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This is exactly what small claims is designed for. You write the claim, give the evidence, and if they don't show up, you win by default and can hand the judge

This is exactly what small claims is designed for. You write the claim, give the evidence, and if they don't show up, you win by default and can hand the judgement to the insurance company to get paid.

Jtsummers 2y ago
Small claims courts typically have fairly low limits, much lower than what the insurance might pay for damages to a house or furniture and art (as described in the write up). You might get the cost of the move restored, but that doesn't cover the cost of repairs, replacements, and restoration.
- kevincox 2y ago
  In this specific case it does seem that the insurance company paid for the damages to property, so recovering some or all of the moving costs would be exactly what is needed.
- 486sx33 2y ago
  Many jurisdictions have doubled their small claims max in the past decade. It’s worth looking into.
teeray 2y ago
But if they do show up and know how to play the game, buckle up. You’ll be in and out of there for years. The judge will ask you to settle for a fraction of what you’re owed. When you finally do get the judgement, they won’t pay it. Then you need to drag them back to court to get them on a time-payment plan… then they make a few payments, stop paying and move to another state. Then you need to domesticate your judgement in that state, and maybe you can start to think about garnishing wages or drafting from accounts of theirs. By then, you’ve wasted so much time and money, you’re doing it mostly for spite at this point.
- Ferret7446 2y ago
  I don't think this applies for small claims? Small claims are a single court session after which a judgement is delivered, though collection is still your problem. Of course, the threshold for small claims is fairly low.
  - icelancer 2y ago
    When they don't pay the judgment, where do you think you end back up?
    - lurk2 2y ago
      You can seize control of physical assets if they fail to pay you.
      - danielheath 2y ago
        ... by going back to court, and getting the court to order the police to do so. Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc.
        lurk2 2y ago
        > Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc. Are you speaking from past experience? This is something I hear repeated on Hacker News all the time but I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common.
        borski 2y ago
        > I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common Because it isn't, for small claims court. Does it happen? Absolutely. But it's rare. It's much more common outside small claims, where the stakes are higher.
bookofjoe 2y ago
"I was only ruined but twice in my life — once when I lost a lawsuit and when I won one." — Voltaire
akerl_ 2y ago
It's not clear to me that a default judgement in a civil case against a moving company would be something their shipping insurer would pay out. As is demonstrated in this blog post, the insurer paid out directly on a claim of damages, no civil court required. But above & beyond that, to recoup costs paid for the move based on a dispute about the service rendered, my understanding is that you'd end up with a judgement against the moving company and the same struggles chasing them down as you already had.
deckar01 2y ago
You have to serve their registered agent in a way that satisfies a judge. I tried to sue a company whose registered agent was a high profile attorney. I paid multiple people to serve him, but every time it got back to the judge his office had somehow tricked the service officer into accepting the summons in a way the judge deemed invalid. I had to give up because service fees were approaching a significant chunk of the claim and you can’t recoup that in OK…
- LorenPechtel 2y ago
  If they were tricked into improper service why would they be paid?
  - 8n4vidtmkvmk 2y ago
    Right?? I don't know anything about 'serving' people but if I pay someone to do that, I expect they know how to do it properly, or they shouldn't be paid for a job they didn't deliver on.
paxys 2y ago
Why would the insurance company pay out? They insured your belongings during transit, and already paid for the damage. Whether the services themselves were rendered to your satisfaction or not is between you and the moving company. And good luck collecting from them.

Jtsummers 2y ago

Small claims courts typically have fairly low limits, much lower than what the insurance might pay for damages to a house or furniture and art (as described in the write up). You might get the cost of the move restored, but that doesn't cover the cost of repairs, replacements, and restoration.

kevincox 2y ago
In this specific case it does seem that the insurance company paid for the damages to property, so recovering some or all of the moving costs would be exactly what is needed.
486sx33 2y ago
Many jurisdictions have doubled their small claims max in the past decade. It’s worth looking into.

teeray 2y ago

But if they do show up and know how to play the game, buckle up. You’ll be in and out of there for years. The judge will ask you to settle for a fraction of what you’re owed. When you finally do get the judgement, they won’t pay it. Then you need to drag them back to court to get them on a time-payment plan… then they make a few payments, stop paying and move to another state. Then you need to domesticate your judgement in that state, and maybe you can start to think about garnishing wages or drafting from accounts of theirs. By then, you’ve wasted so much time and money, you’re doing it mostly for spite at this point.

Ferret7446 2y ago
I don't think this applies for small claims? Small claims are a single court session after which a judgement is delivered, though collection is still your problem. Of course, the threshold for small claims is fairly low.
- icelancer 2y ago
  When they don't pay the judgment, where do you think you end back up?
  - lurk2 2y ago
    You can seize control of physical assets if they fail to pay you.
    - danielheath 2y ago
      ... by going back to court, and getting the court to order the police to do so. Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc.
      - lurk2 2y ago
        > Which is fine unless they know the system and how to play it - eg by telling the magistrate the second time around that they've made partial payment & have more coming, just need some time, etc. Are you speaking from past experience? This is something I hear repeated on Hacker News all the time but I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common.
        borski 2y ago
        > I’ve never seen evidence that it’s particularly common Because it isn't, for small claims court. Does it happen? Absolutely. But it's rare. It's much more common outside small claims, where the stakes are higher.

bookofjoe 2y ago

"I was only ruined but twice in my life — once when I lost a lawsuit and when I won one." — Voltaire

akerl_ 2y ago

It's not clear to me that a default judgement in a civil case against a moving company would be something their shipping insurer would pay out. As is demonstrated in this blog post, the insurer paid out directly on a claim of damages, no civil court required. But above & beyond that, to recoup costs paid for the move based on a dispute about the service rendered, my understanding is that you'd end up with a judgement against the moving company and the same struggles chasing them down as you already had.

deckar01 2y ago

You have to serve their registered agent in a way that satisfies a judge. I tried to sue a company whose registered agent was a high profile attorney. I paid multiple people to serve him, but every time it got back to the judge his office had somehow tricked the service officer into accepting the summons in a way the judge deemed invalid. I had to give up because service fees were approaching a significant chunk of the claim and you can’t recoup that in OK…

LorenPechtel 2y ago
If they were tricked into improper service why would they be paid?
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 2y ago
  Right?? I don't know anything about 'serving' people but if I pay someone to do that, I expect they know how to do it properly, or they shouldn't be paid for a job they didn't deliver on.

paxys 2y ago

Why would the insurance company pay out? They insured your belongings during transit, and already paid for the damage. Whether the services themselves were rendered to your satisfaction or not is between you and the moving company. And good luck collecting from them.