AnyVan dropped two TVs during the move and then rejected my compensation claim

I have a problem with a moving company, AnyVan, who did a move for me.

After the move we discovered that both of our televisions were broken, although the company denied this.

The moving crew was upstairs when they dropped one of the televisions. My son and daughter who were in the house at the time heard a loud bang followed by silence.

My son came up the stairs and asked if they had just dropped the TV. The remover he spoke to said “there is no dropsy.” There was a language barrier as two members of the moving team spoke little to no English and the driver spoke broken English.

After the move, the driver told me to sign a form. I thought it was to confirm that the job was complete.

A while after they left, and once I got there, we plugged in the main TV and turned it on only to find that the entire screen had been shattered.

That’s when we plugged in the other TV, only to discover that the screen was also damaged, which has since spread even further.

I reported this to AnyVan and subsequently submitted a damage claim form on their advice, but they completely rejected it because I signed a “legally binding waiver” at the end of the move. J.L., Cheltenham

This is Money’s Harvey Dorset responds: Moving house can be an incredibly stressful experience.

Like many people, you decided to hire a moving team to make sure your moving day went as smoothly as possible.

AnyVan is an online marketplace that accepts bookings from customers moving house. Self-employed drivers bid on the job and AnyVan decides which removers are assigned to the job.

In theory, leaving your home in the hands of professionals means you’ll save time and reduce stress by efficiently packing your belongings and moving them to your new home.

Unfortunately for you, you didn’t get exactly what you paid for and instead you were left with two broken TVs.

When you complained to AnyVan about this, they denied your claim because you had signed a waiver, which you thought was a document confirming that the move had been completed, an issue that arose due to the language barrier between you and the moving team.

I contacted AnyVan on your behalf and am pleased to inform you that they have agreed to compensate you for your damaged item.

AnyVan sent you £1,990 as compensation – the value of the two TVs.

AnyVan also told This is Money that their claim was going through their internal claims process when I contacted them. He said he had waived the fact that you had not taken out a full compensation policy.

An AnyVan spokesperson said: “At AnyVan we know that moving can be stressful and our mission is to ensure customers have as much peace of mind as possible during this process.

‘Each customer can also report directly to our transport partners after each job, with our partner averaging a rating of 4.8 out of 5. On the very rare occasion that something goes wrong, we always strive to find solutions for our customers. .

‘In JL’s case, he had not originally chosen to take advantage of our full compensation policy at the time of booking, which covers accidental damage. You were also initially unable to provide us with the make and model of the claimed televisions, or proof of purchase, making it difficult for us to establish the value of the items.

‘However, the client’s agent involved requested that both be waived and it was escalated through our internal complaints process on 19 November.

He added that he paid her £1,990 within the stipulated six-week complaints resolution period.

AnyVan continued: ‘Our advice to any customer moving is to always ensure you have chosen a level of insurance for the goods being moved that you are comfortable with and, where possible, keep a record of the details of the goods valuable for insurance claims.

‘Not all companies will be able to accept claims for accidental damage where there is no accident insurance cover or proof of purchase is not provided.

“AnyVan is glad we were able to help JL in this case, but it’s not typical for many other companies to be able to do so.”