Have you ever received a shipment of industrial products only to find out that several of them were damaged in shipping? Did you know what to do? The process can be tedious, but skipping any step can result in very costly mistakes when some—or all—of the liability could be placed back on you. Here are a few basic steps to help you successfully file a freight claim.
You are required to send a request to the carrier to inspect the damaged industrial products, and you will have to hold on to the product and the packaging until the inspection can be made.
Do not dispose of the damaged products until the claim is finalized. The carrier will typically want to inspect the damages, so you’ll want to keep them in the same condition as they were received.
Each carrier has their own claim form that you’ll be asked to fill out, but typically you’ll always include these documents with your claim:
Extra documentation you can include:
Concealed damages (damages not noted at the time of delivery) usually have to be filed within five days, otherwise claims have to be filled within nine months.
Remind your carrier of your claim at least once a month to help move the process along.
Again, it’s important to follow each of these steps and be very thorough in your documentation. Little mistakes can turn out to be very costly. Skip one step and some—or all—of the liability might be placed back on you. If you have more questions about how to handle industrial product shipping damages, please contact us today.