Our customer contract, the BAR Advance Payment Guarantee and goods-in-transit cover — the documents we send with every quote and a copy you can download here.
Removals contracts have a reputation for small print that nobody reads until something goes wrong. The full Terms & Conditions PDF above is the legally-binding document — this section is a plain-English summary so you know what you’re agreeing to before a moving day arrives. Anything below that contradicts the PDF, the PDF wins; but we’ve checked and there shouldn’t be any contradictions.
When you confirm a quote and pay the deposit, we agree to attend on your booked date with the surveyed crew size and vehicle, to carry out the work using our pad-wrap method (BAR-spec materials and a trained crew), and to deliver your possessions to the destination address you’ve given us. We agree to handle every item with reasonable care, to follow your written and verbal instructions on access and placement, and to leave your old address tidy. If we’re running late we’ll call you before our scheduled arrival time, not after.
You agree to give us accurate access information (parking, lifts, stairs, narrow gateways), to identify any items needing special handling at the survey stage (antiques, instruments, anything fragile or sentimental), to be present (or send a representative) at both the loading and unloading addresses, and to pay the balance on completion. You also agree to remove personal documents, jewellery, cash, prescription medication, passports and other irreplaceable items from the lorry and keep them with you — standard transit insurance doesn’t cover these.
A 25% deposit is due on booking to secure your date. The balance is due on completion of the move (or before a long-distance run starts, for international jobs). We accept bank transfer, all major credit and debit cards, and cash up to £10,000 in line with HMRC anti-money-laundering rules. Deposits are protected by the BAR Advance Payment Guarantee scheme: if the company were unable to fulfil its obligations, your deposit would be refunded by BAR’s underwriters. That protection is included in the price — not an optional add-on.
Every job is covered by Goods In Transit insurance (the “Confirmation of Cover” PDF above is our current certificate). Standard cover is £40 per kg per item or £50,000 per consignment, whichever is the higher. For higher-value items or international moves, MoveProtect add-on cover can be selected at the quote stage — the “MoveProtect Addendum” PDF explains the upgrade levels, single-item caps and exclusions. Excluded items (jewellery, cash, original documents, perishables, plants, hazardous substances) are listed in section 7 of the main T&Cs.
Either party can re-schedule with reasonable notice (typically 7 days for local moves, 14 days for international). We don’t charge re-scheduling fees in the normal course of events — the deposit transfers to the new date. If you cancel within 48 hours of the move, the deposit is non-refundable to cover the diary slot we’ve held for you and the crew rota we can no longer reassign. If we cancel (extremely rare — vehicle breakdown, serious crew illness), your deposit is refunded in full plus the difference to a comparable BAR-member alternative for the same date.
Damage claims are handled directly — one form, no third-party adjuster, no “referred to insurers, please wait 12 weeks”. Photograph the damaged item, note it on the inventory at unloading, and email or post the claim form within seven days. We respond within five working days. If you’re not happy with our decision, you can escalate to the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman (we’re a member — their decisions bind us). If you’re still not satisfied, you can also escalate to BAR’s consumer arbitration scheme.
The contract is governed by English law. Disputes are subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. The above does not affect any statutory rights you have as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
If anything in the T&Cs or insurance certificate is unclear, please call the office on 01323 848 008 or email office@markratcliffemoving.co.uk before you sign. We’d rather walk you through any clause for ten minutes on the phone than have an unhappy surprise on the day. The current contract version is reviewed annually — the version date is printed at the foot of the T&Cs PDF.
Several clauses in our T&Cs are more generous than the BAR standard or what other Sussex removers offer. We don’t use the “volumetric clause” that lets removers add a fee on the day if your inventory is over what was surveyed — our fixed prices stay fixed. We don’t use a “disclaimer for items packed by the owner” that excludes self-packed boxes from cover — our insurance covers everything in the lorry, including boxes you packed yourself, provided they were packed with reasonable care and the contents are listed on the inventory. We don’t use a “cancellation fee scale” that takes a percentage of the total quote — only the deposit is at risk inside the 48-hour window, and outside that window you pay nothing to re-schedule.
Yes — up to 48 hours before the move. Inside 48 hours the deposit is held to cover the slot we can no longer rebook, but it transfers to a future date with no admin fee.
It happens often. We’ll wait, deliver to storage if needed, or hold the load overnight depending on the timing — the contract handles all three scenarios without surprise fees.
The core T&Cs apply, but international moves also engage the destination-country customs rules and any partner-agent contracts. The supplementary international-moves rider is sent with overseas quotes — ask if you’d like to see it ahead of the survey.
The current Confirmation of Cover Letter is the second PDF in the downloads section above — it’s renewed annually and identifies our underwriters, policy number and the limit of liability. If you need a copy on letterhead for a landlord, lender or HR department, email the office and we’ll send one within the working day.
Yes — storage is a separate contract that takes effect when goods are delivered into the Lower Dicker depot. The storage T&Cs cover access arrangements, monthly billing, notice periods, insurance levels for items in storage, and what happens if a customer becomes uncontactable. We send the storage T&Cs with the initial booking confirmation; ask for them in advance if you’d prefer to review before committing.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you the right to a service performed with reasonable care and skill, for the price agreed (or a reasonable price if none was agreed), within a reasonable time. Our T&Cs don’t override those rights — they sit alongside them. If a clause in our T&Cs ever conflicts with your statutory rights, the statutory rights win, every time, without exception. Removals is one of the few household-services sectors with multiple statutory protections layered on top of each other — BAR membership, FHIO ombudsman cover, APG deposit protection and standard consumer law all apply to the same job.