car transport accident.. how to go about filing a claim?

I think everyone has given great feed back and advice on this issue. When I worked in HHG and had to deal with transporting cars for shippers it is totally different then regular cargo. The customer gets a certain amount of value for transporting the vehicle, and if the customer wants to increase the value that is covered it is an additional charge. The customer should have received a copy of the bill of lading at pickup so I would look on the bill of lading to see what the declared value is set at for the shipment. It's hard to say what the extent of the damage is since it has not delivered yet, but in the transporting of vehicles or HHG, a customer cannot refuse to pay for the shipment because of damage. They have to file a claim with the company who hauled it, and then they will begin the claims process. I would call and talk to the claims person, and find out how their process is handled. When the shipment arrives take pictures of the vehicle on the car carrier to show that the driver did the damage. When the vehicle comes off of the car carrier then take more pictures of the vehicle to show the damage up closer. The customer will get a bill of lading to mark any damage that was done during transporting, and he will receive the original BOL, a copy of the car diagram at origin, and the copy of the car diagram at destination. I would highly suggest that he contacts his insurance company and file a claim, and let them know that the driver called you to let you know that he was in an accident and that he said your vehicle sustained heavy damage. Tell them that the vehicle has not arrived yet, but that you are going to take pictures of it when it arrives. They will want to know who the shipper is, so that they can get in contact with them to find out more information about where the accident occurred. If he doesn't have insurance on the vehicle, and it is only a certain declared value of the vehicle then they will pay the claim on the declared value stated. If a person refuses a shipment of a vehicle, and it has to go to storage somewhere then it falls back on the shipper to pay for the storage and original transportation charges. It is better to accept the vehicle, obtain all documents so that if it turns into a legal battle then he has proof by the pictures and copies of the bill of ladings.

 

I will add one small thing to all the above good advice. Have it delivered to a competent auto body shop and pay them an hours labor cost to help you spot and document the damage. Something that looks like a dented fender could have inner structure damage that you will not have any idea of. It would be well worth $50-100 and if you have it fixed there could be applied to the bill.