[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 49, Volume 4]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 49CFR370.5]

[Page 789]
 
                        TITLE 49--TRANSPORTATION
 
        CHAPTER III--FEDERAL MOTOR CARRIER SAFETY ADMINISTRATION,
                      DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
 
PART 370--PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES FOR THE INVESTIGATION AND VOLUNTARY DISPOSITION OF LOSS AND DAMAGE CLAIMS AND PROCESSING SALVAGE--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 370.5  Acknowledgment of claims.

    (a) Each carrier shall, upon receipt in writing or by electronic 
transmission of a proper claim in the manner and form described in the 
regulations in the past, acknowledge the receipt of such claim in 
writing or electronically to the claimant within 30 days after the date 
of its receipt by the carrier unless the carrier shall have paid or 
declined such claim in writing or electronically within 30 days of the 
receipt thereof. The carrier shall indicate in its acknowledgment to the 
claimant what, if any, additional documentary evidence or other 
pertinent information may be required by it further to process the claim 
as its preliminary examination of the claim, as filed, may have 
revealed.
    (b) The carrier shall at the time each claim is received create a 
separate file and assign thereto a successive claim file number and note 
that number on all documents filed in support of the claim and all 
records and correspondence with respect to the claim, including the 
acknowledgment of receipt. At the time such claim is received the 
carrier shall cause the date of receipt to be recorded on the face of 
the claim document, and the date of receipt shall also appear in the 
carrier's acknowledgment of receipt to the claimant. The carrier shall 
also cause the claim file number to be noted on the shipping order, if 
in its possession, and the delivery receipt, if any, covering such 
shipment, unless the carrier has established an orderly and consistent 
internal procedure for assuring:
    (1) That all information contained in shipping orders, delivery 
receipts, tally sheets, and all other pertinent records made with 
respect to the transportation of the shipment on which claim is made, is 
available for examination upon receipt of a claim;
    (2) That all such records and documents (or true and complete 
reproductions thereof) are in fact examined in the course of the 
investigation of the claim (and an appropriate record is made that such 
examination has in fact taken place); and
    (3) That such procedures prevent the duplicate or otherwise unlawful 
payment of claims.