“Moving company lost my stuff” – if this is your case then you’re on the right page. No one wants to think about it but unfortunately it happens – there are untrustworthy movers that let people’s things disappear. These are rare cases of unethically and unprofessionally working companies and yet it would be a lie if we said that there’s no need to talk about this matter because it is more of an exception rather than a rule. The best thing for you to do is to get informed and stay informed. You should be aware of what to do in cases of lost household goods.
Plan Prevention Measures
Before we get to the point it’s worth to mention briefly that prevention is a great approach. It is the best cure of every disease. Instead of wondering what to do and how to act in a case of lost household items you should think well which moving company you are hiring. Finding a reliable moving company is an easy thing once you know what to do. You can find plenty of useful articles on the topic in MyMovingReviews database so we’ll shortly mention some of them here. Check the moving company’s USDOT number, go to the websites of the BBB and American Moving and Storage Association and very importantly – ask for recommendations. Talk to neighbors, friends, colleagues, relatives who’ve moved recently and ask them to tell you what their experience was with the mover. Cases of lost household goos will be much more rare to happen if people get informed in time and take measures before something like this happens. The majority of moving companies are working professionally and there are many happy customers you can find in your acquaintances and in our moving company reviews database.
Moving Lost Items – What to Do?
“Moving company lost my stuff” – this statement holds a serious problem because you don’t know what the result will be and will you get your things back. But there is a way out and you should certainly act. Don’t let any mover get away with it. Responsible moving companies will act if they got something lost by tracking it down and if that is not possible – by reimbursing you. Money will not return what was emotionally of value to you but it definitely shows the right way on behalf of the responsible mover to deal with this matter. Movers can lose your items during the transfer of the luggage from one truck to another. It may also happen if the company uses one truck for two moves and a box or another item stays forgotten at a corner of the truck. Sometimes movers unload the boxes at the wrong home and in this case they can put you through to the person who possibly has them.
It is good to ask for full valuation coverage because the regular (free for you) valuation that movers offer is just $0.60 per pound not taking into consideration the value of your belongings.
Anyway, whatever the cause, the right thing to do in case of lost household goods is to talk to the moving company and file a claim. Most moving companies offer valuation coverage that is of no extra charge for you and which equals usually to $0.60 per pound which is very little. That is why it is always good when relocating to ask for full valuation coverage – it is paid additionally but it’s based on the value of your items. If movers lost items then you will get some more money which is going to be fare if the item(s) lost were expensive. You can additionally file a claim with the BBB – the Better Business Bureau makes a profile of the companies and your claim will participate to form a realistic profile.
If movers lost items you can also contact the FMCSA to file a complaint. Take notes of what is missing and what value it has. It is good to make some photographs of all of your belongings and keep the pictures with you. After the move is over you have a basis for comparison to check if everything arrived and is undamaged. At this moment if you suspect that the moving company has stolen some items you have 9 months to file a claim. It is good to have documents to prove the missing items – for example if you found out that something’s gone at the point of delivery of your luggage keep that document with you. After that the responsible mover has one month to acknowledge that it has received your claim and 3 more months to answer back to you possibly with the offer for a settlement.
If you don’t reach to an agreement with the moving company you can seek an arbitration hearing. As a last resort you can sue the company in court. The FMCSA is an institution you can contact in case of moving company stolen items but the FMCSA in not a lawyer and cannot act as such for you. You will need to pursue your rights if you don’t reach to a settlement with the mover. Another thing you can do is to write a review in our website – that way the moving company will have another chance to answer back and review your problem, and also a lot of future customers will read your warning.
