What your mover owes you if something breaks.

No, and the difference is written into federal law. Valuation is the level of liability your mover carries under its transportation contract with you. Insurance is a policy sold by a licensed insurer. A mover may only sell you insurance when you have released the shipment at the basic level of 60 cents per pound per article, and if it sells you a policy and fails to hand you evidence of that policy, it becomes fully liable for the claim. That rule is 49 CFR 375.303.

It depends on which side of the state line you are moving to, which is why this page asks first. On a California move, the basic 60 cents per pound per article applies unless you declare a value and pick a higher level on the Agreement for Moving Services. On an interstate move, Full Value Protection is what the carrier already owes you, and released value only applies if you waive Full Value Protection in writing on the valuation statement.

The rate depends on the value you declare, the origin and destination, and whether the shipment goes into storage on the way. Your estimate states it as a line item before you sign anything, and on a California move the tariff requires the rate to appear on the Agreement itself. We quote it against your actual inventory rather than publishing a number that would be wrong for most households. Call (408) 941-0600 or request a quote and we will price it with the rest of the move.

Sometimes, and rarely in full. Many policies cover belongings in transit at a reduced limit, exclude damage caused by a third party you hired, or carry a deductible larger than the claim. Call your agent, ask specifically about goods in the custody of a moving company and goods in commercial storage, and get the answer in writing. That answer is what should decide the level you pick here.

List it separately on the inventory with a value against it. On an interstate move, an article worth more than $100 per pound has to be declared to us in writing, and without that declaration the carrier's liability for it may be capped at $100 per pound no matter which level you chose. In California the tariff puts it plainly: fail to declare items of extraordinary value and the carrier may not be liable for their full value regardless of the protection level you selected.

Not automatically, and this is the gap that surprises people. Valuation for transportation and valuation for storage-in-transit are priced as two separate things on a California Agreement. A California shipment can sit in storage-in-transit for up to 90 days; past that the storage point becomes the destination and the warehouse's own rules and charges take over. Federally, when storage-in-transit converts to permanent storage the carrier has to tell you in writing that its liability is ending. Ask us to price storage valuation at the same time as the move.

Nine months from delivery, in writing, in both jurisdictions. What differs is our clock: on a California move we have 30 days to acknowledge your claim and 60 days to pay it, decline it, or make a firm settlement offer. On an interstate move the acknowledgment is still 30 days but the settlement window is 120 days. Do not wait for an inspection to file. A written claim identifying the shipment, asserting liability and naming an amount is what starts the clock.

You cannot be. On an interstate move, 49 CFR 375.701 bars a delivery receipt from containing language releasing the carrier from liability; it may say the goods arrived in apparent good condition except as noted, which is exactly why you should write the damage on it before you sign. On a California move, Business and Professions Code 19265 bars the receipt from saying the goods arrived in satisfactory condition, requires it to tell you that you can file a claim, and keeps a claim from being denied only because the damage was not noted at delivery. Note what you can see, keep your copy, and file the written claim afterwards.