We photograph items, access routes and both properties before, during and after every move. That record protects you as much as us, because it shows the condition things were in. If something does go wrong:

Look before the crew leaves. Check over your belongings and tell us straight away if anything concerns you.
Report it within 48 hours. Any loss or damage must be reported within 48 hours of the move, so it can be looked into while everything is fresh.
Send what we ask for. Photographs of the item and the surrounding area, a description of what happened if you know it, and proof of ownership or value where relevant.
Leave it as it is. Do not repair, replace or throw away anything before we have had the chance to inspect it. If we have not seen it, we may not be able to accept liability.
We investigate. We aim to finish within 5 to 10 working days of having everything we need. Where we are responsible we put it right: a professional repair, a replacement or appropriate compensation.

The honest catch here is the 48 hours. Most people do not unpack a whole house in two days. So check the big furniture before the crew goes, and open the boxes that matter first.

What to ask any firm

Four questions, and we have answered ours above:

Can you send evidence of your goods in transit and public liability cover?
What is the limit on a claim?
What happens with boxes I packed myself?
How long do I have to report damage?

There is more on this in how to check a removals firm before you hand over a deposit.

A firm that can tell you what it does not cover is more use to you than one that says it covers everything.