Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

My husband and I recently moved from the UK to the USA. We used a Walsall based company, SNIP to ship 10 cartons containing our personal possessions. After a 7 month delay it appears now that the UK company has simply lost our goods through sheer incompetence / gross negligence.
Owing to financial constraints we were not able to afford the additional full insurance.

SNIPhas told us that we are therefore unable to claim for compensation. Due to the circumstance of this error i.e. simply lost without a trace I wondered if anyone would know, from a legal standpoint, if we really are up the creek without a paddle or if someone had similar experiences with this company and what the outcome was?

We would have accepted damage to goods if it happened, but losing everything we owned never really entered the realm of possibility for us... Needless to say we are incredibly shocked and appalled.

M

Re: Movers - MoveCorp - lost ALL our stuff!
 

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Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

You should check what insurance you did take out with the removal company.

When signing up for a contract to move possessions, most companies offer several types of liability insurance - weight of goods x set cost per pound, an assessed valuation by you or full replacement of goods. You will have signed up for one these - the weight valuation is usually thrown in at no charge; full replacement of goods insurance would have been charged for.

I believe all these types of liability insurance covers theft, loss or damage.

You should check your documentation carefully - unless this company has some weird way of working, there will be some type of liability insurance included in it.

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

Containers have a unique serial number. Were you ever advised what the number was? Have you asked for it after the fact? ..... About 10,000 containers a year are washed overboard, usually in major storms, but sometimes just because the bottom containets ate weak and collapse. :eek:

Many are worse than this.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yXn-aYKpg8...alling-off.jpg

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

Oh, how absolutely awful for you :( Not the start to your new life that you were anticipating. Was your move employment-based? If so, I'm wondering whether the company may be able to assist (e.g. with an attorney consult or something).

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

Oh heck MBee. Poor you.

I suggest you get a Loss Assessor (insurance claim negotiator) to act on your behalf. Often this is on a no-win no-fee basis. It is good to have the experts on your side.

Even if you had no insurance at all (unlikely), if you can demonstrate that the third party has been negligent, the loss assessor can very often still pursue a claim on your behalf.

For example take a look at the UK firm Salmon Assessors here:

Loss Assessors | Salmon Assessors

And also read their FAQ page:

FAQ | Salmon Assessors

Please note that I am not connected with, do not know and and have not used Salmon Assessors. However the fact that they are FSA regulated is a positive sign.

Good luck!

JC3

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

It's so much more fun reading your comments when you use "t" instead of "r". Maybe you need a new typewriter!

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

99.9% of my posts over the past 46 months have been made using a phone. :o

Anyhow, if the OP can find out what the serial number was on her container, she should be able to find out what happened to her container, because a 20ft/40ft long metal box didn't just "disappear". It ended up somewhere, and finding that information should help with an insurance claim. The container may even be sitting on a quay somewhere waiting to be claimed. :unsure:

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

I didn't see anywhere in the OP where the goods were in a container, just that they had 10 "cartons", which I assumed were crates of some kind.

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

The crates would get consolidated onto a container by the shipping company (unless they went by air of course).

I doubt the shipping company would have supplied the customer with the container number - I know ours didn't. If they had I would have been tracking it to see where it was!

You would need to go back to the shipping company to request all tracking information they have. It is possible that it never even made it to a container - or even their UK warehouse. The tracking may end with it leaving your UK house. Only the shipping company will be able to let you know.

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

You're right. I must have read it too quickly - it says containing. My mistake. :o

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

My phone is always auto correcting are to ate, so annoying.

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

As a matter of interest, how much extra was the "additional full insurance"?

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

everything has a tracking number, post office, fedex and UPS. I expect this shipment is no different.

Re: Movers - lost ALL our stuff!
 

I know my stuff almost got lost, the problem with mine happened once it arrived in the US. The receiving company in the US seemed to operate on paper and failed to keep track of the goods. They failed to contact me once my stuff had arrived, it was only by luck that I got my stuff after paying storage fees. My stuff would have been disposed of the following week , if I had not picked it up. The UK company just kept saying they did not know what had happened to my shipment.
Might be worth finding out where you stuff should have arrived in the US.