For an interstate household-goods move, 49 CFR Part 370 sets the documentation and the clock. Here is what to capture at delivery, what to send the carrier, and the deadlines that bind both sides.
Federal rules at 49 CFR Part 370 govern damage claims on interstate household-goods moves. A consumer has nine months from delivery to file a written claim; the carrier has 30 days to acknowledge it and 120 days to pay, deny, or make a firm written settlement offer. The evidence that wins or loses a claim is built at delivery: condition notations on the inventory sheet, damage exceptions on the delivery receipt, and a structured set of timestamped photographs. These timelines and standards apply to interstate moves only; purely in-state moves are governed by state regulators and the contract you signed, not by 49 CFR Part 370.
The federal damage-claims framework for household-goods carriers lives at 49 CFR Part 370. It binds both the consumer and the mover to a specific sequence: file a written claim within nine months of delivery, receive written acknowledgment within 30 days, and reach a resolution — payment, denial, or a firm written settlement offer — within 120 days. These are enforceable federal deadlines, not industry courtesies. A carrier that ignores them has violated the regulation, which is the basis for a parallel FMCSA complaint.
49 CFR Part 370 covers interstate household-goods shipments — moves that cross a state line. If your move started and ended in the same state and you hired an in-state carrier, the federal framework almost certainly does not apply. Your rights are set by your state public utility commission (or equivalent state regulator) and the contract you signed. State filing windows are often shorter than nine months, the documentation standards vary, and the FMCSA complaint process is not available because the shipment was never in federal jurisdiction. Confirm which regulator covers your move before assuming the federal deadlines protect you.
Service members on a military move are in a different system altogether. Personal property claims go through the Defense Personal Property System (DPS) and the Military Claims Office (MCO), with its own notice, filing, and settlement windows. The rest of this article addresses the civilian interstate framework under 49 CFR Part 370.
Two pieces of paperwork control the claims process: the Household Goods Descriptive Inventory produced at pickup, and the delivery receipt you sign at destination. The first is the "before" record of every item loaded, with condition notations using industry abbreviations (S scratched, D dented, BR broken, M marred, CH chipped, SO soiled, RU rusted). The second is the "after" record, with a remarks or exceptions field where delivery-day damage is written before signature. If a piece of furniture arrives with damage that has no matching notation at pickup, the working presumption is that the damage occurred in transit — and that is the carrier's liability. If the notation is already on the inventory, the carrier can argue the damage predated the move.
A timestamped photo of a damaged item in the spot the crew placed it is substantially stronger evidence than a photo taken the next morning after you have reorganized the room. Quality and context matter as much as the fact of having them. Keep the original packing materials for at least 30 days after delivery — the carrier or its adjuster may ask to inspect them, and a crushed box that held a cracked vase tells a different story than an undamaged box that did.
The item in its unloaded position in the room, establishing context and location.
The entire piece with the damage visible in the same frame.
A coin, a hand, or a ruler in frame to convey the size of the damage.
Powered on if the device still works, or photographed non-functional if it does not.
Exterior and interior of the box, photographed before disposal.
49 CFR Part 370 sets a three-stage clock. Filing in the first two weeks after delivery is the strongest move: the evidence is fresh, the carrier is still in the operational frame of the move, and the contemporaneous record is at its most credible. Claims filed late in the nine-month window are still valid, but the evidence picture is harder to assemble and the carrier may read the delay as a sign that the damage was minor.
Damage clock starts; this is the window to note exceptions and capture the photo set.
Strongest evidence picture; sets the carrier's 30-day acknowledgment clock running.
Per 49 CFR 370.3. After this, the carrier is no longer required to consider the claim.
Per 49 CFR 370.5. Acknowledgment is not agreement to pay.
Per 49 CFR 370.9. A vague denial is itself a procedural issue.
Required until the claim is resolved.
A claim is a formal document, not a phone call or an email. It is the document that starts the federal clock. Send it to the carrier's official claims department — the address is on your bill of lading or obtainable from the carrier's website — by certified mail with return receipt, which creates proof of delivery and pins down the date the 30-day acknowledgment clock began.
Missing the 30-day acknowledgment or the 120-day resolution deadline is itself a federal violation, independent of the merits of the claim. A denial must come with specific written reasons under 49 CFR 370.9; a vague denial is procedurally weak and worth challenging. When the formal process stalls, several practical options exist.
SUMMARY
49 CFR Part 370 gives interstate consumers a structured nine-month filing window, a 30-day acknowledgment rule, and a 120-day resolution rule. None of those timelines helps if the damage is not documented at delivery. The single most consequential 30 minutes of the entire move is the inspection period before you sign the delivery receipt — that is when the inventory sheet notations, the delivery-receipt exceptions, and the timestamped photo set are created. After a clean signature, every step becomes reconstruction rather than evidence. In-state moves do not get these federal protections, so the contract and the state PUC's rules are what govern.
Common questions
Yes. A signed clean receipt is not an absolute bar to a claim, but it shifts the burden: contemporaneous damage notations on the receipt are the strongest evidence, and without them you are reconstructing the timeline after the fact. Photos, the inventory sheet, and a written claim submitted promptly can still support a recovery.
Almost certainly not. The federal framework covers interstate household-goods moves. In-state moves are governed by your state public utility commission and the contract you signed; state filing windows are often shorter than nine months, and the FMCSA complaint process is not available because the shipment was not in federal jurisdiction.
You can still file. Photos are the strongest single piece of evidence, but the pickup inventory sheet, the delivery-receipt exceptions, repair estimates, and replacement-cost documentation also matter. A claim without photos is harder to prove, especially for items that were not noted as damaged at pickup.
No. Under 49 CFR 370.3, the consumer must file a written claim, and the 30-day acknowledgment and 120-day resolution clocks run from the carrier's receipt of that written document. A phone call or email does not start the federal timeline.