Full Value Protection vs. Released Value: What’s Actually Covered

Somewhere in your moving paperwork, there is a line that decides how much you get paid if the movers break something. Most people sign it without reading it. But then a box hits the floor, a drawer front cracks, a TV arrives with a starred screen, and the customer finds out what they actually agreed to.

That single choice is full value protection vs released value. The two options pay out in completely different ways, and the gap between them can be the difference between a check that covers a replacement and a check that wouldn’t cover lunch. Here is exactly what each one means and what is actually covered.

The legal minimum: released value at $0.60 per pound

Under federal rules, every interstate mover has to offer two levels of liability, called valuation coverage. The bare-minimum option is released value protection.

Released value costs nothing. That is the appeal, and also the catch. The mover’s responsibility is capped at no more than 60 cents per pound, per article. Not based on the value, but by weight, no matter what the item is actually worth. The federal government spells this out in its liability and protection guidance for interstate moves.

The reason this option pays out so poorly is that weight and value have almost nothing to do with each other. Watch what happens with two very different items.

A heavy, cheap item. A three-seat sofa weighs about 150 pounds. If it is destroyed under released value, the math is 150 pounds times $0.60, or $90. A worn sofa might be worth roughly that, so you come close to even.
A light, valuable item. A laptop weighs about 4 pounds. If it is crushed, released value pays 4 times $0.60, or $2.40. A replacement runs well over a thousand dollars, meaning you’re simply out the entire difference.

The FMCSA uses the same kind of example on its own page: a 50-inch TV weighing 25 pounds, lost or damaged, pays just $15 under released value (60 cents times 25 pounds). The screen costs many times that to replace.

Notice the pattern. The lighter and more valuable the item, the worse released value treats you. Electronics, jewelry, art, instruments, anything modern and compact, all fall on the wrong side of the weight math. And releasing your shipment at this level is not automatic: if you choose it, federal rules require you to sign a specific statement on the bill of lading agreeing to it. If you do not sign that statement, your shipment moves at the higher level of protection by default.

Full value protection: the standard that pays the real value

The second option is full value protection, and it works the way most people assume all moving coverage works.

Under full value protection, the mover is responsible for the replacement value of lost or damaged goods, not a fraction based on weight. If something is lost, destroyed, or damaged, the mover will do one of the following for that item: repair it, replace it with a similar item, or make a cash settlement for the cost of repair or the current market replacement value. That laptop is now measured by what it costs to replace, not by what it weighs.

There is one common limit worth knowing. Movers are allowed to cap their responsibility on items of “extraordinary value,” meaning items worth more than $100 per pound, such as jewelry, furs, or fine china. The fix is simple and it is on you: list those items in writing on the shipping documents before the move. Do that, and the mover stays responsible for their safe delivery.

Full value protection is the better standard because it lines up coverage with reality. You own things that are light and expensive. This is the option that treats them that way.

How Haul Co handles it

Haul Co includes full value protection on every move, at no extra cost. You do not pick it off a menu or pay to upgrade into it. It comes with the price.

Here is the precise, honest description, and the distinction matters: Haul Co’s full value protection is cargo liability coverage up to the lesser of your declared value or $100,000. It is not insurance, and we will not call it that. It means Haul Co, as the carrier, is liable for the current replacement value of an item that is lost, damaged, or destroyed during your move, up to that limit. Put simply, the first $100,000 of your shipment’s value is covered automatically on every Haul Co move.

Why be this careful about the wording? Because cargo liability coverage and insurance are two different things, and movers that blur the line are doing you no favors. Cargo liability is the carrier’s own responsibility for your goods, built into the move. Calling it “insurance” would imply a separate policy from a licensed insurer, which this is not. We would rather tell you exactly what you are getting.

The practical upshot: with Haul Co you are never the person who discovers at claim time that their shipment quietly moved at 60 cents a pound. The stronger protection is the default, it is included, and it is written plainly.

Reading your own paperwork

Whatever mover you choose, protect yourself before move day.

Find the valuation line on the estimate and bill of lading. Confirm which level you are getting. If a released-value statement is sitting there waiting for your signature, you are about to accept 60 cents per pound. Do not sign it unless that is truly what you want.
Get the full value protection terms in writing. Ask for the coverage limit and any deductible. A straight answer is a good sign.
List anything worth more than $100 per pound, in writing. Jewelry, watches, art, collectibles. This is the step people skip and regret.
Verify the carrier is real. Look them up on the federal SAFER company snapshot and confirm active authority and insurance on file. For Haul Co, the carrier on record is Hauling Authority LLC, USDOT 4435598, MC 1745912.
Know your claim window. You have nine months from delivery to file a written claim, per FMCSA rules. Report loss or damage promptly and keep your paperwork.

The FMCSA’s Protect Your Move hub covers all of this in more depth, and it is free.

The short version

Released value is the legal floor. It pays 60 cents per pound, ignores what your things are actually worth, and shortchanges anything light and valuable. Full value protection ties the payout to replacement value, which is what you assumed you had all along.

Haul Co takes the guesswork out of that decision by including full value protection, cargo liability coverage up to the lesser of your declared value or $100,000, on every move at no extra cost. One less line to worry about, spelled out plainly, so you know what is covered before the truck ever arrives. When you are ready, get your guaranteed price in about two minutes and see it laid out from the start.