When it goes wrong
How do I file a claim for damaged or missing items?
The short answer
Note the damage or shortage on the delivery paperwork before you sign it, then file in writing with the carrier within the deadline in your contract. Photograph everything, keep the packaging, and do not dispose of a damaged item until the claim is resolved — the carrier may want to inspect it.
The sequence
- At delivery, check against your inventory and note every damage and shortage on the paperwork before signing. Signing a clean receipt makes every later step harder.
- Photograph the damage where it sits, with the packaging, before moving anything.
- File in writing with the carrier, within the deadline stated in your contract. Deadlines for interstate US moves are set by federal rules and the contract will state them; other moves follow the contract and local law.
- Keep the damaged item and its packaging until the claim is settled.
- Keep every document: the bill of lading, the inventory, the estimate, and all correspondence.
- If the carrier does not respond or refuses, escalate — for interstate US moves through FMCSA and any arbitration program the carrier participates in, and otherwise through your state or provincial consumer authority.
Why the delivery paperwork matters most
It is the contemporaneous record of the condition of the shipment at the moment responsibility transferred. A note on it is evidence; a phone call the next day is a recollection. If the crew is rushing you, take the time anyway, and write "items not yet inspected" rather than signing a clean receipt.
Open and inspect what you can before the crew leaves, particularly anything fragile. It is inconvenient and it is the single most useful ten minutes of the whole move.
Also asked
How long do I have to file a claim?
It is set by your contract and, for interstate moves in the United States, by federal rules that carriers must follow. Both are stated in the paperwork you were given. Find the deadline on the day you take delivery rather than when you discover the damage, because the two are often not the same day.
What if the carrier ignores my claim?
For interstate US moves there is a complaints route through FMCSA and carriers are required to participate in a dispute resolution program. For other moves the route is your state or provincial consumer authority, and small claims court where the amount fits. Keeping the documentation makes any of those possible.
The long version
How to file a claim after a damaged or lost move
Build a clear moving claim with deadlines, inventories, photos, valuation terms, written demands, arbitration, and last-resort options.
Read the guide →General information about moving and about hiring, not advice about your move. Interstate household-goods moving within the United States is federally regulated; local, intrastate and Canadian moving is regulated by each state or province, and the rules differ. The authority for your move is the one to check.