How to File a Freight Claim: The Seven-Day Window

A freight claim is mostly decided in the ten minutes before you sign for the delivery. Everything after that is paperwork supporting what you did or did not write down at the dock.

The seven business days that matter

Everything supporting a claim has to reach Moto within 7 business days of delivery. Every shipment, no exceptions.

That is not seven business days to decide whether to claim. It is seven business days for the completed form and the supporting records to arrive. If you are reading this on day six, send what you have now and say what is still coming.

One other condition catches people out: the freight invoice has to be paid before a claim can be opened. Withholding payment because the freight arrived damaged does not strengthen a claim. It stops it starting.

At the dock, before you sign

Count it

Count the pallets or pieces against the paperwork. A shortage noted at delivery is a different conversation from a shortage reported on Thursday.

Write what you can see on the delivery receipt

Be specific. "Two cartons crushed" tells us something. "Subject to inspection" tells us nothing, and it is the single most common thing written in that box.

A vague note does not preserve your position. It records that you looked at the freight and declined to say what you saw.

Photograph it

The shipment as it sits, the affected goods, the packaging and the labels. If the damage only appears when you unpack, photograph it as you found it, before anything is moved or tidied.

Photographs taken after the pallet has been broken down and the packaging thrown out are worth much less, because the packaging is part of what gets assessed.

Then tell Moto

Email claims@shipmoto.com with your shipment reference, your contact details and what happened.

Do this straight away. Do not wait until you have all the paperwork — the notification and the documents are two separate steps, and the first one is the one with a deadline closing on it.

What to send

The claim form carries your shipment reference, the amount claimed and what it covers. Alongside it, send the records that establish what the goods were and what they were worth.

Identify the affected items specifically, explain how you arrived at the amount, and flag anything still outstanding rather than holding the whole submission until it arrives.

The claim form is online, and it takes photographs directly rather than asking you to attach them to an email.

What happens next

Moto works with the carrier or the insurer to review the claim. More information may be required, and so may an inspection, which is another reason not to throw the packaging away.

One thing to be clear about: submitting a claim does not confirm coverage or payment. It opens a review. What is actually recoverable depends on the cover in place for that shipment, and on the deductibles and the minimum claim amount that apply to it.

If you have not looked at that before, it is worth knowing that standard carrier liability is calculated on the weight of the damaged goods rather than their value, and that claims under $150 are not processed. What your freight is actually covered for works through what that means on a real shipment.

Concealed damage

Damage found after a clean delivery receipt has been signed is the hardest kind of claim to make, because the record says the freight arrived in good order.

It is not a reason to skip the steps. Photograph it as found, report it immediately, and keep the packaging. But it is the strongest argument there is for opening the cartons before the driver leaves, on anything fragile or valuable enough to matter.

The short version

• Count and inspect before signing. Write what you see, specifically.
• Photograph the goods, the packaging and the labels.
• Email claims@shipmoto.com immediately, without waiting for paperwork.
• Pay the freight invoice — a claim cannot open until it is settled.
• Get everything in within 7 business days of delivery.
• Keep the packaging until the review is finished.

The full claims process and what is covered is published, including the exclusions. If something has gone wrong and you are not sure where to start, call us before the seven business days run down.