Q:Shalom,
My parents are shipping a lift soon and are at the stage of preparing the marine insurance forms.

When I shipped (10 and 13 years ago), the general rule was to determine cost in the US and use a category-based multiplier (e.g. 2x for electronics, 3x for furniture) to estimate replacement cost in Israel.
At the time, determining the Israeli prices for most items was impossible before shipping, even if the item (or equivalent) was sold here.
Obviously, the internet has made it a bit easier to determine prices, but for the average oleh, Hebrew sites like www.zap.co.il are too difficult to use.
I ordered some items to ship in my parent's lift, and was going to declare the value based on multipliers, as I cannot find some of the items here in Israel.
However, a friend recently warned me that Meches will use the insurance declarations for their valuation.
Thus, it I purchased a digital multimeter for $100 and value it for insurance at $200 (which is what a comparable model would cost here), Meches may use the $200 insurancevaluation, rather than the $100 purchase price.
Declaring the value at $100 for insurance is an option, as that is the value of the loss, if something were to happen.
However, many insurance policies won't pay the full declared value unless the item is replaced - they only pay a fraction.
Since I can't replace it here in Israel for $100, I wouldn't have adequate insurance.
The best I could do is re-order the item and wait for someone flying to bring it and declare it at the airport, which is a pain.

Yisrael

A: Shavua tov Yisrael,
The meches (Customs) declaration has absolutely nothing to do with the insurance valuation when dealing with household goods and personal effects.
Both the insurance company and meches know and understand that.
For *meches*, you will value used goods at their value if sold at a yard or garage sale.
New goods should be valued at their invoice value.
For insurance, you will want to declare the value at their *replacement value* as you will need the payout to buy a replacement for the item that is (hopefully not) damaged or lost.
Obviously, replacement value and current value are two different animals and there is no such thing as showing the insurance valuation to Customs - they do not care what for what value you have insured your used goods.

hope this is helpful, Shmuel
Shmuel Mantinband
Mayflower / United Van Lines / UTS Unigroup Sonigo Int'l Shipping
www.Sonigo.com
US Toll Free: 1 (866) 978-5224 or (201)535-4703
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