Under What Circumstances Are Hawthorne Movers Not Required To Pay Compensation For Items Damaged During A Move?

All elements of society are regulated by some aspect of the law, and removals are no exception. When problems occur during a move, such as loss or damage of an object, the person who is the victim of the damage has the right to claim compensation for the damaged or lost object.

However, certain legally-established factors could make a moving company less liable for what happened and not have to pay full compensation. Which are these factors? This article will explain them.

Note: Before starting with this matter. This article will talk about things that can lower a mover's liability, but other things can increase it. For example, if they make an incomplete estimate. But, what is an estimate? Click here to discover it.

Bad-done packing

Movers offer to help people pack, but some individuals prefer to do it ahead of time on their own. That is fine, and it does not bring any problems.

The drawback arises when the customer does the packing in a bad way. What does bad-done packing refer to? This can refer to two things:

(1) Packing objects in boxes in poor condition or
(2) Packing dangerous objects without notifying the mover

If a person packages objects in containers in poor condition, there is no reason why movers should be held liable for an accident as they would not be at fault.

In the case of dangerous objects (flammable articles or those that represent an electrical, chemical, or biological risk) the customer must notify their mover in advance to comply with the federal law that requires it. If the customer secretly put one of these items in, without notifying the moving company, they would not be held responsible for any damage caused by said non-listed item.

In both circumstances, the bad-done packing would make the mover be less liable or not liable at all to pay compensation for items damaged during the move.

Items Worth More Than The Released Value Protection

The "Released Value Protection" is one of the two insurance options that exist for moving. According to the Released Value Protection regulation, the minimum replacement for an object is $ 0.60 per pound.

However, if a person decides to choose this insurance for their move and one of the objects that are part of it is worth more than $ 0.60 per pound, the moving company would not give more than $ 0.60 per pound as compensation for the damaged object.

For example: Imagine that an art gallery decides to move a painting from one venue to another. The painting is valued at $ 1000 and weighs 6 pounds. If the art gallery decides to insure it with the minimum amount of the Released Value Protection, the moving company would only pay them $ 3.6 ($ 0.60 x 6 pounds) in case it breaks.

Note: If you want to learn more about the different types of moving insurance, click here.

Errors when declaring the value of objects

Before a move takes place, the customer and the mover must clarify the value of the objects. This is especially important when it comes to objects of high economic value.

If part of someone's belongings are expensive objects and the person does not declare them as such, if any of them are broken or lost, they would only receive the declared value for the object.

This applies in at least 3 different situations (in the parentheses are the examples):

• When the person knew the value of an object and declared a lower value to avoid more expenses (gold chains inventoried as fancy gold)
• When the individual did not know the value of an object and declared a lower value than the real one (an antique with an unknown value for the owner until the moment of its loss)
• When the person knew of the value of an object and decided not to notify their mover to include it in the inventory (diamond necklace not inventoried but included in the move)

In any of those 3 cases, the moving company would pay partial compensation (first two cases) or pay no compensation at all (last case) for the damaged item.

Now, what use is it to the customer to know all this information?

Hire Hawthorne Movers and talk straight about your inventory and insurance

This article is very useful for customers who are considering hiring movers and want to ensure the integrity of their objects.

As long as you do not engage in any of the practices mentioned in this article, do not worry! The Hawthorne Movers you hire will do their best to take care of your items. But, if something happens, rest assured that they will stand up to replace it. To read more Click Here