Movers flooded my house

[amac25]

What is the name of your state? TX

I moved into a townhouse owned by a friend of mine on Saturday and asked that the movers connect my washing machine which was included verbally in their hourly rate. The power was disconnected over the weekend because my friend and I had not coordinated the timing of the transition exactly right. From the other side of the room, I saw the movers struggling to test the washing machine, so I reminded them that there was no power. Apparently, they left it plugged in, connected to the water lines, and the knob pulled out to run the delicate cycle. For some reason they did not connect the drain hose. After the movers were finished, I didn't look at what they had done. The power and AC were off and I really spent very little time in the townhouse at all over the weekend.

The power came back on while I was at work on Monday. The delicate cycle on super fill ran and drained onto the floor. As I was figuring out what had caused the flood, I saw the drain hose sticking up in the air instead of the PVC pipe it is supposed to fit into. A friend of mine also saw this. The washing machine is located on the second floor. A 3" metal tub that the machine sits in collected most of the water, but it still caused about $1300 in damage to the kitchen ceiling and walls below.

I called the mover about it before the repair man came out. He said he had a $1500 deductible and asked if I had insurance. Then he said to call him back after the repair man came. When I called him back and told him what the estimate was, he said he was not liable because he had no way of knowing what I had done in the 2 days since his movers left. I guess he thinks I purposely tried to flood my house! He said I would have to take him to court in order to get him to pay for this. Am I right in believing that the mover should be held responsible for this?

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[Ohiogal]

Maybe maybe not. YOu had time to check to see if it was hooked up before the power came on, correct? You could have checked to make sure the washer was off correct? You might get something but you might also get nothing. Your odds are 50/50 becuase you bear responsibility. YOu should have made sure it was connected properly before the movers left and you have nothing in writing (you said it was a verbal agreement) that states they were to do this. Are they trained to hook these things up? Is this something they normally do? If not they are held to the same standards you are.

 

[genivieve]

I own a moving company here in NY. NY Department of Transportation requires that we carry one million in general liability. Call the mover and ask for his Liability information. If he refuses call the Texas Department of Transportation, give them the information about the mover including their DOT NUMBER ( this number should be on your contract). DOT will have your movers insurance information.

Now with this information, I am not too sure on how Texas household goods movers forms work. I operate on General Binding Estimate here. On the back it clearly states you the shipper must provide basic heating, lighting, snow removal, chemical safety etc etc. Because you did not have lighting you--- yourself might be found at fault.

http://www.dot.state.tx.us/mcd/consumerinfo/hhgindex.htm