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Your Package Is Lost / Damaged During Transport - How to Pursue Your Legal Rights

• Elizabeth Lee
  Feb 24 2017, 09:43 AM
  When a package is lost or damaged during transport, it can put you into a difficult situation. You may lose money, you may have lost an irreplaceable object, and you may even lose business because your customer is not satisfied. If you are a retailer you will often need to replace the item free of charge, which hurts your bottom line. In this case, you may want to pursue legal rights for reimbursement. Here’s how:
  
  
  
  Check your T’s and C’s
  
  The first thing to do is to have a look at your terms and conditions. First and foremost, look at your shipping carrier. They should tell you how much they are able to reimburse you for a lost or damaged parcel and what you need to do to claim it. For example, with PACK & SEND, you have to contact them within 7 days of the parcel being lost or damaged in order to make a claim. Speed is of the essence in this case. Your terms and conditions will also give you an idea of whether you will be fully covered. If the maximum liability amount is lower than the value of your package, you may want to go further than simply making a claim.
  
  Notify your insurance
  
  The next step is to get in touch with your insurance company. If you have insurance on your package which pays out in the event of a lost or damaged parcel, you may find that all is well. Again, however, the amount may not be enough. You may also find that your insurance does not pay out in certain circumstances. The good thing about talking to your insurers is that they can advise you of the best path to take. They may well let you know that you would be able to claim more if you took the transport company to court, instead of seeking an insurance payout. If this the case then you know what to do next.
  
  Look up the courts
  
  If you don’t have insurance or it won’t pay out enough, now you need to look to the court system to help you out. This means finding out which court to go to, first of all. You can look to smaller, local courts for a lower value package as they normally have an upper limit on how much you can claim. If you need to claim a larger value, then you should look to a larger court, where you will need a lawyer. You can make an appointment with a lawyer to discuss the case and see whether they feel that you have a claim. Often, the threat of taking a company to court is enough to get them to settle. If it is not, then you will need to be prepared to follow through with a court case.
  
  Don’t back down if your package has been lost during transport. You should be able to get your reimbursement from a court of law so long as everything was done correctly on your side.
  
  

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