Border Force

3. Ms A complains about damage she says Border Force caused to a cabinet she had sent over from overseas in November 2020. In particular, she says when the item was searched it was badly damaged (front and back).

4. Ms A says the cabinet was a family heirloom and that she has been left heartbroken by the damage.

5. As an outcome she would like £200 to repair the damage.

6. Ms A’s mother sent her a cabinet from another country in November 2020.

7. According to Border Force, when the cabinet arrived at the airport it been packed face down, leaving only the back exposed. As a result, Border Force officers wrongly assumed it was a crate or container and attempted to open it to see what was inside. While doing this, they lifted off the back of the cabinet.

8. Ms A complained about the damage to her cabinet. Border Force accepted that its officers had removed the back and offered to pay for this to be repaired. Border Force asked Ms A to obtain an invoice for the repairs. However, when she did, it detailed further damage to the cabinet, not just the back. Border Force refused to accept responsibility for this further damage and has asked Ms A to prepare a new invoice which details the cost of repairing just the back of the cabinet.

Damage to cabinet

11. Unfortunately, due to the limited evidence available, it is not possible for us to determine when and where all the damage occurred to the cabinet. However, it is worth noting evidence from Border Force does suggest the cabinet was damaged prior to the inspection its staff carried out. Although, we have seen no photographic evidence to support this claim.

12. Border Force have acknowledged the back panel of the cabinet was lifted as part of the examination and has offered to pay the costs to have this repaired.

13. Again, given we can no way prove how all the damage occurred to the cabinet and given Border Force has accepted liability for damaging the back of the cabinet, we are satisfied its offer to pay for the accepted damage is appropriate.

14. We do, however, fully appreciate why Ms A has brought the complaint to our office and why she is of the belief all the damage to the cabinet was caused by Border Force. We also appreciate the impact this has had on her given the item in question was a family heirloom.

15. Considering the above, we have asked Ms A to request a new itemised quote to have the cabinet fixed. Border Force has told us a breakdown of the costs was requested on 19 March 2021, but Ms A has not yet sent this.

16. Border Force has since confirmed it is still willing to pay for the damage to the back of the cabinet once it receives the quote from Ms A.

17. As such, we are satisfied Border Force has done enough to put things right in line with our principles of good administration – Putting things right.

1. We have carefully considered Ms A’s complaint about Border Force. We have decided Border Force has done enough to put things right, concerning the damage it caused to Ms A’s cabinet.

2. We also found no evidence to suggest Border Force caused all the damage to the cabinet, which Ms A is claiming. However, we do appreciate the reasons why Ms A believes it caused the damage and understand the emotional impact this has had, given the item in question was a family heirloom.