Message from the Claims Desk 5.2.17

stewartms • May 3, 2017

Happy May everyone! With the beginning of this new month we are given the opportunity to celebrate Mexican culture and heritage during Cinco De Mayo. The origin of this holiday is truly inspirational; as the Mexican general Ignacio Zaragoza rallied a poorly supplied army of his countrymen to defend against Napoleon’s invading army. On May 5 1862, the Mexican army drove the French to retreat only losing less than 100 men in the battle. So as we remember the courageousness of these men to protect their homeland, think about which items our customer’s would like to have extra protection.
This week I would like to talk about the procedures for High Value Items. The high value inventory was put in place to identify items that cost in excess of $100 per pound prior to shipping them. Just to clarify, if an item were to weigh 100 pounds the value would have to exceed $10,000 to qualify for this form. Now, it may seem like the only purpose of this form is to increase our liability, which it does, but it also helps limit our liability as well.
When a high value item is delivered it must be inspected for damage. This includes packed items, in which all must be unpacked and inspected as well. Any loss or damage must be documented at this time. If the customer initials and signs the high value, it restricts their ability to file a loss or damage claim on any items that were not notated at the time of delivery. Since the majority of falsified claims are filed long after the crew has left, the time limitation stipulated by this document will limit their occurrence. This is another situation where photographing the item before and after delivery is a good idea as well.
So identify those high value items, unpack them at delivery, and snap a picture of the items.
Cheers,
Robert Wright

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