Unfortunately, there is no compensation in U.S. law for sentimental value, only for economic value. There is accordingly no real point to a lawsuit under U.S. law, since you would spend for more on the suit than you'd recover, since you'd recover only the items nominal value (if any). It's possible UK law would offer you compensation: we cannot speak to that.Generally, if you did want to sue--e.g. you were willing to spend the money simply for the emotional satisfaction of suing--you could in this case sue locally, since the fact that moved you to a U.S. location means that they deliberately undertook a commercial connection to the U.S., which should give the local court jurisdiction, or power, over them. However, even though you could sue here, suing someoen located elsewhere is always much more difficult, since service of process is more complex, enforcing any court orders or judgments requires additional steps and working through the courts in the country in which the defendant is located, etc. Whatever the cost would be to sue a local mover, assume it will be higher for suing someone located elsewhere.