Virginia Code 8.7-204: Duty of care; contractual limitation of warehouseman’s liability
(1) A warehouseman is liable for damages for loss of or injury to the goods caused by his failure to exercise such care in regard to them as a reasonably careful man would exercise under like circumstances but unless otherwise agreed he is not liable for damages that could not have been avoided by the exercise of such care.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 8.7-204
- Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
- Goods: means all things that are treated as movable for the purposes of a contract of storage or transportation. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
- Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
- Warehouseman: is a person engaged in the business of storing goods for hire. See Virginia Code 8.7-102
(2) Damages may be limited by a term in the warehouse receipt or storage agreement limiting the amount of liability in case of loss or damage, beyond which the warehouseman shall not be liable. On request of the bailor in a record at the time of signing such storage agreement or within a reasonable time after receipt of the warehouse receipt, the warehouseman’s liability may be increased on part or all of the goods thereunder. In this event, increased rates may be charged based on such increased valuation. No such limitation is effective with respect to the warehouseman’s liability for conversion to his own use.
(3) Reasonable provisions as to the time and manner of presenting claims and instituting actions based on the bailment may be included in the warehouse receipt or storage agreement.
Code 1950, §§ 61-6, 61-24; 1964, c. 219; 2004, c. 200.