Household removals firm complaint & Ombudsman query

selinkyble

Hello. Wondering if anyone can help with a problem with a removals firm. Disastrous from start to finish, what seemed like a professional firm, for some reason, drove their van onto the lawn of the house we were leaving and carved a couple of trenches out, then put a huge welsh dresser in front of the items they had ensured they would unload on arrival for our first night's stay, (the day before they were to actually unload the vehicles.) so that we were without lots of essentials as they couldnt reach them and the 2 of them couldnt move the dresser. Also they put various items destined for the house at the back of our newly rented storage container which was to contain only purple tagged items and rammed the container full, so that we still cant get at the household items at the back until we manage to enlist some young people to help empty the whole thing and put it all back in again.
When they started to unload they dirtied all the carpets before finally getting out some carpet protector. After they had unloaded, any fabric items (sofa, storage bags etc) were covered in black streaks as apparently they dont clean their van. We are professional packers as we sell online and post breakables around the world for a living, so we packed our own things. 2 of the boxes we packed had contents completely smashed, so had been dropped or thrown and there were various dents scuffs and breakages to items which were not packed as too large in size.
Stupid, I know, but I didnt check the documentation very thoroughly, due really to the stress of this massive move of house and shop from Scotland to Wales, but their original quote included a sum for insurance, which I thought was mandatory as it was on the quote, otherwise to be honest I probably wouldnt have paid it, as I'm not a fan of insurance as it never seems to cover you for what you actually need.
Sure enough when I tried to claim, the insurance company offered £350 in total for all the breakages (My estimated old for old value was around £850) and nothing for the damage to packing boxes or carpets or general scuffs and dents to furniture. Apparently they dont insure anything I have packed myself, so it was more of a goodwill gesture than anything else. I'm wondering if I should take it to the ombudsman, or I would be likely to get less than that?
Also, should I be contacting the removals firm before going to the ombudsman? I'm not sure why I am dealing with an insurance company and they are giving me a final offer, rather than the removals firm themselves, as my complaint of negligence or whatever would be with the removals firm, not the insurance firm? Thank you

Aylesbury_Duck

Is there an ombudsman for the removals industry, and if so, is your chosen firm a member?

I think your options here are whatever ombudsman is appropriate for the insurance provider, if one applies, or taking the removal company to court for the evidenced value of your claim.  Do you have a quote for cleaning the carpets and fabric items, to add to the old-for-old costs of the broken items?

Zinger549

There is https://bar.co.uk/ The company you used might not be a member though.

Mark_d

Yes you should always use a company's own complaints procedure before escalating to an arbitrator.

Your removal company sound like a nightmare.  Presumably you chose them based on their reviews?

selinkyble

Mark_d said:

Yes you should always use a company's own complaints procedure before escalating to an arbitrator.

Your removal company sound like a nightmare.  Presumably you chose them based on their reviews?

Yes and also their apparent professionalism. It was a massive move and they came up with the best solution, promising that we would have whatever overnight stuff we needed, how it would be packed at the front of the van so they could just lift it out on arrival. We couldnt stay in a hotel as we had 2 end of life pets prone to making a mess and the removals firm couldnt unload fully until the following day. Plus we had taken up a storage unit and needed specific items put there, so it wasnt straightforward. They gave us a plan to cover all that, but in the event, someone had put a big welsh dresser in front of our overnight stuff, so we didnt get that and they put a selection of house things right at the back of the storage unit, which is full of furniture. I thought I had made it easy by labelling everything and the room doors for them, but that was just a pipedream. Stuff was all over the place in incorrect rooms.
I made my original complaint to the removals firm, but got a reply from the insurance company. Initially they offered me a goodwill payment apparently from the removals firm of £100 to cover the cost of cleaning, as we werent covered for any of the breakages as we had packed our own stuff. I replied that I intended to take it to the ombudsman as the removals firm are a member and they then upped their offer to £250, partially for items which werent packed at all due to size and partially a goodwill payment. I pointed out a couple of other things which werent packed and they upped it to £350. I replied that I would be happy to take that plus the original goodwill offer from the removals firm of £100, but they said that was now off the table, but now I am dealing just with this insurance company. I'm thinking that I should be dealing with the removals firm, as my complaints are for negligence, inconvenience etc. The insurance company have said that £350 is the final offer, but should I be going back to the removals firm themselves?
And then, is it worth going to the ombudsman, or will they just say 'oh you're not covered on the insurance and that's your fault and the inconvenience you suffered is not something we would compensate for and you can clean your own carpets etc'