Customer goods during work
Scratching, lifting or fastening can damage an entrusted item. Ordinary GL and some custody forms exclude property being worked on.
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Packaging And Crating Service Insurance
An artwork can be damaged by the packing meant to protect it. Check whether customer-property terms accept handling and crating errors, not just storage, and separate that interest from the crate you make.
Talk with The Southern Agency about your operation, policy terms, and the information carriers need.
Industry overview
You prepare machinery, art or goods for transport by building protective crates at your shop or a customer site. A minor handling error can damage an item before it ships, or a failed crate can trigger a later liability claim.
The Southern Agency can review your crating processes and your handling of customer property to help you select appropriate insurance. For example, we can help you choose coverage for crate-related damage while distinguishing those limits from insurance protecting the item inside the crate.
Risks worth discussing
Crate design and completed work
A weak crate can be blamed after transit damage. Rebuilding the crate and paying for covered resulting damage may be treated differently.
Shop and site activities
Wood, dust, tools, and forklifts create fire and injury risks. Pickup, delivery, and on-site packing add locations and custody stages.
Coverage worth discussing
Policies to ask about. Which ones fit depends on your operations, your contracts, and the carrier’s forms.
- General Liability InsuranceMay address covered third-party injury and property damage at declared sites. Custody, worked-on property, and faulty-work exclusions require review.
- Commercial Property InsuranceMay pay insured shop, machinery, and owned-material damage. Customer goods and dust-related conditions need explicit treatment.
- Inland Marine InsuranceMay address covered loss of entrusted artwork or machinery during accepted processing or transit. Confirm handling, crating-error, installation and valuable-item terms; storage-only custody protection does not itself include damage caused while packing.
- Workers Compensation InsuranceMay provide benefits for covered saw, nailer, lifting, or forklift injuries, subject to employment and state rules.
- Product Liability InsuranceProducts/completed-operations terms may address covered resulting injury or damage from a crate. Reworking the crate and damage to the packed item need careful exclusion review.
- Business Auto InsuranceMay address declared pickup/delivery vehicle liability and selected vehicle damage. Cargo is not automatically included.
Situations to think through
These hypothetical examples are not agency claim results. Whether a loss is covered depends on the facts, policy terms, and applicable exclusions.
Hypothetical: Artwork scratched during packing
A crew damages art while crating it. Suitable customer-goods cover would need to include the processing/handling damage; mere custody cover is not proof of payment.
Hypothetical: Crate fails after shipment
A crate collapses and a machine is damaged. Applicable completed-operations terms may address covered resulting damage, but crate replacement, worked-on property, and packing exclusions must be examined.
Hypothetical: Fire damages the shop
A fire involving wood stock damages machinery and customer items. Owned property and customer-goods forms may respond under separate interests and triggers.
Before you talk to an agent
Questions to raise
- Does customer-goods cover include damage during actual packing?
- Are single-item values and off-site activities within limits?
Contract terms to check
- Identify when custody begins/ends and who arranges cargo insurance after pickup.
- Compare engineering, export-packaging, and protection promises with policy exclusions; have applicable technical requirements reviewed rather than inventing a universal standard.
What the agent conversation looks like
Start with the work you do and the questions your current policies leave unanswered. Carrier options depend on your location, risk, and underwriting. Explore our approach.
- ListenReview your operations, current coverage, and past claims.
- AssessIdentify potential hazards and discuss ways to reduce risk.
- BuildDiscuss policy and carrier options, premium costs, and audits.
- SupportReview changes and help you plan ahead as your needs develop.
Questions owners ask
Does bailee cover insure a scratched item?
Only if the damage and processing activity fit its terms. Some forms exclude faulty work or items being worked on.
Does crate replacement equal product damages?
No. Own-product/rework costs differ from covered damage to other property.
Are on-site crews included?
The operations, locations, and customer-goods terms need to include the work.
Does customer cargo insurance cover our negligence?
Not automatically. Compare the parties' interests and rights rather than relying on the customer's policy.
Talk through your packaging and crating service coverage
Bring your questions, current policies, and relevant contracts. An agent can review coverage terms, exclusions, and the information carriers ask for, then explain the options available to you.