Even if you have hired the best moving company, some unexpected damages or losses may happen. Here are 7 things you must know when your items are lost or damaged while moving.

1. Contact your moving company to request a claim form. Often moving companies may offer you an option to file an electronic claim on their website. This option is very convenient and may save you a lot of time.

2. Review the contract with your moving company. It is important to know the type of protection coverage. It can be basic valuation ($0.60 per pound per article) or full value protection (replacement, reimbursement, or repair for full item value). To get this information, you can review the contract with your movers. If you didn’t purchase full value protection before the move, you may not add it to your contract after the move is underway or complete.

3. Fill in a claim form if your items are damaged or lost. Include a detailed description of all your broken items. Supply the form with photos, videos, and any other additional information which can help you to prove your stuff was broken during the relocation.

4. Save damaged items so it will be possible to inspect them. Do not repair them and do not move them, it will be better just to leave them as they are to review the damages. If you have items that may be hazardous to your family, like broken glass or crushed sharp pieces of plastic (metal), just separate them to a safe area so that no one gets hurt.

5. Try not to delay your claim. Do everything as fast as you can. After you have listed any damages or losses on the claim form, it needs to be returned to the mover. You have nine months from the delivery date to file a claim. And the movers must pay or deny the claim within 60 days of the completed claim submission.

6. Know how it works. After the claim is submitted, a claims adjuster will be assigned. A claims adjuster is responsible for the contact with a local repair company, the representative of which should come out to your home to inspect the damages.

7. If you are not satisfied with the moving company’s settlement offer, you can go to the claims court and challenge it.

Know the rules and the moving process will not cause you difficulties or unpleasant moments. Damages and losses are not fun to deal with, but your success depends mainly on you, and your consistency in action. Any good moving company cares if you are satisfied with their service. And their follow-ups on your claims can be the best indicator of their work. Finding a trustworthy mover should be a very significant factor in your search for a good moving company. Hopefully, these tips and suggestions will help you to avoid many unexpected moments and give you strength to resolve the damages or losses caused during your move. All the best!

Animals do it all the time. There’s safety in numbers, right? No wonder why Americans having been increasingly moving to bigger and bigger cities. The services provided by cities are far superior and better coordinated oftentimes than in more rural areas. The logic behind why people hire moving companies and head for big city is clear, but the consequences for rural America are less known. A May 7, 2019 article from City-lab says that “more than half of [rural areas]…did not grow or shrank in population” between 2008 and 2017. This is a remarkable decline in Flyover Country. America’s hinterland has been shedding, but the marked growth in city populations has led civil engineers and city planners to get creative with how to provide essential services to its residents and new arrivals. 

Projection for the next several decades put American cities on the brink of overpopulation. The implication for such a precipitous increase in population is more than just more business for packing and moving services or moving companies. Rents increase due to higher demand, which of course increases the strain and stress on city dwellers. Income inequality is also a byproduct of more and more people moving to the cities. Look at the San Francisco Bay Area for example. While the cost of living in places like Redwood City, East Palo Alto, eastern Oakland, and more are extremely high, the wages have not risen fast enough to keep up. This has led to union strikes and higher rates of exodus of lower income earners to the periphery of the Bay Area to cities like Merced, Modesto, Stockton, and Sacramento. All of this puts further strain for urban planning.