NEW YORK CITY

• Select your mover with care. Make sure the carrier is licensed by the Commissioner of Transportation. For verification call (518) 457-6512, or e-mail  at nymoving@dot.ny.gov. When checking on a mover please provide their exact name, and if available, NYDOT number.
• Get at least three estimates, preferably from the movers doing a physical inspection of your home.
• Insist the mover provide you with a “Summary of Information” booklet, which describes your rights as a shipper.
• Before anything is moved, make sure the mover has given you an “Order for Service” with a dollar amount of how much you will have to pay at delivery in order for the mover to deliver all of you goods.
• Read everything that you sign, and make sure to keep a copy of each document.
• Make an inventory of all your household goods and include the number of boxes and condition of your furniture.
• Make sure you understand the liability of the mover. Have the mover explain his or her liability and how you can purchase additional coverage.
• Schedule your departure and arrival with enough flexibility to allow for possible delays.
• Advise the mover of telephone numbers and/or addresses where you can be reached en route, or at destination.
• File a written claim with the mover for loss and/or damage.

DON’T:

• Use an unlicensed mover.
• Believe that any phone or written estimate given by a mover will be the actual cost of your move.
• Expect the mover to provide free packing supplies such as boxes, cartons and barrels. (Note: Should you hire the mover to provide packing services, then bubble wrap, tape, and similar packing materials are considered “tools of the trade” and are included in the packing fee.)
• Expect the mover to provide services free of charge, such as clean-up services, disconnection and reinstallation of appliances, fixtures, etc…
• Fail to make arrangements to have at the time of delivery, in cash or certified check, the amount shown on the “Order for Service.”
• Sign your name to anything that you haven’t read first and then given your copy of the document.

dot.ny.gov/divisions/operating/osss/truck/moving

MOVING NEW YORK NY