How to insure valuable items when transporting them for someone else
Transporting someone else's valuables leaves you exposed to theft or damage without clear coverage from either your insurance or the owner's. Without knowing how to secure proper transit insurance or prevent the owner's insurer from suing you to recover losses, helpers are left debating whether to refuse favors entirely.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1Consulting lawyers to draft contracts waiving liability unless gross negligence is proven
- 2Relying on personal umbrella policies or owner-side transit insurance
- 3Forming an LLC or business structure to absorb liability
- 4Refusing outright to carry items for anyone across borders
- 5Discarding the original contents and refilling the containers with harmless substitutes like water or sugar pills
- 6Checking all individual ingredients against restricted drug lists and declaring them at customs
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“how can Bob insure these against damage or theft in transit, and prevent Alice's insurance company from attempting to recover the loss by suing Bob?”source ↗
“Should I carry this or not for him, and is it suggested that I declare this at customs? I have no familiarity with homeopathic products and don’t quite know how to treat this situation. Instinct is to refuse but not sure if I’m overthinking.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8Where do I declare gold bullion at LAX customs?
- 3Why is it so expensive to rent a van one way internationally?
- 4Companies that ship heavy equipment and farm tools long distance
- 2Seller belongings still in the house during final walk-through
- 2How do you stop losing things during a cross-country move?
- 2Why won't companies ship specialized products to Alaska?