• Released Value Protection. This is the 60-cents-per-pound minimum coverage that a mover is required to provide. You don't pay any extra for it, but keep in mind that it's bare-bones insurance. For example, if your 30-pound television set was trashed, you'd get just $18 for it.
• Declared Value Protection. This $1.25-per-pound coverage is better than the minimum, but still skimpy. It's based on the weight of a shipment multiplied by $1.25 per pound. On the average household shipment of 7,200 pounds, this means a maximum reimbursement of $9,000 for all of your possessions -- a fraction of the coverage that most people have on their homeowners insurance. The cost of this protection for an average move is $53.
• Lump-Sum Value Protection. If the value of your shipment exceeds $1.25 per pound -- which is likely -- you can declare a specific dollar value and pay $7 for each $1,000 of value. Loss or damage is settled on an item's depreciated value.
• Full-Value Protection. This is the only choice if you're after replacement cost for any damaged or lost item. The cost runs about $200 for an average-size household. Well worth it, we think.

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