Replacing Broken Items
If upon delivery of your household items you find there is damage, the government will provide full replacement value of the damaged items. This is a benefit available to all servicemembers and Department of Defense civilians in regards to a PCS move.
The following types of PCS situations are covered for full replacement value:
- Domestic shipments within the continental United States
- International shipments to and from outside the continental United States
- Non-temporary storage shipments
- Local move/Direct Procurement Method shipments
The Transportation Service Provider or Carrier is responsible for reimbursement of for damage greater of $5000 per shipment or $4.00 times the net weight of the shipment in pounds to a maximum of $50,000. To receive reimbursement you must promptly submit DD Form 1840 which requires you to list all damage discovered at delivery and/or DD Form 1840R which requires you to list all damaged discovered after delivery within 75 days of delivery. These forms should be submitted directly to the Transportation Service Provider who then has the right to inspected claimed items for damage.
This full replacement value coverage is available to the servicemembers or Department of Defense civilian employees at no cost to them. All claims should be filed using a DD Form 1844 within nine months of delivery directly to the Transportation Service Provider. They will settle the claim by either repairing the damage or providing full replacement value for those items that cannot be repaired or were lost. It is the responsibility of the Transportation Service Provider to obtain all repair and replacement costs. Once the claim is filed, if it is denied or you receive no response from the Transportation Service Provider within 30 days, the claim may be transferred to the Military Claims Office. If the claim was filed with the Transportation Service Provider after the nine month deadline but before the two-year limit for filing the claim, the Transportation Service Provider is now only responsible for the depreciated value of damaged or lost items. If you receive no response from the Transportation Service Provider within the allotted 30 days or you receive an offer that is unacceptable to you, the claim can then be transferred to the Military Claims Office. The Military Claims Office is only responsible for the depreciated replacement cost of items on the claim, if the claim is submitted by the customer. At that point, the Military Claims Office will try to recover full replacement value from the Transportation Service Provider and if successful will give the difference between that value and the amount of reimbursement they have already paid to the customer