European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 24, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and Stripe Friday april 24,19b7 letters policy on postal insurance claims explained i am writing to id form readers with a move in i hair future of possible prob lems with the . Postal service so that they May avoid the Many hassles we have experienced. We moved in october 1986 from Owci Bruecken a Germany to laugh Lin fab Texas. We had lived in Ger Many Tor five Yean and took advantage of opportunities to buy Quality Good at prices much lower than in the United states. When the Lime for packing came my husband and i decided to ship our porcelain figurines through the postal service As we had heard Many horror stories about valuable stolen or broken and not replaced by the government s reimbursements. We checked several times with postal workers and each time were informed by a different clerk that packages going to the United states should be insured for their replacement value. We had Bur families Check on stateside prices Tor each figurine and then insured each piece for its replacement value. The figurines were shipped to my parents Home in Florida and when we opened the packages upon our arrival in Florida we found two of the five pieces we shipped broken. We went to the local Post office and spoke o the postmaster who gave us the proper forms Tor filing a claim. We asked him if we should Send the paper work to Florida to have my parents file it at that Post office since it was shipped there. He said no that from Texas would be acceptable. We filed both claims with All the Nec Essary documents. The a Isdro figurine that was broken was insured for s350 and we received $175 from the Post of fice. The office that handled the claim informed us that they would Only give us the Price the figurine Cost in Europe and that it did t matter that i would never be Able to replace it for the amount they gave me. Furthermore i was informed by the clerk that the postal workers in Germany had no idea Whai they were taking about that pieces can Only be insured Tor their Purchase Price new their replacement value. The second broken piece a Kaiser figurine was broken in half. It was shipped in a heavy cardboard to with layers of foam rubber in fact it was the original Box that it had been shipped in from the factory we got a letter from the Post office staling that they would nol pay this claim $300 As they did nol feel the figurine was broken by the Post office. Furthermore they said they did not have to pay the claim us the figurine was snipped to Florida and the claim was filed in Texas. They said the main Post office in fort Myers. Fla. Had no record of the piece being received dam aged. They did nol Contact the past office where the bos was received and picked up by my parents my husband and i feel the costal service is nitpicking details because they have no record of what this piece Cost in Europe and they do not want to pay $300. Llandro figurines Are More popular in he United slates and a Price would be much easier to come by. All during our Lime overseas we mailed boxes to family and friends in the United Stales and insured the con tents for replacement value. We never had any problems receiving our full amount of the claim until we returned Here knowing what i know now i would advise each and every person who re turns to the United Slavics to have the movers pack your valuables and Lake your chances with them. Nol one thing was broken by the movers. It took the . Postal service 10 do the damage. Don t be fooled into thinking As we did. Thai the Purchase of insurance automatically prevents any claims hassles. Far from is Lauren i St Paylak a Texas editor s note Cpl. Walt a. Kamlien director of operations t025lh air postal Squadron he Safe re plies this h a frequent misunderstanding of Many postal patrons who submit claim for Dunn cd in tin. Basically the . Postal service uses will Honor claims within the amount covered by the fee paid for lost article based on heir actual value at the time and place of mailing minus depreciation for used hems and for the Cost of repairing damaged article or replacing a totally damaged article not exceeding actual value of he article. Uses officials were Correct in deny ing the full amount of your claim not because it was for replacement value but because such value exceeded the actual value at the time and place of mailing. Uses will accept sales receipts in voices a reputable dealer statement of value repair Bills Etc., As evidence of value. But the writer must remember that in this cast such  must be of european origin and not Continental is. Furthermore from the writer s description of the packing material used ii was clearly improperly wrapped. Uses holds the Mailer responsible for provid ing adequate packaging pre Lection against deterioration or degradation of the package s contents. Mailing Inland items without understanding such uses procedures often results in such frustrations. When in doubt inquire l your local Apo before mailing. Army cites changes in housing eligibility i have a question regarding the criteria for selection of military families for government quarters in a Sar eur Why Are military personnel on accompanied command sponsored hours in the grades ofe-1 through e-3 nol eligible for government quarters i understand that government housing is very limited in Europe and i am aware that Oha will cover 90 percent or More of a Servic member s rent having lived on the Economy for Over 15 months prior to moving into quarters after getting married. For lower enlisted married personnel in the Continental United Stales. I can readily understand some of Lite reasoning behind the guidelines. There Are several soldiers within my unit that fit this Bill perfectly Young recently married not a lot of financial Security varying degrees of maturity. Take these Basic facts of anyone s Early adulthood and add the unique challenges of living overseas and the picture becomes a Little cluttered. Isolation of the non working spouse very possibly with Young infants or toddlers in s foreign Environ men coupled with the challenges of army hours or air Force Etc., for that Matte brings about emotion Al stress a Gross Lack of any reasonable support base such As thai offered in the military housing Environ ment and very probably financial hardships through poor financial planning and spending practices on the Economy. These factors translate into poor Job performance marriage problems and Are often punctuated with re lated problems with alcohol or drugs. These Are very real concerns for our Young married soldiers coming into the Economy environment. Realize Loo thai the percentage of the military population we Are dealing with Here is Quile Smalt since the majority of lower enlisted personnel Are sin Gle. It docs seem logical that some provision can be made for the lower enlisted married Soldier in terms of government housing. In my opinion they would have a higher priority on the housing list than cos and officers who do not have school age children. After All Aren t they we supposed to be More mature financially secure and better Able to handle these situations some enlisted personnel in this status i have spoken with Are Fine living on the Economy and enjoy the Challenge. The majority of those i have seen Are nol Happy arc having marriage and or Money problems and Are just counting Down the Days to their Date of return from overseas. Again if i have overlooked some stipulation in the regulation thai allows for exceptions to policy please let me know. Otherwise a candid and direct response with a possible solution to take better care of our sol Diers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time and consideration. 1st it Jay k. Johnson Ett Lingen Germany editor s note Robert l. Henson housing division office of the Deputy chief of staff Engineer Hal Usa eur replies in december 1984, army housing policy was changed to include soldiers in pay grades Al through e-3 As eligible for assignment to government homing. The army in Europe elected to implement the policy change As new homing a acquired specifically for Soldier in those pay grades. In fact acquiring housing for Els through e-3s began this fiscal year. Unfortunately construction of new quart ers on Post or through the build to lease Progno not Quick. Most Likely in will be two Yean before we artfully see quarters ready for occupancy by personnel in those pay grades. To pro me same Relief to the Junior enlisted Towler and family we do have a policy authorizing assignment of one bedroom government quarters to Soldier in those pay grades to communities which Hare the quarters. In Addi Tion it communities which have housing in excess of the needs if e-4s and above assignment la Els through e-3s is authorized. For information the change in housing policy for e 3s and below and acquisition programming was tint published to Usa eur major commands and communities in january 1985, Cut in household shipping weight criticized i read an article in the soldiers mag Azine called easy weight loss feb. 197. The whole idea seemed ridiculous to me. Cutting shipping weight allowance Down to 25 percent of authorized weight is not going to solve the army s problem it s just going to make the soldiers and their families unhappy. What makes the army think that the items left behind in the Stales were furniture that the government plans to i be Here overseas know from experience that much of my weight allow Ance did not go for furniture. Now the army warns to Cut out 71 percent of my weight allowance and Force me to leave behind my  television half of my stereo equipment my video equipment at of my arts and crafts my children s bicycles encyclopedias Etc. What makes the army think they can Issue any of those personal items they Are telling me i can t bring Over and can t afford to replace when 1 do come Over Many people require a certain firmness in i hair mattresses or they can l sleep. What about those who ship special items for themselves or their children these personal things cannot be issued by the army but Wilt certainly be unauthorised because of weight. 1 Don t recall Ever having seen or heard about any Type of Survey the army Wai doing for research on this. How did they come up with their Solu Tion i feel in would be More practical to limply Cut out shipping of certain common non pm Onul items such As washers and driers dishwashers Etc. And achieve the goal they Are trying to attain. I Don t feel thai reducing the authorized amount to be shipped is going to help.  Vai Bingen Germany editor s note Lee Harris. Chief housing division office of the Deputy chief of stiff Engineer he Usa eur replies we tried very hard to gel in elec Tive str furniture support policy approved lot Soldier a Vang with the army in Germany. The policy would have permitted Soldier to Chute be tween government furniture issued from army plucks or bringing their own furniture to Germany. The army could not approve our re quest. The reason simply slated has funds to support la increased shipping costs were not in the army s budget. In fact. Congress reduced to amount of funds available for moving soldiers from one military Post to another which resulted in the delayed pcs we hid in Europe last year and will have again this year. There have been surveys to determine Che Jpn of furniture support soldiers preferred. A 1984 Survey conducted in Europe showed 32 percent preferred to vie All their own furniture s7 percent preferred a my of their own furniture and Wernent furniture and the remaining 11 percent preferred to rely in Len la upon government furniture sup porn. Again the furniture support policy do run for the army in Europe was based upon economics not preference. In limes of scarce resources decisions made Are not always the must Papular