Furniture Delivery Insurance

Two coverages sit on every furniture truck

Furniture work fails insurance conversations when people use one word for two risks. Auto liability responds when the truck causes bodily injury or property damage to others. Cargo coverage and household-goods valuation respond when the sofa, mattress, or dining set is lost, stolen, or damaged while in the carrier's care. A strong liability policy does not pay a broken antique clock. A released-value election on a bill of lading does not pay a third party's medical bills after a wreck.

Furniture delivery can be ordinary freight (store to customer, B2B wholesale) or regulated household-goods transportation for an individual shipper. The insurance file changes with that classification. Ordinary freight leans on commercial cargo forms and broker certificate requests. Interstate HHG for consumers adds Part 375 valuation disclosures, estimates, and the released-value versus full-value choice. If you are not sure which service you are selling, fix that before you buy a policy or quote a shipper.

When household-goods Part 375 rules apply

49 CFR Part 375 sets consumer-protection rules for motor carriers transporting household goods in interstate commerce for individual shippers. Section 375.201 states that, in general, you are legally liable for loss or damage during transportation of household goods and related services on your lawful bill of lading. It then describes the full-value protection obligation: liability in an amount equal to the replacement value of the goods, with a maximum equal to the declared value of the shipment, subject to Surface Transportation Board rules and applicable tariffs.

Operating as an HHG carrier also means federal registration and consumer paperwork that are not the same as a general freight MC. Those filings and authority questions belong on household-goods authority requirements. This page will not restate the authority checklist. It will keep repeating one point: valuation language on the bill of lading is part of how HHG liability works, and your insurance program has to be able to fund what that language creates.

Released value: 60 cents per pound per article

Section 375.201(c) says that if the shipper waives, in writing, liability for the full value of the household goods, then you are liable for loss or damage to the extent provided in the STB released-rates order. The rule tells carriers to contact the STB for a current copy of the Released Rates of Motor Carrier Shipments of Household Goods, and notes that the rate may be increased annually by the motor carrier based on the U.S. Department of Commerce Cost of Living Adjustment.

49 CFR 375.203(b) refers expressly to an individual shipper who agrees to ship household goods released at a value greater than 60 cents per pound ($$1.32 per kilogram) per article, and then discusses a separate $$100-per-pound notice rule for high-value articles. FMCSA's public Liability & Protection page states that under Released Value Protection the mover is responsible for no more than 60 cents per pound per article, offers the example of a 25-pound television yielding $$15 (60 cents times 25 pounds), and says the shipper must sign a specific statement on the bill of lading or contract agreeing to that option. If the shipper does not select released value, FMCSA states the shipment is transported at Full Value Protection.

A Surface Transportation Board decision document on household-goods released rates (service date January 12, 2012, in the STB household-goods materials archive) describes the industry released rate with a recovery level of 60 cents per pound per article and contrasts it with full-value (replacement) rates. That background matches the 60-cent figure still cited in 375.203 and on FMCSA's consumer page. Because 375.201 points carriers to the current STB released-rates order for the operative rate, treat 60 cents as the figure those primary sources presently publish, and verify the active STB order before you print a tariff or estimate if you are the carrier.

Sixty cents per pound is not insurance the shipper buys from you as a separate product in the everyday sense. It is a liability limit. FMCSA notes released value is the most economical option because it is offered at no additional charge, and that the protection is minimal. A scratched antique armoire that weighs little relative to its market value is where that limit is felt.

Full value protection

Full value under 375.201 is replacement value, capped at the declared value of the shipment under STB rules and tariffs. Carriers typically charge more when the shipper keeps full value. That charge is not a substitute for disclosing the two options clearly. Section 375.201(e) requires you to disclose the limits of your liability in a clear and concise manner. Section 375.201(d) adds that selling liability insurance without issuing a copy of the policy or other appropriate evidence can create additional liability under the cross-reference in 375.303.

For the carrier's insurance file, full value means larger potential cargo payments on the same truck. Underwriting that exposure with a cargo policy that has a low limit, a high deductible, or household-goods exclusions is how a legal valuation choice becomes an uninsured balance sheet event. Match the policy to the valuation you actually offer on the street.

Auto liability: the 387.9 floor

Furniture trucks still hit other vehicles. 49 CFR 387.9 sets public-liability minimums. For for-hire carriage in interstate or foreign commerce, with a GVWR of 10,001 pounds or more, transporting nonhazardous property, the minimum is $$750,000. Oil and certain hazardous materials rise to $$1,000,000. Bulk hazardous and some Class 7 highway-route-controlled quantities rise to $$5,000,000. A lighter vehicle under 10,001 pounds GVWR has different rows in related security tables; read the row that matches your equipment and commodity.

Retail furniture retailers, property managers, and brokers often demand $$1,000,000 liability on the certificate even when the federal nonhazmat floor is $$750,000. Meet the contract and the regulation. This page does not invent a premium for either limit. Premium shopping belongs with a commercial truck insurer and, for general box work, the box-truck insurance-cost guide.

Cargo policy versus bill-of-lading valuation

A motor truck cargo policy is a contract between the carrier and the insurer. HHG valuation is a liability relationship between the carrier and the individual shipper under Part 375 and the STB released-rates framework. They interact when a claim is paid, but they are not synonyms. A policy may exclude used household goods, owner-packed goods, mysterious disappearance, or certain high-value items unless scheduled. A shipper on full value can still present a claim that your policy does not fully fund.

For non-HHG furniture freight, brokers often ask for a stated cargo limit on a certificate. That market practice is described in broader terms on cargo insurance for trucking. Do not assume a broker's $$100,000 cargo request is the same as HHG released value or full value. One is a certificate limit. The other is a per-article or replacement valuation on a consumer move.

Physical damage on the truck, hired and non-owned auto, and helper or employee injury coverage are still separate. Helpers carrying sofas up stairs create premises and employment exposures that a cargo form will not quietly absorb. Ask the insurer which form responds to an in-home damage claim versus an in-transit damage claim.

What this page is not

This is not a carrier lookup, not an FMCSA SAFER tutorial, and not a second copy of household-goods authority requirements. It does not publish invented premiums, fines, or "average furniture cargo rates." It does not tell a shipper which valuation to buy; it tells a carrier which federal sentences describe the two options and which liability floor sits under the wheels.

O Trucking does not sell insurance and does not adjust HHG claims. The 60-cent figure above is the one stated in 49 CFR 375.203, FMCSA's liability-protection consumer page, and STB released-rates background materials cited in the sources list, verified for this draft dated 2026-10-04. Confirm the current STB released-rates order before you rely on a tariff number in production.

Frequently Asked Questions