Claims and support

What should you do when goods arrive damaged?

Record the damage on the delivery receipt or CMR consignment note before signing, then photograph the goods and the packaging. Keep both until the carrier confirms whether it will inspect them.

The CMR Convention, which governs cross-border road freight in Europe, sets two reporting windows:

• Visible damage: written on the delivery document at the moment of delivery.
• Hidden damage: reported in writing within 7 days of delivery, excluding Sundays and public holidays.

Parcel carriers apply their own reporting windows, and the team confirms the window for each booking. Pallet loads add checks on stretch wrap, corner boards and the pallet base, and claiming for a damaged pallet uses the same evidence rules with photos of the load from all four sides.

Damage leaves physical evidence. A lost consignment leaves only a gap in the tracking record.

How do you report a lost shipment?

Report a lost shipment to the Go Trans team once tracking stops updating or the delivery date passes without a delivery scan.

The last scan in the carrier record shows which depot held the goods, so the team can track a parcel across Europe back to that depot and open the trace there. The CMR Convention treats goods as lost 30 days after the agreed delivery date, or 60 days after collection if no delivery date was agreed.

A shipment that arrives late but intact follows a separate claim route.

Can you claim for a late delivery?

A late cross-border road freight delivery supports a claim only if a written reservation reaches the carrier within 21 days of the goods being placed at the receiver's disposal.

Compensation for delay is capped at the carriage charges for that consignment. The claim must show a financial loss caused by the delay, such as a stopped production line, with documents that prove it.

Damage, loss and delay claims all end in a compensation figure, and CMR sets the ceiling.

How much compensation does a carrier pay under CMR?

CMR limits carrier liability to 8.33 Special Drawing Rights per kilogram of gross weight lost or damaged, plus a refund of carriage charges.

The weight-based limit leaves light, high-value goods under-covered. A declared value or a declared special interest in delivery, entered on the consignment note against an agreed surcharge, raises the limit. Goods worth more than the CMR limit need cover arranged before dispatch, and insuring a freight shipment pays out on the insured value instead of the weight.

Every compensation decision rests on the evidence in the claim file.

Which documents does a claim need?

A claim file needs the booking reference, the delivery document with any written reservations, photos, the invoice proving the value of the goods, and the gross weight affected.

• Booking reference and carrier tracking number
• Signed delivery receipt or CMR consignment note with reservations
• Photos of the goods, inner packaging, outer packaging and labels
• Commercial or purchase invoice for the affected goods
• Repair estimate or written-off value for partial damage

A CMR freight claim uses the gross weight and the invoice value from this file to calculate the compensation.

The finished file goes to the carrier, because the carrier holds the liability.

Who decides the claim?

The carrier that moved the goods decides the claim, because liability sits with that carrier under CMR or its parcel terms.

Each of the Go Trans courier partners, DSV, DHL, DPD, UPS and FedEx, runs its own claims department, and the Go Trans team submits the file to the right one and follows up until a decision is issued. Court action on a CMR claim must start within 1 year, or 3 years for wilful misconduct.