You can’t remove all risk from an international move, but you can control most of it. Choose a mover that uses export-standard packing, a barcoded inventory for every item, secure storage, shipment tracking and transit insurance. Document your belongings before they leave, and check them against the inventory on delivery. Every item should be traceable from your home to its destination.
Why do items get lost or damaged in international moves?
An international move involves many handovers: packing crews, trucks, warehouses, ports, vessels or aircraft, customs and destination agents. Most problems come from a small set of causes:
- Weak packing: materials not built for long transit, vibration, humidity or stacking
- Poor inventory: items listed vaguely, or not listed at all, so loss is hard to prove or trace
- Rushed handling: packing or loading done without proper checks
- Unsuitable storage: heat, humidity or poor tracking while goods wait
- Unclear accountability: no single point of contact when something goes wrong
Each prevention step below addresses one of these.
What are the six steps that protect your belongings?
What does export packing involve?
Export packing is not the same as packing for a local move. Goods have to survive long transit, repeated handling and changing conditions, so it typically means:
- strong materials suited to fragile items, with custom crating where needed
- moisture-resistant packing for sea freight
- clear labelling that links each carton to the inventory
- separate handling for air and sea shipments
Packing quality is the first line of defence. A well-protected item survives a rough handover, and a poorly packed one often doesn’t.
How does a barcoded inventory prevent loss?
An inventory is only useful if it is specific and linked to physical labels. With barcoded inventory:
- Each item or carton gets a unique number at the point of packing.
- Its description and condition are recorded against that number.
- The barcode is scanned when the goods are loaded, stored, shipped and delivered.
- At delivery, you check what arrived against the list.
This is how you move from “I think everything arrived” to “every item is accounted for.” In a recent emergency relocation, ISS Relocations packed, inventoried, barcoded and labelled a full household by noon after an early-morning survey. The shipment later arrived with 100% inventory accuracy and no damage to high-value or sentimental items. You can read that case study here.
Why does storage matter for protecting goods?
If your goods wait in storage before shipping, the conditions matter. Heat and humidity can damage furniture, electronics, artwork, books and fabrics. Ask whether the facility is climate-controlled and whether items stay tracked by barcode while stored. In the case above, ISS held the shipment in air-conditioned storage with barcode tracking until shipping conditions improved.
What can you do yourself?
Even with a good mover, a few steps strengthen your position:
- Photograph valuables and note any existing marks or damage.
- Keep irreplaceable items with you: passports, jewellery, key documents and small sentimental pieces.
- Declare accurate values for insurance, especially for high-value items.
- Check the inventory for accuracy before signing off the packing.
- Inspect on delivery and note any issue on the paperwork before the crew leaves. Report problems promptly, as claims usually have time limits.
What should you ask a moving company before you book?
- Do you survey before quoting?
- Is packing to export standard, and is custom crating available for fragile items?
- Is every item inventoried and barcoded?
- Is storage climate-controlled, and are items tracked while stored?
- How will I be updated during transit, and who is my contact?
- What does your transit insurance cover, and what are the exclusions?
- What is your claims process and timeline?
- What accreditations do you hold?
On accreditation: FIDI is an international federation of professional movers and a common benchmark for quality in international moving.
FAQs
Can a moving company guarantee nothing will be damaged? No honest mover can promise zero risk. What they can offer is a process that minimises it: export packing, tracked inventory, careful handling and insurance. Ask what happens if something goes wrong.
What is the best way to avoid lost items in an international move? Use a barcoded inventory. Each item is numbered at packing and checked at each stage, so any gap shows up quickly and can be traced.
Do I need transit insurance for an international move? It is strongly advisable. Goods pass through many hands and modes of transport. Check what the policy covers, how values are declared and how claims are made.
What should I do if something is damaged on arrival? Note it on the delivery paperwork, take photos, and report it to your mover straight away. Keep the packaging if requested, and follow the claims process within the stated time limit.
Is storage safe for household goods before shipping? It can be, if the facility is climate-controlled, secure and tracks items by barcode. Ask to see how access and inventory are managed.
How does ISS Relocations protect goods in an international move? ISS uses export packing, barcoded inventory, climate-controlled storage and tracked shipping, with transit insurance available. The company has 30+ years of relocation experience, is FIDI-accredited, and holds ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 certification.
About ISS Relocations
ISS Relocations is a Dubai-headquartered international moving company providing packing, storage, shipping and customs support from the UAE and GCC to destinations worldwide. To plan a move with a clear inventory and tracked handling, call +971505532291 or request a free quote.