[Claim for Damage to Personal Property]

The U.S. Customs Service requested an opinion regarding the proper disposition of a check received from a carrier in connection with a Customs Service employee's claim. The employee had filed a claim with Customs for losses incurred incident to an official duty station relocation. GAO stated that, when Customs paid the employee's claim, it became the assignee of his claim against the carrier. The amount that Customs had allowed the claimant did not cover the full amount of his loss because his claim included elements that were not loss or damage to personal property but were for motel and meal expenses, which resulted from the carrier's delays. The itemized schedule accompanying the settlement check clearly indicated that the entire amount represented allowances for lost or damaged personal property. GAO stated that the amount of the settlement check was within the scope of the assignment mandated by Department of the Treasury regulations, that it was properly turned over to Customs by the claimant, and that there was no basis for paying any portion of it to him. GAO concluded that Customs should retain the entire proceeds of the check for credit to the appropriation used to pay the original claim.