Insurance for operators
Your cover limit decides which jobs you see.
Movesmith doesn't pool insurance across operators — each of you carries your own Goods-in-Transit cover, and the limit on your policy is recorded on your supplier profile. When a Movesmith customer books a move and declares their goods value, we only offer the job to operators whose recorded cover meets that value.
So your recorded cover maps to the jobs you'll see — from single items on £10,000, through standard home moves on £25,000 or more, up to higher-value and bespoke work. Above £50,000 declared value, a move is arranged as a bespoke quote.
£10,000 cover — smaller jobs
£10,000 Goods in Transit
£10,000 is the entry level. With cover at this level you'll see jobs where the customer's declared value is up to £7,500 — single items, man-and-van, smaller loads.
Jobs you'll see
Single items and smaller loads, declared value up to £7,500.
£25,000+ cover — standard home moves (recommended)
£25,000+ Goods in Transit
Most Movesmith work is standard household moves. Cover of £25,000 or more lets you take home moves with a declared value up to £25,000 — the bulk of the job board.
Jobs you'll see
Standard household moves, declared value up to £25,000.
Higher-value & bespoke
Matched to the job
Higher declared values need Goods-in-Transit cover that matches the customer's declared value. Moves with a declared value above £50,000 are handled as a bespoke quote, with the right cover confirmed before the move goes ahead.
Jobs you'll see
Higher-value jobs where your recorded cover matches; above £50,000 by bespoke arrangement.
Cover limits are recorded by Movesmith admin or operations once we've verified your policy schedule. Operators can't self-edit their recorded limit — that integrity is what makes the matching rule trustworthy for the customer.
What else we require
Public Liability insurance
Minimum £2,000,000 cover. Covers third-party injury and damage at the customer's premises — typically already part of a commercial motor / business policy if you're trading professionally.
Vehicle taxed and MOT'd
Every van that runs a Movesmith job must be road-legal. We verify this during onboarding via DVLA lookup.
How onboarding handles it
- 1
Apply
Submit your supplier application — you don't need insurance sorted to apply. Your application is accepted; we'll guide the insurance step separately.
- 2
We review your existing policy
If you already have Goods-in-Transit cover, send us the schedule on your onboarding call. We confirm the cover limit and the limit gets recorded on your account — that's the figure the job board matches against.
- 3
Need cover, or want to upgrade? We point you to a specialist
If you don't have a policy in place — or you want to move from the floor to a higher recorded limit to access a wider range of jobs — we introduce you to a removals-specialist insurance broker we work with. Quotes typically come back within 24 hours.
- 4
First job offered once cover is in place
We don't dispatch jobs to an operator with no Goods-in-Transit cover on file. Once your policy is confirmed and the limit is recorded, you're live in dispatch.
What it typically costs
Goods-in-Transit premiums vary widely with vehicle size, claim history, cover limit, and operating area — a London-based 3.5t van solo operator pays different rates than a multi-van outfit running the Home Counties. Stepping up from £10,000 to a higher recorded limit is usually less expensive than operators expect; the brokers we work with quote the levels head-to-head so you can see the trade-off before you decide.
Common questions
- What happens if I bump my cover later?
- Send us the updated schedule and we'll update your recorded limit. From that point you'll see the higher-value jobs you were previously filtered out of.
- Can I claim a job above my recorded limit if I'm willing to take the risk?
- No. The matching rule is a hard rule, not a heuristic — a job above your limit won't appear on your job board, and the claim endpoint will refuse it. The cover limit needs to be lifted on the policy and the new figure recorded before the job is available to you.
- What if my policy lapses or my cover drops?
- Tell us before it happens. We'll update the recorded limit (or set it to nil if you're between policies), and you'll see only jobs that match the new state. We can re-enable dispatch once cover is reinstated and the policy doc is on file.