UK shipping/courier insurance

[Leftfret]

Does anyone know of a way of shipping a bass in the UK will full insurance cover?

ParcelForce exclude enhanced insurance - and I've been told that there is a 'Catch 22' that if you insure for the max standard cover - but the instrument is worth more - they'll decline any claim because you have under declared the value! Anyone have experience of this?

As for DPD - a boxed and/or cased bass exceeds their their maximum length for non-account items!!

I'm thinking of selling a couple of basses - for between £500 and £700 - but would only ship if fully insured. The alternative is buyer collect - or delivery by me - but given the current Lockdown regulations I wouldn't want to get slapped with a fine - or the buyer(s) get slapped with one - for taking a bass for 'exercise'!!

At the moment it looks like I'll just have to put any ads on hold until Lockdown ends - anyone want a bass for Easter?

Any info on couriers appreciated!!

[BassBunny]

I've never had a problem with Interparcel. Usually ships with UPS and full insurance cover.

[Leftfret]

Thanks for the info - I'll check them out.

 

[Maude]

I've just used Eurosender. 

From North Yorkshire to Cornwall, insured as an instrument. £12.50

Search on here for the thread with the forum discount for Eurosender. 

It was in a Hiscox hardcase and then wrapped in a couple of layers of cardboard and sent with DPD, so size not an issue. £200 insurance included as standard, my bass only cost £200 so didn't bother increasing it. 

Two days door to door. 

[Paul S]

7 hours ago, Maude said:

I've just used Eurosender. 

From North Yorkshire to Cornwall, insured as an instrument. £12.50

Search on here for the thread with the forum discount for Eurosender. 

It was in a Hiscox hardcase and then wrapped in a couple of layers of cardboard and sent with DPD, so size not an issue. £200 insurance included as standard, my bass only cost £200 so didn't bother increasing it. 

Two days door to door. 

This.  Except I keep forgetting the discount!  🤪

[Leftfret]

DPD wouldn't take the last bass I sold - too long for a non-account client. I'll look in to Eurosender - they presumably are treated as an account client with better options for size and insurance. We use DPD for work - always reliable with good tracking.

[Maude]

7 minutes ago, Leftfret said:

DPD wouldn't take the last bass I sold - too long for a non-account client. I'll look in to Eurosender - they presumably are treated as an account client with better options for size and insurance. We use DPD for work - always reliable with good tracking.

I guess you're right about the account client thingy. 

I was buying a bass from someone so even over estimated the measurements and weight so as to definitely not cause the seller any grief when the courier collected. 

Although it was insured as a bass guitar I haven't had to claim so no idea how that would pan out. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

11 hours ago, Leftfret said:

DPD wouldn't take the last bass I sold - too long for a non-account client. I'll look in to Eurosender - they presumably are treated as an account client with better options for size and insurance. We use DPD for work - always reliable with good tracking.

They certainly won't be taking any in the near future. 

https://www.dpd.com/group/en/2020/12/21/suspension-of-services-between-the-uk-and-europe/

[Leftfret]

I would be limiting any sale to UK only - another factor would be Rosewood finger boards - until 31/12/20 we were part of a Europewide CITES agreement regarding endangered woods - Rosewood being one of them - which allowed the transport of Rosewood within the EU if it had been legally imported. Now that we are outside the EU I am not sure if we are still party to that agreement. So shipping a Rosewood fingerboard in either direction might require individual CITES certificates etc (when all this came in a while back there were tales of guitars from the USA being impounded and destroyed by HMRC). This is why Fender is now using Pau Ferro on all 'Rosewood' basses sold in Europe! (and Gibson got into a sh*tstorm of trouble over using illegal Rosewood in the USA a few years ago).

[Paul S]

I think we can cross Eurosender off the list at the moment.  I was expecting a pickup from DPD yesterday arranged via Eurosender last week - a no show.  I got an email today saying that DPD were no longer able to work with a non-UK company.  No idea of the small print here but basically I need to rebook with someone else and will get refunded by Eurosender. 

 

Edit - just seen the link in the post above, might have explained it better.

Edit again.  Should say this was for UK>UK but booked via Eurosender.  So not even crossing any borders.

Edited January 12, 2021 by Paul S

[Leftfret]

Thanks for the update - its all a total pain at the moment! Might just pop my 'spare' basses in the attic until after lockdown!!

 

[Guest]

Let’s be clear about a few things as the courier market for (relatively) fragile items has contracted significantly over the last few years. I   researched this a while back and was quite surprised by the results.

1. Forget about sending a bass unless you send it in a hard case in a cardboard box. I haven’t found any UK courier that will offer transit cover above basic without both. Some won’t offer any compensation. Sellers on here that say they’re sending it in a gig bag in a box are in for a shock if they try to claim for damage in transit. Even if the courier doesn’t state it explicitly they’ll do their best to wriggle out of it under the pretence of insufficient packaging.

2. Read the courier’s terms and conditions closely - not the 3rd party (Interparcel) as you could end up in a 3-way struggle should you violate courier terms. Even though your contract is with Interparcel you may be disappointed as they don’t always reproduce all of the courier Ts and Cs

3. 3rd parties are very convenient but they’re not shipping the goods. If you have issues then you again end up in a 3-way conversation. Your contract is not with the company who is shipping the bass. The last 3 times I’ve shipped a bass I went direct to UPS and they were no more expensive than Interparcel (and the last time I tried, UPS didn’t even appear). Their app allows you to get a quote and go ahead and get the labels etc very easily (not much harder than Interparcel in fact)

4. If the bass is over £1,000 you may not be in luck. I closely checked Hermes, DPD, TNT, DHL, UPS, Parcelforce, Yodel and others. After digging quite deeply in UPS Ts and Cs (on their website, because Interparcel did not show it) was the £1,000 limit for damage OR loss. None of the other couriers offered more than £200 transit cover. Parcelforce and TNT offered no cover at all (not sure whether that’s changed). 

5. Pack the parcel for a nuclear hit. It’s the only way to avoid a claim for damage

Edited January 12, 2021 by FDC484950
Removed reference to Eurosender

[Leftfret]

Thanks for all that info - my information is that ParcelForce will not cover musical instruments for loss or damage - I also looked into taking off the bass neck and shipping the body and neck as 'parts'. No joy - still treated as musical instruments for insurance purposes!

At the moment any basses would have to be buyer collect - observing Covid-19 guidelines and travel restrictions. Not sure how many left-handed bass players in need of a 'new' bass live within a 7 mile cycle ride of my house? Stay well one and all 🙂

[Paul S]

13 minutes ago, FDC484950 said:

5. Eurosender is an option and there is a discount available on here. I gather there have been some issues (but then the same applies to every courier service)

 

I don't think it is anymore, as I said in a post a couple above.  Last week I booked DPD via Eurosender to send a bass from Essex to Scotland.  Should have been picked up yesterday but it wasn't.  I emailed and got this reply;

'We have been informed just today by our partner DPD, that the pick-ups within the UK cannot be performed for us as we have a seat of the company in Luxembourg and unfortunately not in the UK at the moment. This means that unfortunately as a foreign company we cannot operate at the moment in the UK due to Brexit regulations'. 

[Woodinblack]

On 12/01/2021 at 19:52, Paul S said:

We have been informed just today by our partner DPD, that the pick-ups within the UK cannot be performed for us as we have a seat of the company in Luxembourg and unfortunately not in the UK at the moment. This means that unfortunately as a foreign company we cannot operate at the moment in the UK due to Brexit regulations'. 

So who else is there now Eurosender are no longer there?

They were the only people that actually insured basses that weren't in hard cases that I had used.

[Owen]

I used to keep a full flight case specifically for shifting basses around the country. Shifting an empty case around after delivery is cheap as chips. My reasoning was that a full flight case was better than insurance. They are cheap to buy on ebay as well. 

[Woodinblack]

4 minutes ago, owen said:

I used to keep a full flight case specifically for shifting basses around the country. Shifting an empty case around after delivery is cheap as chips. My reasoning was that a full flight case was better than insurance. They are cheap to buy on ebay as well. 

TBH, I don't really get insurance for damage, I get insurance for when they lose it, which seems the mostly likely thing.