By Felix Kong｜Licensed Insurance Agent
Looper Insurance Agency Limited (GA1034)
Published: 2026-08-31｜Last updated: 2026-08-31

When a dining table gets damaged on moving day, the removal company rarely argues about whether its crew did it. It points at the small print on the docket: maximum compensation of so much per item. The Consumer Council's July 2024 survey (CHOICE Issue 573) looked at the service terms of 20 local home removal companies and found 11 of them working on "10% to 30% of the total charge, or HK$300", several with a further cap of HK$300 to HK$5,000, while one stated outright that it pays nothing for damaged or lost goods. This guide covers two questions: whether such a cap survives the Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 71), and whether your own home contents policy picks up the shortfall. The last section is written for removal company owners.

Table of Contents

1. What the Consumer Council found, twice

2. Does a HK$300 per item cap hold up?

3. Reading the cap: what you would actually recover

4. Which policy responds to the shortfall

5. Four things to do before and after the move

6. For the removal company: four covers

7. FAQ

1. What the Consumer Council found, twice

The Council ran the same exercise in 2019 and 2024. Both times it questioned more than a hundred removal companies, and both times exactly 20 replied. That response rate is the finding worth holding onto: when you shop around, most operators will not volunteer their full terms.

Of the 20 home removal companies in the Consumer Council's 2024 survey, 19 offered some compensation for damaged or lost goods, but on inconsistent bases. Eleven worked on 10% to 30% of the total charge or HK$300, several with a further cap of HK$300 to HK$5,000. One paid 30% to 50% of the original price. A different operator capped payment at HK$1,000 per item, and three negotiated case by case. The 2019 survey found per item and per carton caps of HK$300 to HK$1,000, and one operator paying by weight at up to HK$10 per kilogram. What you recover is not a function of what the item is worth. It is a function of what is printed on the back of your docket.

2. Does a HK$300 per item cap hold up?

Clauses of that kind have a name in law: exemption clauses. Hong Kong does not leave them to the drafter.

Section 7 of the Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 71) provides that a person cannot, by a contract term or a notice, exclude or restrict liability for death or personal injury resulting from negligence. For other loss or damage, your dining table included, such a term is effective only in so far as it satisfies the requirement of reasonableness in section 3(1): that it was a fair and reasonable term to include, having regard to the circumstances known to or in the contemplation of the parties when the contract was made. Schedule 2 sets out the guidelines a court applies, among them the relative bargaining strength of the parties, whether the customer had an alternative, and whether the customer knew of the term and its extent.

Two further ordinances apply to a house move. Section 5 of the Supply of Services (Implied Terms) Ordinance (Cap. 457) implies a term that the supplier will carry out the service with reasonable care and skill, so "accidents happen" is not a defence in itself. Section 5 of the Unconscionable Contracts Ordinance (Cap. 458), which applies where one party deals as a consumer, lets a court refuse to enforce, sever or revise an unconscionable term.

None of this makes a HK$300 cap automatically void. It shifts the burden onto the operator, which has to persuade a court that the term was fair and reasonable in the circumstances. Where the term first appears on a receipt after the job is done, whether reasonable steps were taken to bring it to your attention becomes a live issue of its own.

3. Reading the cap: what you would actually recover

Four drafting patterns cover most of the market, each with a different trap. The item values below are illustrative figures used to show the arithmetic.

Three further points belong in the same conversation: who carries the risk if the move falls on a No. 8 signal or black rainstorm day, whether self packed items are covered, and how many days you have to notify a claim.

4. Which policy responds to the shortfall

Home contents policies carry three structural limits worth checking against your own schedule. Cover is normally confined to property at the insured address, so whether goods in transit fall inside the policy has to be read case by case. A separate limit applies to any one item or set, and it sits well below the headline sum insured. Jewellery and watches attract a further sub limit and a declaration requirement. Some plans offer an optional worldwide personal belongings extension, and some cover goods held in a storage facility, but that varies. Ask your insurer, before the move, how the policy treats the move and the new address, and keep the answer in writing.

"Removal insurance" means two different things in this market. Goods in Transit cover insures the goods themselves, is taken out by the owner, and pays on its own policy terms. Carriers' Liability cover insures the removal company's legal liability for customers' goods, and what it pays is governed by the limitation clause in the removal contract. So when you ask a mover whether it has insurance and the answer is yes, that usually means the second one, and it does not lift the contractual cap. The Consumer Council notes that consumers may buy Goods in Transit cover themselves, but must give the insurer a detailed list of the items and their insured values.

5. Four things to do before and after the move

1. Get the full terms before you pay a deposit. A quotation message is not the contract. Ask for a document setting out the compensation basis, the caps, the notification deadline and the bad weather arrangement.

2. Carry the valuables yourself. The Consumer Council advises handling more valuable items such as jewellery personally. Those fall short twice, against the mover's per item cap and against the sub limit in your home policy.

3. Photograph everything, before and after unpacking. Dated photographs and an inventory are the only reliable record of an item's prior condition, and a clause paying a percentage of the original price needs receipts.

4. Notify in writing the same day, and keep the damaged item. The notification needs a paper trail, and the item is what a surveyor will want to inspect.

6. For the removal company: four covers

What a customer sees as a compensation question is four policies on your side.

The employees' compensation position is the most clearly defined. Per the Labour Department's Guide to Employees' Compensation Insurance Inspection, section 40 of the Employees' Compensation Ordinance requires an employer to insure all employees irrespective of contract length or working hours, full time or part time, permanent or temporary. Failing to do so is an offence carrying a maximum fine of HK$100,000 and two years' imprisonment. The statutory minimum cover per event runs in two tiers: not less than HK$100 million for an employer with not more than 200 employees, and not less than HK$200 million above that. Whether subcontracted vehicles and casual crew sit inside that policy is declared at inception, not at claim stage.

Public liability carries no statutory figure. The limit falls out of three things: the minimum your contracts specify, your estimate of the worst realistic single claim plus defence costs, and whether the policy is written on an any one occurrence or an aggregate basis. The third gets the least attention, and it decides whether anything remains for a second claim that year.

There is a structural mismatch in this trade worth stating plainly. Customers read "the removal company is insured" as "damage will be paid in full", but public liability policies generally exclude property in the insured's care, custody or control, and a customer's furniture in mid move is squarely in your custody. The cover that answers that exposure is carriers' liability, and what it pays is governed by the limitation clause in your own contract. Raising the limit and rewriting the contract terms have to be done together; one without the other changes nothing.

FAQ

Q: The mover says it pays a maximum of HK$500 per item. Do I have to accept that?

A: Not automatically. Such clauses are governed by the Control of Exemption Clauses Ordinance (Cap. 71). Under section 7, liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded at all; for property damage, the clause works only in so far as it satisfies the reasonableness requirement in section 3(1). The Schedule 2 guidelines include the relative bargaining strength of the parties, whether you had an alternative, and whether you knew of the term.

Q: Does my home contents policy cover furniture damaged during the move?

A: Check your own schedule rather than assuming. Home contents cover normally applies to property at the insured address, so whether goods in transit fall inside it is read policy by policy. Even where they do, a per item limit and a valuables sub limit apply. Ask the insurer in writing before the move and keep the reply.

Q: The mover says it has insurance. Does that mean I am covered?

A: Not necessarily. It usually means carriers' liability cover, which insures the mover's legal liability for your goods and pays subject to the limitation clause in the removal contract. The other product is Goods in Transit cover, which insures the goods themselves and is normally taken out by the owner with declared values. Ask which one it is and what the limit is.

Q: Should jewellery and watches be handled separately?

A: Carry them yourself. The Consumer Council advises handling more valuable items such as jewellery personally. The reason is the double cap: a per item limit on the mover's side, and a valuables sub limit with a declaration requirement on yours. Neither pays full value.

Q: If the compensation offer is unacceptable, where do I take it?

A: The Small Claims Tribunal deals with monetary claims not exceeding HK$75,000, covering service charges, damage to property and consumer claims. Proceedings are informal and no legal representation is allowed. A claim above the limit cannot be split to fit the Tribunal's jurisdiction; above that figure the District Court is the route, and legal advice is worth taking first.

Next step

If you have not moved yet, send us the mover's full terms with your home contents policy and schedule. We can check the caps and per item limits against each other and say whether separate cover for the move is worth arranging.

If you run a removal company, send us the employees' compensation, commercial motor, carriers' liability and public liability policies. We can check whether subcontracted vehicles are covered, how the care, custody and control exclusion is drafted, and whether the limits line up with your own contract caps.

Related Articles

• Public Liability Insurance in Hong Kong: An English Guide for Businesses and Owners

• Shop Package or Standalone Public Liability? A Decision Guide for Hong Kong SMEs

• A Customer's Dog Bit Our Waiter: A Real Hong Kong Employees' Compensation Claim

• It Was Not Your Dog. You Can Still Be Liable: Occupiers' Liability for HK Restaurants

Free Quote

Looper Insurance Agency Limited (GA1034) offers a free policy check and quotations for home, employees' compensation, commercial motor, carriers' liability and public liability.
Tel: 2633 6813
Email: cs@looperin.com
Website: www.looperin.com

Disclaimer: This article is for reference only and does not constitute insurance or legal advice. Consumer Council figures are cited from CHOICE Magazine Issue 517 (November 2019) and Issue 573 (July 2024) and reflect conditions at the time of those surveys. Actual coverage is subject to policy terms and conditions. For legal advice, consult a solicitor.

免責聲明：本文僅供參考，不構成保險或法律建議。消委會數據引自《選擇》月刊第 517 期（2019 年 11 月）及第 573 期（2024 年 7 月），反映調查當時情況。實際保障範圍以保單條款為準。如需專業保險建議，請聯絡持牌保險代理。