Claimants become very impatient over delays in the adjustment of their claims, forgetting that where they handle perhaps a dozen claims a year, the railroad claim agent must handle thousands, involving amounts ranging from a few cents to many hundreds of dollars. They also overlook the fact that a shipment has passed over several roads, and that before the claim can be adjusted, it must be ascertained on what road the damage was sustained. The different roads involved must adjust the claim between themselves, before they can tell where the money with which to pay it is coming from. The papers must pass through the hands of agents at all junction and transfer points, and the claim departments of all roads involved, before the claimant can expect a reply.
On the other hand, it is not good business to rely solely on the railroad. Claim papers sometimes repose indefinitely in the desk of some local freight agent, until brought to light by a persistent follow-up; occasionally the papers are lost. A follow-up of freight claims is, therefore, a necessity. The shipper who is most persistent in following up his claims, is usually the beneficiary of the most prompt service.
Railroads number all claims as received, and invariably refer to them by number. It is an excellent plan, therefore, for the shipper to adopt a numerical system for the purpose of identification. It is quite important that all correspondence relating to a claim be kept together, and this is best done by using a folder for each claim. The number of claims is so small that it is not necessary to use an entire drawer for claims; they can be accommodated in the front of a drawer used for regular correspondence.
Fig. 11. Folder for Freight Claims
The outside of the folder should provide for the name and address of the consignor or consignee, as the case may be, name of the railroad on which claim is made, the shipper's claim number, and the railroad's claim number, as shown in Fig. 11. In this folder, copies of the bill and of all letters to the railroad company should be filed. The folders are filed numerically, in the order of the shipper's claim numbers.
To follow up the claim, and to provide an index to the file of claim folders, a card, similar in form to the one shown in Fig. 12, should be used. This card provides for a complete history of the claim. At the head of the card is shown the name of the consignor or the consignee, shipping point, shipper's and railroad's claim numbers, dates of shipment, receipt, and filing of claim, the railroad on which claim is made, and the name of the claim agent. This is followed by a brief statement of the nature and amount of the claim. The two bottom lines provide for a record of the payment or rejection of the claim. All of the information most likely to be needed is found by turning to this card, without the necessity of consulting the correspondence in the claim files.
Fig. 12. Card for Follow-Up of Claims
The manner of filing the card depends somewhat on circumstances. The usual plan is to file alphabetically, under the name of the consignor, first grouping by railroads. If goods are received and shipped over but one road, all of the cards would be filed in one index. But if more than one road is used, an index card would be used for each road, and the cards arranged alphabetically back of the index cards of the roads involved. This arrangement brings the cards of all claims against one road together, which is a logical plan, since it is the railroad with whom the claimant is dealing.