---
title: Released Value Protection Explained | AG Moving&Storage
description: Released value protection pays 60 cents a pound, about thirty dollars for a 65-inch TV. What to ask before you sign, and what to do if something breaks.
image: "https://agmovingservice.com/og-image.png"
---

# Released Value Protection: What Your Mover Actually Owes You

Released value protection is the basic, no-extra-charge coverage printed on almost every moving contract, and it pays 60 cents for each pound an item weighed. A 65-inch television weighs around 50 pounds, so that line on the form is worth about thirty dollars on your TV, whatever the set cost you. Here is what the coverage box means for a move in Los Angeles or Orange County, what to carry in your own car, and what to do when something arrives broken.

Sealed and ready: tell us what moves

[Get a quote](https://agmovingservice.com/contact/#quote) [(818) 391-8215](tel:+18183918215)

By[Sandy Uali](https://agmovingservice.com/about/) Owner

October 16, 2026

![Paper-craft illustration of a small folded-paper box sitting on a simple paper balance beam tilted to one side](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/4dt76agm/production/eefeea7f107a62488787c7e30bf8a1a6e4435eeb-1264x848.jpg?w=1264&h=843&fit=crop&auto=format)

## At a glance

- Released value protection pays by weight, not by value. Sixty cents a pound, per item.
- Ask your estimator what the basic level pays on your dearest items, what the next level up costs, and what happens if the box is left blank.
- Valuation and insurance are different products. Call the renters or homeowners insurer you already pay.
- Jewelry, cash, documents, medication and laptops belong in your car, not on the truck.
- A box you packed yourself puts the burden of proof on you. Keep the carton and the packing material.

## What released value protection actually pays

Released value protection pays 60 cents for each pound an item weighed, and nothing about the item's value enters the arithmetic.

**Released value protection** is the mover's basic level of liability, accepted by the customer in writing, at 60 cents per pound per article. A California agreement usually prints it as basic coverage at that rate, so the federal phrase may not appear on your form. **An article** is one item, or one carton and everything inside it.

The arithmetic is simple and unhappy. LG publishes 47.4 pounds for the bare panel on one of its 65-inch sets, in the [spec sheet for the UM670H series](https://www.lg.com/us/business/download/resources/CT00001837/LG_SPEC-SHEET_UM670H_Series_122327_LR%5B20240131_040303%5D.pdf). Sixty cents against 50 pounds comes to thirty dollars. Most 65-inch sets land between 45 and 60 pounds, so read the model number off the back of yours.

The lighter and dearer a thing is, the worse that arithmetic treats it: televisions, laptops, cameras, a carton of stemware. A sofa weighs enough to do reasonably well, and nobody lies awake about the sofa.

## Read the coverage box before you sign

The coverage box sits on the moving agreement, a few lines from your signature, and it deserves two minutes before you initial anything. Three questions get you what you need.

1. What does the basic level pay on my television and my glassware?
2. What does the next level up cost for my inventory, and does it carry a deductible?
3. What happens if I leave the value blank on this form?

**Actual cash value** is what an item was worth used on the day it was lost, not what a new one costs today. **Full value protection** is the level at which the mover repairs the item, replaces it, or pays what a replacement costs, and it usually carries a deductible.

Write any declared value in your own handwriting, sign the form yourself, and photograph the page. Settle coverage while the number is still being written, alongside everything else on [what a move costs](https://agmovingservice.com/moving-costs/). Ask any mover those three questions, ours included, on [(818) 391-8215](tel:+18183918215).

## Valuation is not insurance

Insurance and valuation are two different products, and only one of them comes from your mover.

Valuation is the mover's own liability, chosen in the coverage box and written on the mover's paperwork. Insurance is a policy from an insurer, sold by somebody licensed to sell policies. If a company quotes "moving insurance" as a line item, ask which of the two it means, in those words.

Then call the insurer you already pay. A renters or homeowners policy may or may not follow your belongings onto a truck, and one phone call settles it. The California Department of Insurance publishes a plain guide to [homeowners and renters coverage](https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/105-type/95-guides/03-res/Residential_Insurance.cfm). Ask about the deductible too, since one larger than the thing that broke is coverage you will never use.

## Decide what never goes on the truck

Some things should never go on the truck at all, whatever coverage you choose. The list is short enough to remember.

- Jewelry, watches and cash.
- Passports, birth certificates, deeds, titles and the folder holding your moving paperwork.
- Prescriptions, and anything medical you need that night.
- Laptops, hard drives, cameras and their chargers.
- House keys, car keys and remotes.
- The small irreplaceable thing: the ring, the album, the letters.

Pack that lot into one bag the night before and put it in your car before the crew arrives. Crews load rooms, and anything standing in a room being loaded goes on the truck. For example, a "do not load" bag left by the front door is the most reliable way to lose track of it. Keep it in the bathroom with the door shut, or in your trunk.

Photograph the expensive things and the serial numbers on the back of them, using the state's [home inventory guide](https://www.insurance.ca.gov/01-consumers/105-type/95-guides/03-res/Home-Inventory.cfm) as the template. Twenty minutes of photographs are the difference between a claim and an argument.

## Let the crew pack what you would hate to lose

The crew packing a carton changes what happens if it arrives rattling. A box you filled and taped yourself puts the burden on you to show the damage came from handling rather than the packing, so keep the carton and the paper.

If you are packing yourself, method beats materials.

- Plates travel on edge, standing like records in a rack, never stacked flat.
- Glasses and stemware go in upright, each one wrapped, with paper between them.
- Use packing paper instead of newspaper, because newsprint ink transfers onto china and white ceramics.
- Fill every gap to the top so nothing shifts when the box tips. A half-full carton collapses under the one above it.
- Keep book boxes small and under about 40 pounds. A dropped box is usually a heavy box.
- Tape the bottom seam both ways, and write the room and the word FRAGILE on two sides rather than the lid.

Televisions ride upright, standing on edge like a plate, never flat with weight on the screen. The original carton is the best thing you own if you kept it; failing that, a TV box, a blanket, and nothing leaning against the panel.

Our crews bring paper, wrap, tape, blankets, door shields, floor runners, speed-pack boxes and up to eight loaner wardrobe boxes, included rather than itemized. A practiced pair clears a kitchen in a morning; the same kitchen alone eats most of a weekend. [Packing services](https://agmovingservice.com/services/packing-services/) price hourly like the move itself, and the cartons arrive with the crew.

## Where things actually get damaged in Los Angeles and Orange County

Damage happens where things get handled most, which is why access matters far more than mileage.

Stairs come first. Every flight adds corners, and the walk-up apartments around [Long Beach](https://agmovingservice.com/service-areas/long-beach/) and [Santa Ana](https://agmovingservice.com/service-areas/santa-ana/) put more handling into the same load. Older streets come second: around [Pasadena](https://agmovingservice.com/service-areas/pasadena/), a narrow driveway or a house set back from the curb means the truck stands further away and every carton walks further. Elevator buildings come third. A tower in [Irvine](https://agmovingservice.com/service-areas/irvine/) books its freight elevator for a fixed window, and a load running against a clock is the one nobody wants to slow.

Heat is the one people forget. A truck standing in the sun through an inland afternoon gets warm enough to soften candles and warp vinyl records, so those ride with you and come indoors at the other end. Consider what a closed car does overnight in August as well.

Tell us about the stairs, the driveway and the elevator when you ask for a price. [Local moving](https://agmovingservice.com/services/local-moving/) explains how crew size and hours build the figure, and the written estimate caps the bill.

## If something arrives broken, do this first

Broken items are a paperwork problem, and the paperwork is easiest in the first hour. Five steps, in this order.

1. Photograph it where it sits, before anybody moves it or breaks down the carton.
2. Keep the carton and the packing material, particularly if you packed that box.
3. Note it on the delivery paperwork while the crew is still there. Missing it at the door does not end a claim, but noting it saves an argument later.
4. Pay the bill. A claim is not a reason to hold payment.
5. Send the claim in writing to the company's office: the date, both addresses, the job number, each item and what happened to it, the figure you are asking for, and the photographs.

Filing deadlines are counted in months rather than years, so send it in the first week rather than the first season. Ask the mover in writing to confirm its claim window. Where a California mover goes quiet, the state's Bureau of Household Goods and Services takes complaints about movers.

## Ask about the coverage box when you ask for the price

Ask about the coverage box in the same conversation as the price, because both end up on the same piece of paper.

Tell us which rooms hold the fragile and expensive things, how many stairs there are, and where a 24-foot truck can stand. The written estimate is free, and it caps the bill: you will not be charged more than the figure you approved. Our baseline crew is two movers and a 24-ft truck, and the crew size is built into that figure. There is no deposit on standard bookings; same-day and last-minute bookings may require a deposit, confirmed with your quote.

Call [(818) 391-8215](tel:+18183918215), email info@agmovingservice.com, or [send us the details](https://agmovingservice.com/contact/#quote), and the figure comes back in writing.

AG Moving&Storage is family-owned, working across Los Angeles and Orange County under USDOT 3610341 · CAL-T192465 · CA 602741 · MC 1525501. [About us](https://agmovingservice.com/about/) says who is doing the carrying.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does released value protection pay if my TV breaks?

Sixty cents for every pound the television weighed, and nothing more. Most 65-inch sets weigh between 45 and 60 pounds, so the basic level covers one for roughly thirty dollars however much the set cost. The lighter and dearer an item is, the worse that arithmetic treats it, which is why televisions, laptops and cameras are the things worth asking about before you sign.

### Is moving insurance the same thing as valuation?

No. Valuation is the mover's own liability, written on the moving agreement and chosen by you in the coverage box. Insurance is a separate policy from an insurer, sold by somebody licensed to sell policies. Call your renters or homeowners agent and ask whether your own policy follows your things onto a moving truck, and what the deductible would be.

### Are boxes I packed myself covered?

They are, but a box you packed yourself puts the burden on you to show the damage came from handling rather than from the packing. Keep the carton and the packing material if something inside it breaks, because that is the evidence. If a room is full of things you would hate to lose, having the crew pack it is the simpler answer.

### What should I do if the movers damaged something?

Photograph it where it sits before anything is moved or the carton is thrown out. Note it on the delivery paperwork while the crew is still there, pay the bill, then send a written claim to the company's office listing each item, what happened and the figure you are asking for. Filing deadlines are counted in months rather than years, so send it in the first week.

### Do I need extra coverage for a short local move across town?

Distance is not what decides it. A five-mile move handles your things exactly as many times as a fifty-mile one, over the same stairs and through the same doorways. Decide from the load instead: if a few light, expensive items would be painful to replace at 60 cents a pound, ask what the next level up costs on your inventory.

## More from this series

- [Moving Broker vs Carrier: Who Actually Shows Up at Your Door](https://agmovingservice.com/blog/moving-broker-vs-carrier/)
- [What a CPUC Household Goods Carrier Is, and What to Ask Before You Book](https://agmovingservice.com/blog/cal-t-cpuc-household-goods-carrier/)
- [How to Check a Moving Company License in California Before You Book](https://agmovingservice.com/blog/check-a-california-mover/)

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