Is there anything I can do? (Removal men theft)

[Sunshine1235]

We moved house over a year ago, it was a short temporary move into a much smaller house. It was a horrendous move with lots of issues but we we just glad once it was over.

We’ve recently moved again and I’ve realised that several things have gone missing and went missing after that first move. One is a camera with 2 lenses and a camera case and the other is a watch probably all worth around £600 in total. I was aware I wasn’t sure where these things were but thought they were probably in one of the boxes we hadn’t been able to unpack. Now we’ve moved again and fully unpacked everything I’m quite sure they were stolen by the removal men from the first move.

Their website says that any claims for damages etc. have to be sent to them within 7 days so I’m assuming at this point there is nothing I can do?

I’ve also just discovered today that a small gold necklace I’ve had since I was a child is also missing. It’s probably not worth much but feeling quite sad about it as it was in a very specific place so was probably taken too

Your items are missing. Given the time that has passed you have no evidence that they were stolen by the removal men.

I know. I wouldn’t have had the evidence if I’d discovered it the day after though either. I did notice that I couldn’t find either not long after the move but as there were boxes everywhere and it was all a bit crazy I just assumed they would turn up eventually.

I guess all I can do is pass on this advice - never use Simply Removals (for this reason and many many others)

I think it's a bit unreasonable to accuse them of theft over a since since the alleged incident. If they were of particular value to you surely you would have tried to locate them well before now - especially jewellery which you could easily have carried with you

I did try to locate them, but there were lots of unpacked boxes that we just had to put in cupboards because there was no space to unpack them. I tried to look through those boxes but obviously a watch is quite small and as the packing job try did was awful I was hoping it had just been thrown in a box somewhere. Similarly with the camera it was in a case and I thought for a long while that it was probably in the shed with some other boxes. I had a baby and toddler so didn’t have a lot of scope for sorting through stuff.

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things it’s just stuff isn’t it? There is just something horrible about realising that people have taken advantage of you.

I shouldn’t accuse them of taking the necklace, it’s been in the same place and box for years so you’re right something else might have happened to it, just discovering it was missing today made me feel sad and annoyed about the other stuff so just wondered if I could do anything. But you’re right it’s stupid to think about it now after all this time

Are you absolutely sure you’ve unpacked everything / everything they might be hiding in? I once thought I’d lost a favourite pair of shoes and some handbags during a house move - eight years and two further moves later, they appeared in a little hamper I’d just sort of moved about with me but never fully unpacked.

Unfortunately you don’t have any case with the removal company at this stage: had you reported them missing a day of so after (if the removal men had indeed stolen them) then it’s likely the items would have suddenly “been found” at the back of the van or something. How do you know they went missing during the first move and not the most recent one?

it seems an odd few items to be missing / stolen. As it would have meant opening multiple boxes, cherry picking these out. It is more likely a whole box went missing, somehow, with all its contents, or you've misplaced these individual items and they will turn up.

We had things stolen when we moved. Impossible to prove.
Who manages to unpack and check everything within 7 days?