Who Pays When an Office Mover Damages Your Furniture or Equipment?
If a mover damages your furniture or equipment during a commercial move, the default coverage is released-value protection, valued at $0.60 per pound, unless something else was arranged in advance. That number surprises most people, because it has nothing to do with what the item actually costs to replace. The Certificate of Insurance your building asks for covers a different risk entirely, damage to the building itself, not your office furniture.
What Does a Mover’s Insurance Actually Cover?
General liability insurance protects the building. It generally doesn’t cover your furniture or equipment.
The Certificate of Insurance that your landlord or building management requires before move day exists to protect their property: walls, floors, freight elevators, loading docks. It’s proof the mover carries general liability coverage, usually $1 million per occurrence, sometimes $2 million for Class A towers. That policy responds if a crew damages a hallway or an elevator door. It has no connection to what happens if your conference table gets scratched or a monitor gets dropped.
What Covers Your Own Furniture and Equipment?
We cover cargo at released value by default, $0.60 per pound, unless higher-value items are flagged before moving day.
Released-value protection is the default cargo coverage movers carry, and it’s based on weight, not replacement cost. A 40-pound monitor is covered at $24 regardless of what it cost new. That’s standard across the industry, not something unique to one mover. For anything where that gap matters, a server, a glass conference table, specialty equipment, flag it before move day so it can be planned for separately instead of discovered after something goes wrong.
What Should You Do If Something Gets Damaged?
Document it before the crew leaves, and put it in writing the same day.
Photograph the damage while the crew is still on site, and note it on the paperwork you sign at the end of the job rather than waiting until the next morning. A claim reported the same day, with photos and a specific description, moves faster than one reported after the fact with no record. Walk through high-value or high-risk items, IT equipment, glass, anything irreplaceable, with the crew lead before they leave, not after.
A related question worth checking is small office.
Coverage Type | What It Protects | Who It’s For |
General liability / COI | The building: walls, floors, freight elevators | Your landlord or building management |
Released-value cargo coverage | Your items, valued by weight at $0.60 per pound | You, as the default |
Flagged high-value items | Items worth more than weight-based coverage reflects | You, when arranged before move day |
Dream Moving includes general liability coverage and files the COI your building requires. Contact us at (212) 994-4941 before move day to flag anything where released-value coverage wouldn’t come close to replacement cost.
