How do I check a moving company’s damage claims history before buying?
Ask for the full claims log with dates, the customer, what was damaged, what was paid and how each case ended. Compare it with the insurance records and the financial statements. Patterns by crew, truck or job type tell you more than any single claim does.
A moving company sells trust, and the claims file shows how well that trust was kept. Ask the owner for a written log of every damage or loss claim in recent years, including ones paid directly without going through an insurer. Then ask for the insurer’s own loss history and compare the two. If the owner’s list is shorter than the insurer’s, that is worth a conversation.
Look for patterns. Do claims cluster around particular crews, one truck, long-distance jobs, or the busy season when temporary help is common? A few small claims spread evenly is normal in the trade. A repeated problem with one crew lead or one type of item points to a training gap you will have to fix.
Check how claims are paid. Are they absorbed as an expense, written off, or discounted from invoices? The financial statements may hide them in several places, so ask your accountant to trace them. Also ask about open or unresolved complaints and whether any customer has threatened legal action. Your lawyer can cover unresolved claims in the purchase agreement so you do not inherit them by surprise. Ask, too, whether claims practices changed recently, because a tidy recent record can follow a messy earlier one and deserves an explanation.
Key takeaways
- Get the owner’s log and the insurer’s history, then compare.
- Look for patterns by crew, truck or job type.
- Trace where paid claims sit in the books.
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Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Canadian Association of MoversIndustryCanadian Association of Movers
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
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