Can you file a law suit if a moving company loses a third of your belongings?
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Can you file a law suit if a moving company loses a third of your belongings?
I moved with flatrate moving company from san francisco to los angeles and all my personal items(very valuable) and some furniture pieces are missing. They are still looking for them but in case they don’t find them can I file a lawsuit against them? since it doesn’t look like an accident anymore?
Asked on August 10, 2012 under Business Law, California
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You can sue the moving company for negligence. Negligence is the failure to exercise due care (that degree of care that a reasonable moving company would have exercised under the same or similar circumstances to prevent foreseeable harm).
In order to prove negligence, you will need to prove duty (of due care mentioned above), breach of duty (failure to exercise due care), actual cause, proximate cause, and damages. Actual cause means but for the moving company, would your personal property have been lost? If the answer is no, which appears to be the case, actual cause has been established. Proximate cause means are there any unforeseeable, intervening acts which would relieve the moving company of liability? If the answer is no, proximate cause has been established. Damages means the amount of compensation you are seeking in your lawsuit for negligence. Your damages would be the value of your lost property (replacement cost).
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