Indiana Moving Complaints

Who regulates intrastate movers in Indiana, and where to file when a move stays inside the state.

Who regulates intrastate movers

Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) — Motor Carrier Services, intrastate household-goods authority

Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) — Motor Carrier Services, intrastate household-goods authority →

Where to file a complaint

File with Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division →

If your move started and ended inside Indiana, it is an intrastate move. The federal FMCSA household-goods rules — including the 100%/110% release rule — do not apply. Indiana regulates these moves instead.

The state regulator is the Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR), through its Motor Carrier Services division. Under Indiana Code 8-2.1-22, a company moving household goods for hire within the state must hold a DOR Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (its Indiana operating authority, renewed yearly) and file a tariff of its rates and charges — and a mover may not charge for anything not in that tariff. That tariff rule is a concrete check: a charge with no tariff basis is one to question.

To report a problem with an in-state move, you can raise the authority-and-tariff side with DOR Motor Carrier Services, and file a separate consumer complaint with the Indiana Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, which handles unfair and deceptive business-practice complaints.

This page is general information and does not predict how any particular dispute will be resolved.

An in-state dispute, step by step

  1. Get all your paperwork in hand

    The written estimate(s), the contract, receipts, and any texts or emails. Every step below needs these. Photograph everything.

  2. Put the dispute to the mover in writing

    State what the paperwork says, what happened, and what you are asking for. Many disputes end here, and the written record strengthens every later step.

  3. File with the state moving regulator

    For a move inside Indiana, the regulator-side complaint goes to the office that oversees movers in the state.

    Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) — Motor Carrier Services, intrastate household-goods authority →

  4. File a consumer complaint with the state

    The consumer-protection office handles unfair and deceptive business-practice complaints, and a moving dispute is squarely that.

    File with Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division →

  5. If you paid by credit card: a dispute may be available

    The Fair Credit Billing Act lets a cardholder dispute a billing error in writing — including a charge for services not delivered as agreed — generally within 60 days of the statement. Whether a particular charge qualifies depends on the facts; the guide covers what counts.

    How a card dispute works →

  6. Small claims court or a local attorney

    Intrastate moves run on state law, so the money path is the state's own courts — and a licensed attorney in Indiana can read the contract.

    Small claims, step by step →

Did your move actually cross a state line? Then the federal rules apply instead — start with the Coverage Checker or, if goods are being held right now, the emergency page.

Sources

Every legal claim above links to one of these official sources. Rules change — check the source if you're acting on this.

  1. Indiana Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division
  2. Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR) — Motor Carrier Services, intrastate household-goods authority