Movers Broke or Lost My Stuff: How a Damage Claim Works

If your belongings arrived broken, or some did not arrive at all, that is a different problem from an overcharge — it is a loss-and-damage claim against the carrier, with its own rules, deadlines, and dollar math. This page explains how those claims work on an interstate move. It is general information, not legal advice. (Damage to your home rather than your goods is a separate claim — see movers damaged my house — and items that genuinely vanished can shade into theft.)

This is a claim, not a price dispute

The 100% / 110% release rule is about what a mover can demand at delivery. Damaged or missing items are governed instead by the carrier’s liability for the goods themselves — the modern version of the long-standing Carmack Amendment.^[1] What you can recover depends on the liability option recorded on your paperwork.

How much the mover owes: your liability option

Interstate movers must offer two levels of liability, and which one is on your bill of lading changes everything:^[2]

• Released Value Protection — free, and minimal. The mover’s liability is capped at 60 cents per pound, per article. A 25-pound TV that is destroyed is worth $15 under this option, regardless of its real value. You have to sign a statement to choose it.
• Full Value Protection — the default if you do not select released value. The mover is liable for the replacement value of lost or damaged items (cost varies, and deductibles may apply). Items of “extraordinary value” — generally over $100 per pound, like jewelry — usually must be listed to be fully covered.

The deadlines: 9 months to file, 2 years to sue

Federal law sets minimums a carrier cannot shorten: at least 9 months to file the claim, and at least 2 years to bring a civil action if the claim is denied.^[1] The clock starts at delivery. The Claim Deadline Checker turns your delivery, filing, and denial dates into the actual calendar dates — including the mover’s own 30-day acknowledgment and 120-day answer duties.

What a claim typically involves

A loss-and-damage claim generally takes written form: a claim to the mover that identifies the shipment (the bill of lading number), lists the lost or damaged items with the amount claimed for each, and attaches the inventory sheets, photographs, and receipts.^[3] Copies, and the date it was sent, are part of the record.

If the mover lowballs or denies the claim

If the carrier refuses or offers far less than the loss, you have the reporting track (file with the FMCSA database for an interstate mover) and the money track (a civil action — see how to get your money back and small claims). The ordered path:

Last reviewed: June 10, 2026