What insurance covers a car while it ships

Insurance that covers a car while it ships is usually the carrier's cargo limit, written in the contract and on a certificate. It is not the large liability number on a federal screen, and it is not automatically your personal auto policy. An extra plan sold at booking is a third contract. Read the one that names a dollar limit for your car. This page is general information, not a coverage opinion.

RideShipper does not insure vehicles. It cannot file a claim for you or raise a limit.

The three covers people mix together#

Use the cargo row for a scratch, a broken window, or a car that arrives and should not have. Use the liability row if the truck hurts a person or someone else's property. Use your auto policy only after your insurer says it applies.

What the federal filing actually requires#

The large number on a federal screen is usually public liability for the truck, not cargo cover for your car. For for-hire carriage of nonhazardous property in a vehicle rated 10,001 pounds or more, 49 CFR 387.9 lists 750,000 dollars. How to read that filing, including why a suspended household-goods cargo figure is not the cover on a shipped car, is how to read insurance on file.

A broker's 75,000 dollar bond under 49 CFR 387.307 is a separate pile. It pays shippers or motor carriers if the broker fails to carry out its transportation contracts. It is not the cargo policy on the car.

Cargo limits come from the certificate#

Ask the company that will haul the car for a certificate that states:

• the cargo limit per vehicle
• the deductible, if any
• who the insured is, which should be the carrier on the bill of lading
• what is excluded

Then find the same numbers in the contract. A common contract move is a released value. 49 USC 14706(c), in the 2023 Code edition, allows a carrier, for property other than household goods described in section 13102(10)(A), to set rates under which its liability is limited to a value the shipper declares or the parties agree to in writing, if that value would be reasonable under the circumstances. That is a statute about agreed limits. It is not a permission slip to hide the limit. If you are offered a lower limit in exchange for a lower rate, the choice should be in writing, and you should see both numbers before you pay.

Personal items left in the car are often excluded by the transport contract. Confirm that in your papers. Do not assume a laptop in the trunk is cargo. The glossary entry personal items removed is the practical warning. The legal words are the contract's.

Your auto policy is a question, not a backup you can assume#

Call the insurer that writes the policy on this car. Ask whether coverage applies while a for-hire carrier transports the vehicle, and ask them to answer by email. Do not rely on a general agent's guess. The comparison with cargo insurance lists the questions. It does not state an exclusion, because exclusions differ by form and this research did not read your policy.

If the insurer says the policy does not apply in transit, the carrier's cargo limit is the cover you have, plus any extra plan you actually bought. If the insurer says it does apply, ask whether you must still claim against the carrier first, and whether your deductible applies.

What a claim needs, so the cover is usable#

Insurance that you cannot claim is a brochure. For carriers subject to 49 USC subtitle IV, part B, 49 CFR 370.1 says part 370 governs claims for loss, damage, injury, or delay to property in interstate or foreign commerce. 49 CFR 370.3 says a claim is a written communication, filed within the time limits in the bill of lading or contract, that identifies the shipment, asserts liability, and demands a specified or determinable amount of money. A notation of damage on the delivery receipt, standing alone, is not that claim.

So the certificate gets you a limit. The written claim, with a dollar figure you can support, is what asks the carrier to pay. The deadline on the claim is the one in your contract. 49 USC 14706(e), in the 2023 edition, says a carrier may not provide a period of less than 9 months to file a claim under that section, or less than 2 years to sue, counted from the written disallowance. Whether your shipment is subject to that section is a legal question. If the contract states a shorter time, ask a lawyer before you assume either date controls. The filing steps are in how to file a damage claim.

Photographs and the exception on the bill of lading are the evidence inside the claim. They are not a substitute for it. Start those on what to photograph before pickup.

Read the limit before you need it. After a dent, the certificate does not get more generous.