File a Damage Claim - Defense Personal Property System (DP3)

File a Household Goods
Damage Claim (PCS)

Moving an entire family and potentially buying a new home can be extremely stressful experiences. Once the moving truck has delivered your household goods, however, the journey is not over. Now, you and your family must unpack hundreds of boxes as you search for your precious personal belongings and sadly account for what items were broken, damaged, or are now missing. The new DP3 Military Household Goods system brings with it a totally new damage claim process. This article will walk you through the process on how to file your claim and get reimbursement.

Track what was Broken

As we discussed in our PCS Move-In article, make sure your movers do not rush as they unload their truck and deliver your household goods. On one particular PCS, we were in such a rush to get our boxes that we never fully accounted for all the box numbers and ended up missing several boxes altogether.

Bring up to the movers (or the truck driver) what items you see are damaged during the unloading process. Make sure you note the box # the item came out of or if it was a piece of furniture or oversized item, its own item #. Make sure you bring the item up to the movers because you will be required to annotate this on your post-delivery paperwork.

Take Photos, Estimate Costs

Prior to sitting down and filling out the paperwork and online forms, prepare by taking digital photos of the damaged items, note the box or item #s, and get estimates for repairs (for items that are actually repairable). For items that are not repairable, completely destroyed, or missing, you will need to come up with a figure that will replace that item for you. An easy way to accomplish this is by searching the internet for a comparable item and finding how much (in today's dollars) it will take to replace the item(s).

Now is a good time to get estimates on repairs that need to be done (such as wood furniture repair or stereo component repairs). Find a local repair service and ask for a cost estimate for repair and mention that you will be filing a claim through your moving company. The repair service should be able to give you a written estimate that you will turn in to the moving company. You may have to up-front the cost for the estimate (usually around $75-$100), but the cost for the estimate will go towards the cost of the repair.

5 minute Online Personal Loan Application

File Moving Company Damaged Items Form

You should have received several forms from your moving company's government office. One of the forms should be labeled "Damage After Delivery". This is a simple paper-form that simply lists the items damaged, item or box #, and cost for repair or replacement. Once complete, simply scan and email or fax direct to the moving company - it's pretty simple. Don't be fooled - the rest of this process is extremely complicated and painful!

File your Loss/Damage Report on DPS Website

Please be patient with this step - it will take several hours of your time and will likely confuse you thoroughly. Hopefully, your moving company government office sent you an informational package that talks you though how to enter a claim in the DPS system -- if not, you can download it here. This should help you with many of your questions about this laborious process. If you have any problems accessing DPS or filing your claim, please contact the SDDC Help Desk at 800-462-2176 option 5.

If you file your claim within 9 months of delivery, the TSP is REQUIRED to replace any item that is lost or destroyed with a new item, or pay the cost of a new item of the same kind and quality without deducting for depreciation.

The TSP is not required to replace items which can be repaired for less than the Full Replacement Value of the item.

Loss or damage to an item must be reported to the TSP within 75 days of the date of delivery.

All loss/damaged discovered on the day of delivery must be listed on “The Notice of Loss/Damage at DeliveryReport”, any discrepancies found after delivery must be annotated on “The Notice of Loss/Damage After DeliveryReport”.

DO NOT DELAY …filing past the 9-month deadline eliminates your right to receive Full Replacement Value. If your claim has been timely filed, additional information may be presented at a later time.

DPS Website Instructions

1. The first place to go is: http://www.move.mil. Make sure your internet browser's POP-UP BLOCKER is de-activated for this site -- this site must be able to generate a Pop-Up or you will not be able to file a claim!

Click on the link labeled "LOGIN TO DPS".

2. The next page you will receive will be your actual login page. This will require the use of your ETA User ID (your SSN without dashes), then enter the Password which was provided to you via email from SDDC. You should have received this email shortly after your household goods were delivered.

3. Once you arrive at the main Defense Personal Property System (DPS) website, click the link labeled "CLAIMS".

4. Next, click on the "LOSS OR DAMAGE REPORT" located on the right-hand side of the page.

5. Then, about half-way down the page, click on the option "CLICK HERE TO ADD A LOSS/DAMAGE REPORT".

6. Next, you must enter, line-by-line, each item that was damaged, destroyed, or lost. Make sure you are complete in your answers. However, the blanks on the electronic form only allow for a limited number of characters, so don't be too verbose. Make sure you periodically save the page by clicking on the SAVE button.

7. Once you are done and have entered all items, click on the SUBMIT link to submit your claim. OK, you aren't done yet - you still have to create and file your actual CLAIM (see below).

File your Claim on the DPS Website

1. Back on the main DPS page, Create a Claim by clicking on the small icon next to PICK A SHIPMENT and a list will pop up showing your recent move. Select it and click on the ADD & GO button.

2. Next, you will need to re-enter the same exact information that you entered in the Loss/Damage Report section. Some of your data may be able to be imported (we could not get that feature to work so we had to re-enter all of the information again). You will need to list each item that was damaged, destroyed, or lost and (most importantly) the cost you are claiming for either repair or full replacement. Make sure you save the form as you enter items into it to save your progress.

3. Once you have accounted for all items that were damaged, destroyed, or lost, click on the SUBMIT button at the top of the page to submit your Claim... finally...

4. Next, wait for correspondence from the moving company to let you know that your claim items were accepted (or not).

5. Once you receive the email, log back on to DPS and for each line item check to see if the moving company has accepted your amount for reimbursement. You will be required to click on ACCEPT OFFER or COUNTER OFFER based on these figures.

6. Now just wait for your reimbursement check to appear in the mail.

TRICARE for your Family

Upon arrival at your new duty station, you will be required to enroll your family in the local TRICARE office (usually co-located at your military treatment facility). This is a good time to re-evaluate your family healthcare situation and decide whether you prefer TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Standard. TRICARE Standard grants your family the freedom of choice in doctors and the flexibility to seek a specialist or follow-on care without first getting a primary care referral (saves your family a lot of time and head aches). For more information, check out our section on the benefits of TRICARE Standard Supplemental Insurance.

Military Pay Questions

Military Pay entitlements change when Service Members deploy. For more Military Pay information check out our Military Pay section. Our Deployment Pay section details entitlements while a servicemember is deployed overseas.

Military For Sale By Owner

PCSing soon? Are you looking to sell your home? Perhaps you are looking for a new home to buy or rent. militaryhomesforsale.com is the place to go. Here you can list and browse homes for sale and rent. By selling your home "by owner" you save a lot by avoiding the high commission rates that realtors charge. With an easy to navigate, powerful search interface, this website is the premier for-sale-by-owner website!