Terms and conditions

These terms govern work carried out by Removals Ashford. They apply to removals, storage and any associated packing or transport work quoted from Ashford, Kent.

1. Quotes

A quote is given in writing after a survey, in person or by video. Verbal indications given before a survey are not quotes and are not binding on either of us.

A written quote is valid for thirty days from its date unless it says otherwise. It is based on the volume, the access and the scope recorded at survey. If the actual work differs materially from that — significantly more to move, an access restriction that was not mentioned, an additional address added — the price may be adjusted, and we will tell you before the work proceeds rather than afterwards.

Quotes assume a vehicle can park lawfully within reasonable carrying distance at both ends. Where a permit, a suspended bay or a lift booking is required, arranging it is your responsibility unless the quote says we are doing it.

2. Booking and payment

A booking is confirmed when you accept the quote in writing and pay any deposit stated on it. Dates are held only once a booking is confirmed.

Unless your quote says otherwise, the balance is due before the work begins on the day. Storage charges are payable in advance for each storage period. Where an account is agreed for commercial work, invoices are payable within fourteen days of the invoice date.

We may charge interest on sums overdue at the statutory rate for late commercial payment.

3. Cancellation and changes

Cancel or postpone in writing as early as you can. A deposit is refundable in full where you cancel more than fourteen days before the booked date. Inside that period, the deposit may be retained in whole or in part to reflect the crew and vehicle time committed to your date. Cancellation on the day, or refusal of access on arrival, may be charged in full.

Dates moving inside a chain is ordinary and we will always try to re-plan rather than charge. Tell us the moment you know.

4. What we will not carry or store

We will not accept for transport or storage: anything flammable, explosive, corrosive or otherwise hazardous, including fuel, gas cylinders, paint, solvents and fireworks; perishable goods; plants or anything living; firearms, ammunition, illegal items or anything whose possession is unlawful.

We would prefer you kept cash, jewellery, deeds, passports and irreplaceable documents with you. If such items are included without being declared and agreed in writing, we do not accept liability for them.

We do not carry out waste clearance or disposal. We do not hold a waste carrier licence and will not remove goods for disposal.

5. Packing and preparation

Where we do the packing, we are responsible for how it is packed. Where you pack yourself, you are responsible for the contents of those cartons and for whether they are fit for the journey — and, for storage, for whether they are fit to sit sealed for an extended period.

Appliances must be disconnected, drained and safe before collection unless we have agreed in writing to handle that. Goods must be dry going into storage. Anything with a residue, a fuel tank or a battery should be raised with us before collection.

6. Access, and what we can refuse

You are responsible for telling us about access at both ends: floors, lifts, stairs, narrow lanes, weight or height restrictions, unmade surfaces, and anywhere a full-size vehicle cannot reach or turn. Village lanes and town-centre streets around Ashford frequently matter here.

Our crew may decline to carry out any operation they reasonably consider unsafe, or that risks damaging the property or the goods — a piece that will not go up a staircase, an item too heavy for the crew present, a surface that will not take the weight. Where that happens we will explain it at the time and offer the alternative if one exists.

7. Cover and liability

Goods-in-transit and public liability cover are in place. The limits, including any per-item limit, are stated on your quote. If you own something worth more than the per-item limit, tell us at survey so the appropriate cover can be arranged before the day; items not declared are covered only to the standard limit.

We are not liable for loss or damage arising from: goods packed by you where the packing was the cause; inherent defect or normal wear; anything we were not told about in advance that made the operation unsafe or impossible to do properly; or events outside our reasonable control.

Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot lawfully be limited. Consumer statutory rights are unaffected.

8. Storage

Goods placed into storage are inventoried at collection and held under a separate storage agreement, which sets the storage period, the charges and the notice arrangements.

Storage is not a self-access arrangement. Access to your containers is by appointment and is arranged with reasonable notice; containers are brought out for you rather than opened by you at the warehouse.

Redelivery is arranged by appointment. Goods are released only to you or to a person you have authorised in writing, on proof of identity, and only when the account is clear.

Where storage charges remain unpaid, we have a lien over the goods and, after giving written notice to your last known address and allowing not less than thirty days for the account to be settled, may sell the goods to recover what is owed. Any surplus after costs is returned to you. Keep your contact details up to date with us — this is the reason why.

9. International moves

On a move out of the UK you are responsible for the accuracy of the inventory and of any residency, address or tax documentation supplied for customs purposes. You are signing those declarations; we prepare and lodge the export paperwork on the basis of what you tell us.

Duties, taxes, inspection charges, demurrage and storage levied by authorities at either end are payable by you. Delays caused by customs, inspection, port operations, weather or border conditions are outside our control and are not grounds for a claim against us.

10. Claims

Note any loss or damage on the paperwork at the time of delivery or redelivery, while the crew is present. Confirm it to us in writing within seven days. Keep the packaging and the item itself until the claim has been assessed — it is frequently what establishes where and how the damage occurred.

Claims notified outside that window are considerably harder to substantiate and may be declined.

11. Sub-contracting

Work is carried out by our own crew in our own vehicles. Where part of a job genuinely requires a specialist — a piano, a safe, a piece needing a hoist, or an overseas delivery leg — we will tell you at quote stage. We do not sell your job on to an unrelated firm without telling you.

12. Complaints

Tell us first, at hello@removals-ashford.co.uk, and give us the chance to put it right. Most things can be settled by a conversation and a visit.

13. Law

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction.

See also our privacy policy and contact details.