In May upon the death of my grandfather, we had to downsize and sell one of 2 houses for my grandmother.in the process we "inherited" the things from her house as she wanted us to have them now. So we shipped our household from Calif. To Indy.
As we were dealing with Planes Moving and Storage, agents for United Van Lines, we told them our grandmother collected things like Old European Cut Glass Crystal, Hummels, German Steins, Family Heirloom Silver, etc. They asked us if we would need extra insurance and we told them yes as our things we were moving were probably well over $100,000.00 even though we had not had the items appraised yet.
They said we could "buy extra insurance" for $600.00 for $100,000.00 and it would be on the contract. The day of the move we were still packing so the movers did see what was being put in which boxes-We also had 5 Large Cut Glass Crystal Chandeliers which were being crated for the move.
Upon arrival in Indy, we were advised they had a "break in" at a rest stop somewhere in Vegas. They had no police report, nor could they tell us where to get one. There were 7 boxes and 2 crates (chandelierres) missing plus all 4 of the Antique Lamps and Lampshades that they had packed at the end were broken and torn.
The things that we had left appraised at $30,643.00. The things we have pictures of-including the furniture they were on and in at my grandmothers house before the move we appraised at $111,248.00. To this date - United Van Lines has sent us a check for $200.00 for a broken curio cabinet and has advised us that they won't be able to do anything about the rest of the items unless we have receipts.
Well, it's kind of hard to have receipts for things that have been passed down to you as family heirlooms, collections of things from the late 1800's to early 1900's. And even if you have pictures of alot of it, it apparently doesn't matter to them.
So for all of you who have family in their 90's that pass away - unless you don't want the heartache of not only losing your family-but all the things that were important to them and memories for you - Just do the U-Haul thing and call it a day!!!
Laurie
Plainfield, IN
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