Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Illinois

Offset movers charges

The "ICC regulation" that you were referred to is a provision in the Household Goods Carriers Bureau Tariff. It is not an ICC regulation. The ICC was terminated by Congress and its remaining regulatory functions were transferred to the Dept of Transportation. Theoretically, the tariff is part of the contract between the carrier and the shipper/consignee. However, I have always taken the position that the carrier is not entitled to rely on its requirement for payment when it has breached the contract by failing to deliver the property in good order. One can ALWAYS offset obligations in court.The carrier in this case wants you to live by the tariff, but is not doing so itself. It has requirements to promptly acknowledge receipt of, investigate, and either accept and pay or deny the claim within specific time constraints. It would appear that if you pay the carrier, you will never hear from it again and will be left with the difficulty of enforcing a judgment against a remotely domiciled carrier. My advise is to document the loss and damage claim to the extent possible so that it is "liquidated" that is specified in amount. Deduct the amount of the claim from the freight charges and remit the balance, if any. In any event, do not pay the carrier until the claim is satisfied.