Calma Movers · 2026-08-24
The wardrobe has a gouge in it, or the television screen has a crack that was not there this morning. What happens next is decided almost entirely by things that were or were not done before the damage — which is unfair, and is also how it works.
We are a moving company, so we have an obvious interest in you hiring the kind of company that handles this well. Read the bias as given. The mechanics below apply to us exactly as they apply to anyone else, and you can hold us to them.
One thing this guide deliberately does not do: quote you specific legal deadlines. Time limits for consumer claims in Portugal depend on the type of contract and have changed over the years, and a wrong number here would send somebody down the wrong path. Where a deadline matters, we say where to confirm it.
The first hour matters more than the next month
Almost every claim that fails, fails on evidence rather than on principle. Do these before the crew leaves if you possibly can.
The single most common reason a legitimate claim collapses is a delay of a few days. Most policies set a notification window — ours is 48 hours — and once it has passed the insurer can decline regardless of who was at fault.
- Photograph the damage where it stands, before anything is moved again. Wide shot showing the room, then close up. The wide shot is what proves where and when.
- Tell the crew, on the spot, and watch them write it down. A verbal «we'll sort it» from someone carrying a sofa is not a record.
- Put it in writing the same day. WhatsApp is fine and is timestamped, which is exactly why it is useful.
- Do not sign anything that says the job was completed to your satisfaction while you are still looking at a broken thing. If a form is put in front of you, write the damage on it before you sign.
- Keep the packaging if the item was packed by the company. It is evidence about how it was protected.
«We are insured» means two completely different things
This is where most people discover they assumed something. There are two policies with similar names, and only one of them covers your belongings.
| Public liability | Goods in transit |
|---|
| Portuguese name | Responsabilidade civil | Mercadorias transportadas |
| Your damaged wardrobe | Not covered | Covered |
| A wall or lift they damaged | Covered | Not covered |
| Injury to a passer-by | Covered | Not covered |
A company holding only public liability is genuinely insured, and genuinely not insured for the thing you are looking at. So the question to ask — before booking, ideally — is not «are you insured» but «which policy covers my belongings in transit, what is the limit per move and what is the excess».
We go through this properly in our guide to moving insurance in Portugal, including the exclusions that are standard across the whole market.
Three documents decide everything
When a claim goes well or badly, it is usually one of these that made the difference.
- The invoice. Without it there is no documented contract, and with no documented contract there is very little to escalate. This is the practical reason paperwork matters, and it has nothing to do with tax morality — it is your only proof that a company agreed to do something for you.
- The written quote. It shows what was agreed, including whether packing and protection were part of the job. A company that packed the item is in a different position from one that only carried a box you sealed.
- The photographs from before. If the company photographed your items at the old address, that record cuts both ways and that is precisely what makes it useful — it removes the argument about pre-existing damage entirely.
If you are reading this before a move rather than after one: these three are worth more than any promise on a website, ours included. Ask for all of them at the quote stage.
How it should go when the company is reasonable
Most damage is small, most companies would rather fix it than argue, and most of these end within a fortnight.
- You report it with photographs. They acknowledge in writing.
- They either repair it, replace it, or offer a reduction. For furniture, a good restorer is often the better outcome than a replacement — particularly for anything solid or old.
- If the insurer is involved, expect to be asked for proof of value: a receipt, an old listing, a photograph of the item intact. Without something, you are negotiating from memory and you will lose.
- Expect an excess. The first slice of any claim is normally yours, which is why small damage is often settled directly by the company rather than through the policy at all.
When the company stops answering
Portugal has a defined path for this, and it is more usable than most people expect. In order:
- The electronic complaints book — Livro de Reclamações Eletrónico, at livroreclamacoes.pt. Every business providing services to the public is required to make it available, and a complaint filed there goes to the supervising authority rather than to the company's inbox. It costs nothing and it is the step companies least want you to take.
- Alternative dispute resolution. For consumer disputes in the Lisbon area, the Centro de Arbitragem de Conflitos de Consumo de Lisboa — Rua dos Douradores 116-2.º, 1100-207 Lisboa, tel. 21 880 70 30, centroarbitragemlisboa.pt. Its remit covers transport of goods. This is designed to be used without a lawyer.
- The national consumer portal, consumidor.gov.pt, which lists the competent bodies and general guidance.
- Court, as the last resort. For the amounts involved in most moving damage this is rarely proportionate, which is exactly why the arbitration route exists.
Two practical notes. First, deadlines apply at several of these stages and they depend on the type of claim — confirm the current limit with the arbitration centre or the consumer portal rather than assuming. Second, every one of these steps works better with the invoice in hand, which is the thread running through this whole article.
What you probably cannot claim, and why
These exclusions are standard across the industry rather than a sign of a bad company. Knowing them in advance is better than discovering them during a dispute.
- Boxes you packed yourself that arrive undamaged. If the box is intact, nobody can establish what state the contents were in when it was sealed.
- Cash, jewellery, documents and data storage. Almost universally excluded. Carry them yourself.
- Pre-existing damage — which is why the before photographs protect you as much as the company.
- Items that were already fragile beyond normal: flat-pack furniture that has been assembled and disassembled several times is the classic case, and any honest mover will warn you before moving it.
- Mechanical failure of an appliance with no visible external damage. A washing machine that simply stops working is a difficult claim anywhere.
- Plants and anything perishable.
If you want this to be easy, decide before you book
Everything above is recoverable but tiring. The version where it does not happen looks like this.
- Ask which policy covers goods in transit, and get the limit and excess in writing with the quote.
- Confirm you will get an invoice.
- Ask whether they photograph items and both properties before and after. If they do, the whole category of argument disappears.
- Ask who is actually coming — employees or subcontractors. It changes who is responsible.
- Pack the fragile things yourself only if you accept that they are then outside the cover. Otherwise let the company pack them.
A company that answers all five without hesitating has been asked before and has the paperwork to hand. One that gets vague around the second question has told you something useful.
In short
- Photograph the damage before anything moves, tell them the same day, and put it in writing.
- «Insured» is ambiguous — public liability covers the building, goods-in-transit covers your things.
- Most policies have a notification window. Ours is 48 hours; missing one is the most common reason a fair claim fails.
- The invoice, the written quote and the before-photographs decide almost every case.
- If the company stops answering: livroreclamacoes.pt, then the Lisbon consumer arbitration centre. Both are free and designed to be used without a lawyer.
Want the insurance terms before you book, not after?
Show us the flat in a ten-minute video call and you get a fixed price in writing within the hour, with the policy limit and excess attached. We photograph everything at both addresses as standard.
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