This year, more people are moving than ever before. Whether you’re looking for a new location away from the crowds or need more living space to accommodate at-home offices, moving can get hectic. It’s no wonder we often forget to consider some important factors and issues. Below, we’ve provided a quick list, so you don’t have to try and remember everything.
If you hire a professional moving company to help with your move, make sure you check to see what they won’t move for you. Those items may include things like aerosol cans, paints, pesticides, fertilizer, cleaning products, propane tanks, and fire extinguishers.
If you’re using a moving company, consider talking to them beforehand about limiting the number of people you’ll be exposed to. Make sure they take safety precautions such as taking the movers’ temperatures each day and wearing a mask.
If you have fine art, sculptures, wine, or other valuable and fragile items, we suggest using a transportation company that specializes in moving those items. Our in-house specialists can provide advice on how to best package and transport your valuables during a move, as well as how to ensure that they are safe in your new home.
You may keep important papers or valuable items such as jewellery in a safety deposit box near your home. Don’t forget to retrieve those items and carefully consider how you’ll transport them safely to their new destination. Like other valuables in your home, fine jewellery deserves special treatment when moving from home to home or bank to bank.
Before you put anything into a box or allow your moving company to start packing, make sure you have a complete inventory of your possessions, especially those that are valuable. If you then label all of your boxes and packages with specific contents, you’ll know exactly what you have and where it is at all times. That way, if you are missing something after the move, you’ll either be able to locate it easily or you’ll have the documentation you need to make a claim.
If you’re taking your furniture to your new home, you may want to measure the furniture and your new space first, just to make sure the furniture will fit through the doors and will work well in your new space. After all, you wouldn’t want to haul your favourite sectional across the country, province, or even across the street just to find out it is too large for your new living room.
If your plants are making a move across country or provincial borders, contact your moving company or the provinces/country you’ll be crossing into for specific rules and regulations. Not all areas welcome all types of plants, as some are considered invasive and therefore not wanted.
If you’re just moving an hour or two away, your pets should be fine going from place to place. However, if you’re moving hundreds of kilometers, you may want to talk to your veterinarian for ideas on how to make your furry friends comfortable before, during, and after the move. After all, most pets are used to a particular location and routine and may not take well to flying in a plane or driving across country for days.
This document is advisory in nature and is offered as a resource to be used together with your professional insurance advisors in maintaining a loss prevention program. It is an overview only, and is not intended as a substitute for consultation with your insurance broker, or for legal, engineering or other professional advice.
Chubb is the marketing name used to refer to subsidiaries of Chubb Limited providing insurance and related services. For a list of these subsidiaries, please visit our website at www.chubb.com. Insurance provided by Chubb Insurance Company of Canada or Chubb Life Insurance Company of Canada (collectively, “Chubb Canada”). All products may not be available in all provinces or territories. This communication contains product summaries only. Coverage is subject to the language of the policies as actually issued.
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