Freight Claim Letters

Do you guys just take the broker's word for the claim amount or do you request/demand the broker to provide a formal claim letter from their customer? Brokers your input would be much appreciated Please bear in mind that this is a relatively small claim so I have no plans of involving the insurance.

I did a load of watermelons from NC to PA. It was a double-stacked load. During unloading, one of the boxes came loose and the watermelons spilled everywhere (unloading error). There were only 9 pallets left including the one that spilled. The receiver rejected the remaining load due to spillage and not being able to get to the back pallets (photos attached).

I advised the broker and asked him how to proceed. After about an hour, I receive an email stating that "this is considered a carrier claim as the damage was done in transit. But the good news is rather than all 9 only 1 bin is being claimed". The broker demanded I take the remaining freight to a nearby produce market for offload and I do so free of charge. I called the broker and asked him to explain his thought process on how he got to the verdict of "carrier claim" and the ridiculous answer was, "I move 3000 plus loads a year, and I know how this works....". So rather than sitting there and arguing with an almighty super broker, I told him that I will accept the claim only as long as he can provide some sort of correspondence from his customer stating there will be a claim on that 1 bin. He refused to provide that because he did not want to "share his customer details with me". But he did say he will send over a claim letter. I again told him that I will only accept a formal claim letter from his customer stating the PO#, claim amount, and reason for the claim. A couple of hours have passed by now and I already have offloaded the remaining bins at the produce market. I did not hear anything from him over the course of 2 days because I know formal claim letters usually take a couple of days.

I emailed him and his team this morning inquiring about the claim letter and advising them that they are not authorized to charge the claim from the load payout without providing the claim letter from the customer. I finally received a claim letter from the accounting department, but..... it is their in-house form. It is not from their customer.

Now the question to the Carriers/OOs is that would you accept that?

And the question to the brokers is would you/ do you provide the Carriers/OOs with a claim letter directly from your customer?

Please keep in mind that this is a small claim so the insurance is no involved.

 

The claim for that 1 bin was less than $200. But it's the principles and I would really like to know how he and his customer came to the conclusion that the damage happened in transit when there is a bin next to, behind, on the side and to the front of the said damaged bin.

 

Right. I know the insurance would not settle for anything less than a customer claim letter. I have asked the broker multiple times that I need his customer's claim letter that contains all relevant information pertaining to the load and claim itself, but it almost seems as if the broker is not even acknowledging my request. This makes me think that this is a fraudulent claim and the broker is acting on his accord. I really want to find an attorney to file a countersuit against the broker, his agency, his customer, the shipper, the receiver, et all.

 

The column for "charges paid by" is left blank but Terms on the BOL's are "delivered"