Marine Insurance Coverage and Moving to Australia

Posted by shipping Australia on August 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

When shipping your household goods from the U.S. to Australia, you want to make sure they are safe and secure. IntlMOVE Australia will professionally pack, ship and deliver your household good to your new home in Australia.

Most people moving to Australia also choose to purchase additional marine insurance to protect their household goods. IntlMOVE Australia is not an insurance provider, but we can help you secure marine insurance to help facilitate a stress free move.

Be assured that IntlMOVE Australia will handle all of your household goods with the utmost care.  However, it’s important to safeguard your household goods from theft, loss or damage. Your household goods are not being shipped across town. They are being shipped across the world. They will be packed, loaded into a truck, shipped on vessel overseas, pass through customs and finally be transported to your new home in Australia.

Due to the nature of an international move, your household goods will pass through many hands and experience obstacles along the way. Although the majority of household goods arrive at their destination in the same condition as when they were packed, accidents do occur. This is why marine insurance is available.

Marine Insurance

Marine insurance protects your household goods while they are in transit overseas. This insurance covers loss, theft, damage and catastrophe at sea.

When you choose to purchase marine insurance, you must put together a declared value form. This form lists all the items that you are insuring. The cost of the insurance is based on the monetary value placed on the household goods you are shipping. When you are placing vales on household goods and personal effects, you should list the amount of money it will take to replace the item in Australia. Some items are more expensive in Australia than in the United States because of import costs. You want to make sure you are getting enough money to replace the items that needs to be replaced.  This list is completely separate than the list you need to prepare for customs.

Types of Insurance

Limited coverage and all-risk insurance are available. Limited coverage is the basic insurance you can take out to protect your personal belongings. This type of insurance has limited coverage, as its name suggests. All risk insurance covers damages, theft of loss incurred while being shipped overseas. However, this insurance option is only available when your household goods have been professionally packed. IntlMOVE Australia can supply the professional packing service. After choosing a marine insurance provider, read through all the fine print and ask questions to understand what is covered and what is not covered.

When you are ready to take the big step of moving to Australia, visit the IntlMOVE Australia website for the following information:

 

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Moving to Australia and Forwarding your Mail

Posted by shipping Australia on August 3, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

When moving to Australia with IntlMOVE Australia, you might be wondering how you get your U.S. mail overseas. Unlike a domestic move, it is not as easy as filling out a change of address form at the post office. The United States Postal Service does not forward your mail overseas, so you have to look of other options.

IntlMOVE Australia has put together some tips to help with shipping your mail to Australia.

Change Address

Contact friends, family and business associates to let them know you will be moving to Australia. As soon as you have your new address, give it to the people who need it so they can send your mail to the right place.

You can also contact any companies that send you mail on a regular basis. However, not all companies are willing to send international mail because of the cost and hassle.

Online Mail

Some companies, such as credit cards, offer online billing as an alternative to paper bills. Contact the companies who regularly send bills to determine if online billing is an option. If so, sign up for online statements so you no longer have to worry about shipping these mail pieces to Australia.

Family and Friends

Ask friends and family who are remaining in the United States if you can have your mail forwarded to their houses. If they are willing, they can sort through your mail, throw out unneeded items and ship important mail to Australia. However, this might be a hassle for those close to you, so look into other options if you are making a permanent or long-term move.

Mail Forwarding Services

If you do not want to ask friends and family to sort through your U.S. mail, there are companies that specifically take care of this international relocation need. Mail forwarding services make it easy to get your mail in Australia. Depending on the service, you can determine when and how often you would like your mail shipped to Australia. You may only want your mail sent every two weeks or once a month, so you can decide how often you need to receive personal mail.

You will be provided with a P.O. Box address in the United States, so you can forward all of your mail to this new address. Different services offer different options. Companies will scan each piece of mail that comes in, so you can review whether or not you want to have it shipped to Australia or thrown out. Online access will allow you see the status of your mail, which makes it easy to control. Some other mail forwarding services package all your mail together and ship everything to you, even the junk mail. The mail forwarding service will handle the customs paperwork.

To get started, you will want to visit the United States Postal Service to fill out a special form for international forwarding. Contact your mail forwarding company of choice. There are several fees you need to add to your budget, such as set-up fees, monthly fees, shipping charges and customs fees.

Moving to Australia is the beginning of a very exciting and rewarding journey. Contact IntlMOVE Australia for your free quote for shipping your household goods and personal effects to Australia.

 

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