Hiring Help From a Classifieds Post: What to Know

Hiring casual help to move is common, particularly among students, and it is not automatically a bad idea. It is an arrangement with a different risk profile, and almost nobody thinks about that profile until something has already happened.

Just-In-Time Moving works throughout Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County. We are licensed in Utah and carry general liability insurance.

The three things that can go wrong

Somebody gets hurt. The most serious and the least considered. Moving furniture down stairs is where people are injured, and if that person was hired informally and has no insurance, the question of responsibility lands somewhere. Possibly on you, possibly on your parents, possibly on a renter's policy that was never intended for it.

This is the single strongest argument for checking, and it has nothing to do with your belongings.

The building is damaged. A corridor wall, a lift interior, a doorframe. In a managed building, damage to common areas is typically charged to the resident whose move caused it, which is you regardless of who was carrying.

Your things are damaged. The least serious of the three, honestly, and the one people worry about most.

What insurance would cover, and why buildings ask

General liability broadly covers damage caused in the course of the work, which is why managed buildings ask a moving company for a certificate before admitting them. It is not bureaucracy; it is the building making sure a damaged lift is not a dispute between them, you and somebody unreachable.

Somebody hired casually cannot produce one, which is why the building question and the insurance question are really the same question.

If you do hire informally

Check whether your building requires a certificate before you commit to anybody.

Do not let anybody work who seems uncomfortable with the job. Being pushed to take on something beyond their capability is where injuries happen.

Photograph your unit and the corridors before the move. Keep valuables and documents with you.

And be clear about the arrangement, in writing, including the rate and how time is counted.

It is also worth thinking about who else is affected. If you live at home, or your parents are named on a lease or a policy, an incident during a move you arranged informally does not stay a problem between you and the person you hired. Renter's and homeowner's policies vary considerably in what they do about somebody working at a property, and a five minute call to whoever holds yours is worth making before the day rather than in the week after it.

Call (435) 862-3080 or email office@movingjustintime.com.