Tag: professional NJ movers

Categories
General

Certificate of Insurance for Moving (COI)

Certificate of Insurance for Moving (COI)

If you’re moving to a new apartment or condo, you might hear from your new building management that you need to provide a certificate of insurance before you can move-in. In fact, many luxury buildings require you to provide a certificate of insurance (COI) for moving, which means you’ll need to hire professional NJ movers. NJ Great Movers provides our COI directly to the management team, but we also send it to you so you can keep it in your files. Even though you don’t have to worry about the COI, it’s still a good idea to understand the form.

What is a COI and Why Do You Need It?

A certificate of insurance (COI) essentially is proof that the movers you are using have insurance and are able to cover issues should something go wrong. It will list out the insurance the movers have along with the liability and loss coverage. This way, if anything happens to the building, such as a damage or injury, the mover’s insurance covers the cost of repairs or accidents.

Most reputable moving companies, like NJ Great Movers, can easily procure and provide a COI to your building management company. Although there is no standard for what a certificate of insurance should look like, most businesses use the form created by the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD). A COI generally includes the following information:

  • Date of issue
  • Information about the certification of insurance
  • Insurance agent or broker that produced/issued the certificate
  • Name and address of the business covered by the policy
  • Liability insurance coverage (general, commercial auto, umbrella, and worker’s compensation)
  • List of insurers
  • Coverage in dollars each policy provides
  • Description of operations, locations, and vehicles
  • Expiration date of insurance
  • Signature of agent, broker, or authorized representatives

While not all buildings will require a COI, if you live somewhere with a doorman or hands-on super, chances are your move won’t happen if you don’t provide one. That means you’ll have to scramble for last-minute storage space for your belongings and reschedule your movers. That’s extra money you probably don’t have! Even if your building says they don’t need one, it’s still a good idea to provide a COI just in case. Why? Because a COI also protects you!

As an example, let’s say you move into a building that doesn’t require a COI. You then move your stuff in but damage the walls and maybe even the elevators! Maybe you even get a parking ticket during the move. You will be held liable for these damages and have to pay for any repairs and tickets out of pocket. This could cost you thousands of dollars! There’s also the matter of your belongings. If it gets damaged during your own DIY move, you will have to cover the entire cost of replacement or repair. This can get costly if you own a lot of high value items.

On the other hand, you don’t have to worry about any of that if you hire professional movers. They will shoulder the responsibility for any damages done to the building and, of course, take care of any parking tickets that were for their vehicles. Your items are also automatically protected by something called released value protection, which will cover up to $0.60 per pound per item for free. If you want, you can spring for the more expensive full value protection. If something gets damaged, the movers will either try to fix, replace, or eventually reimburse you for the damaged items. Ideally the professional NJ movers wouldn’t damage anything since they are highly experienced and know how to maneuver tight corners and narrow hallways.

Even if you don’t think your building needs a COI, call up your super or building management company and ask. They will probably appreciate the heads up and most prefer their tenants to use moving companies anyway as it reduces the chance of potential issues in the future.

There’s also another hidden benefit of asking for a COI. It shows whether the company you chose is reputable or not. All legitimate moving companies are required to carry a minimum amount of insurance. The best moving companies provide more than that. For example, NJ Great Movers has the following insurance:

  • $1 million limit for commercial general liability
  • $1 million limit for automobile liability
  • $5 million for umbrella liability
  • $1 million for workers compensation

Asking for a COI early on in the moving process is a good litmus test to see how trustworthy the movers are. If they aren’t able to provide one or they only provide the bare minimum when it comes to insurance coverage, you’ll have enough time to look for other movers.

When requesting a COI always ask for a copy. That way you can also check the information. While most movers are legitimate, there’s always the chance you could run into a scam company. So even if they do provide a COI, it could be fake or not up-to-date. When looking at the COI check to make sure the name and address matches what is listed on the company’s website. Also, check the expiration date of the insurance to make sure the company is still covered. You should also make sure the COI is filled out exactly like the sample. Otherwise, the building will reject it! While most buildings will find these errors immediately, you can save yourself a lot of back and forth and potential stress by catching these things early.

NJ Great Movers Simple COI Process and Steps

If you work with NJ Great Movers, we make the process of requesting a COI as seamless as possible. With that said, you’ll still need to do a little legwork. Naturally, your first step is confirming with both your buildings whether you need a COI to move in and/or out. While you’re on the phone, see if a COI is needed to reserve the freight elevator. If that’s the case, let us know so we can expedite the process. You’ll want to reserve a time as soon as possible to avoid conflicts with other people. After all, you don’t want to waste an hour or two waiting for the freight elevator! After that, get in touch with your property manager(s) and get a sample of the COI and then send it over to us.

We’ll take over from there. We’ll send the sample COI over to our insurance company so that they can fill the forms out properly. Our team will also check to make sure all of our insurance has expiration dates after your move date and provides the appropriate insurance and coverage amount. Once we’ve double-checked everything, we’ll send a copy to your management company and to you. That way, if they somehow miss the email, you will have a copy on file. We do ask that at least a week before your move date you confirm with the property managers that they received the COI and that everything is in working order. Just in case, we’ll also bring a hard copy of the COI with us on the move date as there have been a few occasions where the security guard and/or doorman on duty did not have the COI we had sent on file. This way, we can prevent any delays in your move!

Our goal as professional and trusted NJ movers is to make your move as smooth and easy as possible. That’s why we triple check everything to make sure nothing falls through the cracks. Thanks to our decades of experience, we can cover even the most complex building management requirements. Just let us know as soon as possible so we can get the process started!

Conclusion

Getting a certificate of insurance might sound daunting at first, but if you work with trustworthy moving companies like NJ Great Movers, we make the process as easy as possible. You can rest assured knowing that we will take care of everything come moving day and that if anything should happen, you won’t have to worry about paying.

Categories
Moving Tips

How to Get Financially Ready for Your NJ Move

How to Get Financially Ready for Your NJ Move

You probably already know that moving isn’t cheap, even in New Jersey. Simply finding a new apartment requires you to take time off work and travel to different locations. On top of that, once you do find your new place, you’ll have to put down the first month’s rent, security, and potentially a broker’s fee all of which can cost you thousands of dollars. This doesn’t even cover the cost of hiring professional NJ movers!

The process of moving requires a lot of steps from packing to moving over your utilities and health information over to your new location. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and forget a few things. If you’re overseeing the moving budget, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the big cost of hiring New Jersey movers or, if you’re doing it yourself, getting a moving truck. However, there are a lot of small details that might fall through the cracks and could end up costing you hundreds or even thousands of dollars! Below are some of the most common costs of moving to consider.

Create a Full Plan for Moving Costs

In order to financially prepare for your local move, you’ll first need to take into account all the costs associated with the move. This includes things that might seem obvious, but many people often forget to include such as:

  • Moving Supplies – If you purchase all of your moving supplies, you might be in for a surprise as the total can add up quickly. Think about it, you have to get boxes, packing tape, packing peanuts, bubble wrap, and more for all of your belongings. Luckily, you can mitigate these costs by getting free boxes from friends, family, stores, and even browsing your local Facebook groups.
  • Cost of travel – Whether you’re traveling by plane, train, or automobile you’ll need to factor in how much it will cost to get from your current home to your new one. A train might seem reasonable, especially if that’s how you normally commute. However, during a move you’ll probably carry a few important documents and fragile items with you, so you may end up having to take a taxi or renting a car.
  • Storage – If you can’t move into your new place immediately or if you just overestimated the size of your new apartment, you’ll need to look into potential storage options. NJ Great Movers offers secure and affordable storage, but you can also opt for other companies! The smaller storage lockers you need, the cheaper it will be.
  • Moving Insurance – Yes, professional movers offer basic insurance, but this only covers $0.60/pound for any damaged or lost items. If you own a lot of expensive electronics, artwork, or fine china, you’ll want to splurge for full insurance from third party vendors so you can get the full cost back to you if something happens.
  • Rebuying furniture and/or groceries – Chances are you probably threw out some old pieces of furniture and whatever groceries you weren’t able to eat or pack. In addition to the standard moving costs, you’ll also have to factor in how much you’ll need to spend to replace the old food and furniture that you tossed.
  • Utilities – You may end up paying double for utilities because you didn’t shut off your utilities services in time. Make sure to check your billing cycle and cancel what you don’t need beforehand. While it might not be doable with your electricity bills, you can definitely turn off your cable and internet before you move to your new place. Speaking of utilities, some companies might also require a deposit when you first move into your new apartment in order to turn on your service.
  • Pet boarding – if you have pets, it might be a good idea to find a place to board your pets so that they’re not dealing with all the stress of moving day. Depending on where you live, this can run you up to $40-60 a day!

Create a Better Budget Before Your Move

Many people ask whether they should hire professional movers or rent a truck and do everything themselves. The answer to that question depends on your budget. In general, the DIY route will be cheaper, but it will also take more time and you could damage your belongings or yourself during the move. While hiring professionals does cost more, it also means you are not at risk of injuring yourself and your fragile items are less likely to break.

In general, professional movers range in price depending on how much you will move. In general, the average cost of an in-state move is about $2,300 while the average cost of an interstate move is about $4,300. The farther you travel, the more expensive the move as professional movers charge hourly for their travel costs. And don’t forget the tip for the movers!

With that baseline number in mind, look up the cost of packing supplies, furniture, and anything else you will need during your move. Depending on the size of your move and whether you need storage or not, you could be looking at a budget of almost $10,000. When coming up with the final budget, it helps to spreadsheet and write out each line item. This way you can see where you might be able to slash costs. One easy way to save money when using professional movers is to pack and disassemble everything yourself. Since most movers charge an hourly rate, the less they have to do, the cheaper it will be for you!

Make the Best Plan to Save, Save, and Save Money

Sometimes you might need to move out of your apartment immediately so you can’t really make any plans. In cases like these, you might need to take out a personal loan or ask friends and family to help out with the costs whether by pitching in some money or enlisting them to help with the manual labor of packing and moving. However, if you do have some time to consider your move, you should do your best to save. Again, moving isn’t cheap so you’ll need to set aside some money to make sure you can cover all the necessary costs.

Moving out of an apartment isn’t quite the same as moving out of a house. In general, renters don’t start looking for an apartment until a month before their lease runs out. After all, most brokers want to rent empty apartments as soon as possible and won’t hold an apartment for you, unless you plan on paying two rents.

With that said, if you already know you won’t renew your lease a couple of months before it expires, you should start setting aside some money. Maybe that means being super frugal for three or four months and cancelling whatever memberships you don’t need. Or it could mean selling off some items that no longer use on eBay or Craigslist.you  You can also start collecting boxes from friends, family members, or local stores to cut down on your moving supply line-item. If you have extra time and a talent such as writing, art, etc. see if you can make a few extra bucks on the side. You can also save money after moving by buying used instead of new. There are plenty of people trying to get rid of old furniture and even clothes. Just make sure that they’re in good shape before you buy and give everything you purchase a good wash and sterilization before you bring it in your home. Essentially, you need to do whatever you can to make sure you have all the money you need before you move so you don’t have to put everything on a credit card.

Taking Out a Personal Loan Is Better Than Using a Credit Card

If you end up short of your budget a month before your moving day, consider taking out a personal loan instead of charging your credit card. Credit cards have obscenely high interest rates with some as high as 36%. Personal loans offer much lower rates depending on your credit history with some as low as 3%.

Of course, you’ll need to do your research. You should try to avoid peer lending companies as you will end up with variable rates depending who chooses to give you the money. Other lending companies might not be available in your state or might have to charge additional fees due to your location. Still, it’s worth it to look up every option available as you will save a significant amount of money over time with this option.

If you can’t get a personal loan, consider opening up a new line of credit. Many credit cards offer an introductory 0% APR for the first year. This is a great option if you know you are able to pay off the balance in one year. Depending on your credit card score your credit card limit could be between $2,000-$10,000.

Hire Professional NJ Movers

Moving might not be cheap, but it doesn’t have to break the bank either. So long as you spend some time planning and saving up money for your move, you should be able to find a way to finance your NJ move.

One of the best ways to save yourself time and money is to hire a NJ moving company like us to help you! We provide excellent service at affordable rates and can save you a lot of time and reduce the stress of moving. Make sure to contact us today!