Plain-English summary
Movesmith is an online removals marketplace. When you book a move through us, you contract with Movesmith Ltd: we set the price, take your payment, and are responsible to you for the service. To carry out the physical move, we subcontract to a vetted independent operator from our network. Every Move includes Movesmith Cover up to £10,000 at no extra charge, with paid increased limits available up to and including £50,000 where shown in your Quote. Separately, we match your Declared Value to an Operator whose verified Goods in Transit limit is at least that amount. Movesmith is your single point of contact for putting things right. These terms apply to everyone who uses the Platform, including customers submitting requests or ordering services and Operators performing Moves on our behalf.
Bookings expressly priced under the 18%-before-VAT workload policy use the dated itinerary and fixed-offer provisions below. Already accepted Bookings and supplier offers retain their accepted prices and applicable terms. A multi-day Booking does not include undefined specialist work or a separate storage or retail service.
These terms are a legal contract. Please read them carefully. By using the platform you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to them.
Movesmith Ltd, registered in England and Wales (company no. 16634345), registered office 86–90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE. ICO registration ZC149218. Contact hello@movesmith.uk or 020 3143 1719.
What parts of these terms apply to me?
This agreement governs your use of the Movesmith platform at movesmith.uk (the “Platform”) and any services made available through it. It is divided into three parts:
- Part A (All Users) — applies to every User of the Platform.
- Part B (Operators) — additional terms for the vetted independent removal businesses that perform moves on our behalf.
- Part C (Customers) — additional terms for people who book a move through the Platform.
If you use the Platform as an Operator, Parts A and B apply to you. As a Customer, Parts A and C apply to you.
Your key information (customers)
Cancellation. Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, where you book a move more than 14 days before the move date you may cancel within 14 days of booking for any reason and receive a full refund, subject to the cooling-off provisions in Part C.
Statutory rights. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 requires that the service is performed with reasonable care and skill, within a reasonable time, and as described. Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights.
Declared Value and cover. Every Move includes Movesmith Cover up to £10,000 at no extra charge. Where you declare a value above £10,000 and up to and including £50,000, an increased Cover Limit may be added and priced clearly in your Quote. This customer protection is separate from Operator eligibility: the Operator allocated to your Move must also hold verified Goods in Transit cover with a limit equal to or greater than your Declared Value. Movesmith remains your single point of contact. See Part C.
Damage to your home. If the crew damages your home or building during your Move (for example a wall, floor, door, banister, lift or communal hallway), report it to us through your booking page, ideally on the day with photos and within 7 days. Movesmith handles the report for you and is your single point of contact. The Operator is responsible for damage its crew causes through lack of reasonable care, and we arrange for it to be put right or paid for, up to £50,000 per Move. This is separate from Movesmith Cover for your Goods. See clause 31A. Your statutory rights are not affected.
Parking. If your Booking says you (or your building) will arrange parking, such as a permit, bay suspension, loading bay or paid parking, and it isn’t in place, you must pay us the amount of any parking penalty charge the crew gets as a result. You pay the charge itself only: no admin fees. We show you the evidence first, and you have 14 days to dispute it. See clause 29.10.
This is a summary only. For detailed information from Citizens Advice visit citizensadvice.org.uk or call 0808 223 1133.
Part A — All Users
1. Definitions
1.1 In this agreement, unless the context requires otherwise:
- “Account” means an account registered through the Platform.
- “Add-on Service” means an extra service that you choose for a named item at a named address of your Move, shown in your Quote as its own fixed-price line. The Add-on Services are: building flat-pack furniture, wall-mounting a TV, taking an old item away, and unpacking and bagging the packaging. Taking an item apart and rebuilding it remains part of your Move (clauses 26.5 and 27.2) and is not an Add-on Service.
- “Authorised Representative” means an adult nominated by the Customer at booking, or any adult present at delivery to whom the Customer has given the Sign-Off PIN to share with the Operator on the Customer’s behalf. For an organisation-paid move, it also includes the client whom the organisation has chosen, under the Business Customer Agreement, to sign off completion on site and to whom Movesmith has sent the Sign-Off PIN.
- “Booking” means a confirmed request for a removal service under your contract with Movesmith. For a category-based Quote, the initial capacity check uses recorded availability and vehicle-category planning assumptions; assignment follows the Operator confirmation described in clause 27.6.
- “Customer” means a person who submits a Priority Request, books a Move, or orders a Packing Kit through the Platform for personal, family, or household purposes.
- “Collection Party” means a retailer, marketplace or private seller, auction house, business or other person holding Goods for collection who is not the Customer, Movesmith or the Operator.
- “Deliver-and-Rest Move” means a Long-Distance Move planned so that the crew completes delivery of all the Goods on the first day, rests overnight after delivery and returns with an empty vehicle the next day.
- “Declared Value” means the total value of the Goods declared by the Customer at Booking, calculated from the per-item values and quantities supplied where the booking flow requests them.
- “Extra Stop” means an additional address, booked under clause 27.12, at which Goods are collected or dropped off between the main collection and delivery addresses.
- “Flexible Window” means the run of consecutive days, chosen by the Customer when booking a Shared-Load Booking, on one of which the Goods are collected and delivered.
- “Furniture Collection Move” means a Move collecting the listed furniture or appliances from one or more authorised pickup points and delivering them to the booked delivery address and any booked Extra Stops on the confirmed dates, without supplier custody of the Goods overnight.
- “Duty Miles” means the miles each van travels for a job from the Operator’s base to the collection address, then to the delivery address, then back to base, including a drive back to base the day after an overnight stop, as mapped by Movesmith when the offer is made. Duty Miles do not apply to a Shared-Load Booking. Where Movesmith prices a Move as if the Operator were based near the collection address (as shown on the offer), the Duty Miles are measured from a base that distance from the collection address, and back to it from the delivery address, as mapped by Movesmith when the offer is made, and not from the Operator's own base.
- “Goods” means the items being moved as part of a Move.
- “Journey Plan” means the dated operating itinerary disclosed in and accepted with the fixed Quote, including the planned collection and delivery dates, required resources and confirmation that Goods remain with the Customer between working days.
- “Long-Distance Move” means a Move that the Platform prices in long-distance mode because the planned one-way loaded drive from collection to delivery, as mapped by Movesmith, is more than 150 minutes or more than 100 miles. A Shared-Load Booking is not a Long-Distance Move, whatever its distance.
- “Match Deadline” means the time shown when a Shared-Load Booking is made by which Movesmith will confirm the day of collection and delivery. It is never later than 18:00 on the third day before the last day of the Flexible Window.
- “Move” means the removal service booked through the Platform.
- “Movesmith Cover” means Movesmith’s acceptance of liability for loss of or damage to Goods of up to £50,000 per Move, capped at the Declared Value, as described in Part C.
- “Operator” means a vetted independent removal business that Movesmith subcontracts to perform a Move.
- “Packing Kit” means one of the fixed sets of packing materials that Movesmith sells, either bought with a Move under clause 27.8 or on its own under clause 27.9.
- “Platform” means the Movesmith website, applications, and online booking system through which Moves are booked and managed.
- “Platform Fee” means the commission retained by Movesmith from each Booking.
- “Priority Request” means a request for Movesmith to review a Move before it can be booked, made where our team needs to check it or while online booking is closed; it is not a Booking and creates no payment obligation.
- “Quote” means the fixed price displayed on the Platform for a requested Move and, where the request proceeds, confirmed at Booking.
- “Shared-Load Booking” means a Booking of single items or a part load, made at the shared-load price shown in the Quote, that is collected and delivered on one day within a Flexible Window by an Operator who may carry other Goods, including other Customers’ Goods, in the same vehicle on that day.
- “Shared-Load Offer” means an offer to an Operator to perform a Shared-Load Booking on a day of the Operator’s choosing within its Flexible Window.
- “Sign-Off PIN” means the one-time PIN sent to the Customer when the Operator marks a Move complete, used to confirm completion.
- “User” means any user of the Platform, including Customers and Operators.
- “Van Share” means the proportion of a vehicle’s load space that Movesmith plans for a Shared-Load Booking from the Goods disclosed for it.
- “Waste Partner” means a business that holds the waste carrier registration the law requires, that Movesmith engages to collect and lawfully dispose of items you ask us to take away. We show its name and registration number with your Booking.
- “Working Day” means Monday to Friday excluding English public holidays.
2. Eligibility
2.1 The Platform is not intended for unsupervised use by any person under 18 years old, or by any person previously suspended or prohibited from using the Platform. By using the Platform you represent and warrant that you are either: (a) over 18 and accessing the Platform for your own use; or (b) accessing the Platform on behalf of a person under 18 with their parent or guardian’s consent.
2.2 If you use the Platform on behalf of an organisation, you must have authority to act for it. Approved organisations, such as letting and estate agents, relocation and concierge firms, developers and retailers, may use Movesmith Business to prepare a move that their customer books and pays for or, where Movesmith allows it, to book and pay for a household move on behalf of their client. Approval as a referral partner does not automatically give access to Movesmith Business. For an organisation-paid move, the named organisation contracts with Movesmith under the Business Customer Agreement shown and expressly accepted at checkout, which prevails over these terms on any subject it deals with. Only its owner or staff with current commercial authority may accept a price, confirm the booking, cancel it or approve a chargeable change. Ordinary staff may prepare details and request decisions. Office and commercial removals, and the delivery or distribution of goods that an organisation sells, are not booked or paid for by an organisation through Movesmith Business; other business moves that cannot be priced online require tailored review. No business booking may be confirmed without the applicable published agreement. For a customer-paid move, the invited customer verifies access, reviews and completes the brief, accepts their applicable agreement and handles payment. The introducing organisation cannot accept a price, cancel, approve chargeable changes or give completion approval on that customer's behalf merely because it prepared the move. Consumer status depends on the actual contracting circumstances, not the portal used or the card presented. Mandatory consumer rights are preserved.
2.3 Each Movesmith Business user must use an individually authenticated account. The organisation owner manages staff and commercial permissions. Removal ends current access and outstanding authority; responsibility transfers to the current owner while past actions remain attributed to their original actor. Ownership transfer requires an accepted replacement. A routine pause stops new intake while preserving authorised coordination of existing bookings. Security revocation removes affected access and transfers unresolved responsibilities to Movesmith oversight; it does not itself approve cancellation, payment or release of goods.
3. Accounts
3.1 To use most functionality of the Platform you may be required to register for an Account and provide accurate information, which may include your name, email address, phone number, and billing and address details.
3.2 You warrant that all information you provide is accurate, honest, current, and complete, and you agree to keep it up to date.
3.3 You must not share your Account. You must notify us immediately of any unauthorised use of your Account or any breach of Platform security.
3.4 We may, in our absolute discretion, accept or decline your registration, and may suspend or cancel your Account for any failure to comply with this agreement.
4. User obligations and acceptable use
4.1 As a User you agree:
- (a) not to intimidate, harass, impersonate, stalk, threaten, bully, or endanger any other User, or distribute unsolicited or bulk commercial content;
- (b) to use the Platform only for arranging or performing removal services, and not in any way that is illegal or fraudulent or that facilitates illegal or fraudulent activity;
- (c) not to use the Platform for any commercial, promotional, or marketing purpose except as approved in writing by Movesmith;
- (d) not to act in any way that may harm the reputation of Movesmith or anything contrary to the interests of Movesmith or the Platform;
- (e) not to make any automated use of the Platform, and not to copy, reproduce, translate, adapt, vary, modify, decompile, or reverse-engineer any part of the Platform without our written consent;
- (f) not to introduce viruses or malicious code, gain unauthorised access, probe or test Platform security, or interfere with the normal operation of the Platform or its servers;
- (g) not to post false, misleading, or defamatory reviews, or misuse the Platform’s communication tools; and
- (h) not to circumvent the Platform’s payment flow, the Sign-Off PIN mechanism, or any technical limitation or access control.
4.2 Off-Platform contact and bypassing. You must not solicit or entice any other User to transact outside the Platform in order to avoid the Platform Fee or Movesmith’s service. This restriction applies during your engagement on any Booking and for 12 months afterwards. Operator-specific non-solicitation is set out in Part B.
4.3 Communication on the Platform. Correspondence between Users relating to a Booking must take place through the Platform’s messaging tools, except as needed to perform an agreed Move.
4.4 We may change any feature of the Platform at any time. We may suspend or cancel the Account of any User who breaches or is likely to breach this clause.
5. Posted materials
5.1 Warranties. By posting any content on the Platform (“Posted Material”) you represent and warrant that: you are authorised to provide it; it is accurate and true; any review or feedback is honest, accurate, and fair; it is free from harmful, discriminatory, defamatory, offensive, or unlawful material; it does not infringe any third party’s Intellectual Property Rights; and it contains no viruses or harmful code.
5.2 Licence. You grant Movesmith a perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, worldwide, royalty-free licence (including the right to sublicense) to use, copy, modify, reproduce, and adapt any Intellectual Property Rights in your Posted Material so that we may operate and promote the Platform. You release us from any moral rights claims, and indemnify us against any third-party claim that your Posted Material infringes their Intellectual Property Rights.
5.3 Removal. We have no obligation to screen Posted Material in advance but may review and remove any Posted Material at any time, in our absolute discretion, without explanation. You are responsible for keeping your own records of Posted Material.
6. Intellectual property
6.1 Movesmith retains ownership of all materials provided in connection with the Platform and the services, including text, graphics, logos, design, icons, images, recordings, pricing, downloads, and software (“Platform Content”), and reserves all Intellectual Property Rights not expressly granted to you.
6.2 You may make a temporary electronic copy of Platform Content solely to view it. You must not otherwise reproduce, transmit, adapt, distribute, sell, modify, or publish Platform Content without our prior written consent or as permitted by law.
6.3 “Intellectual Property Rights” means all copyright, trade mark, design, patent, semiconductor and circuit layout rights, trade, business, company and domain names, confidential and other proprietary rights, and any rights to registration of such rights, whether registered or unregistered, anywhere in the world.
7. Third-party content and terms
7.1 The Platform may contain content provided by third parties. We accept no responsibility for, and make no representation about, the quality, accuracy, or completeness of third-party content.
7.2 Payment partner. We use Stripe to process payments. Your use of Stripe is subject to Stripe’s own terms and privacy policy (available at stripe.com/gb/legal). You release Movesmith from all liability for any act or omission of Stripe, including any security issue, performance issue, or processing error, although we may correct or instruct the correction of any payment error.
8. Security
8.1 We do not accept responsibility for loss or damage to your computer, phone, or other device arising in connection with your use of the Platform. You should take your own precautions against viruses and other harmful code.
9. Privacy
9.1 We handle personal data in accordance with our Privacy Policy at movesmith.uk/privacy, which forms part of this agreement by reference. Movesmith Ltd is the data controller and is registered with the ICO under reference ZC149218. To facilitate a Move, we may share the minimum operational scope and approved access or item evidence with a named offered Operator, and relevant Booking information with the assigned Operator. For a Furniture Collection Move, the Customer authorises Movesmith and the assigned Operator to use and share with the Collection Party only the collection details reasonably required to identify and release the Goods. Each Operator must handle personal data in accordance with UK GDPR and their agreement with us. The address and on-the-day contact for each Extra Stop are shared with the assigned Operator on the same basis. The Privacy Policy explains how we use the single location reading taken for a move-day arrival estimate (clause 16.8), optional rating scores and published reviews (clause 35), public crew profiles (clause 14.6) and partner-link attribution (clause 28.5).
9.2 For customer-paid introductions, the customer controls continued sharing of operational information with the introducing organisation. Withdrawal ends future access through Movesmith Business, including associated documents and photographs, without ending the customer's booking access. It cannot recall information already viewed. Customer payment details, private support messages, disputes and completion credentials are not shared with the introducing organisation. Permission to send a booking invitation or operational update is not consent to marketing. Partners must confirm the customer expects the invitation and handle any information they already hold in accordance with applicable privacy obligations.
10. Records and audit
10.1 To the extent permitted by law, we may keep records of transactions and communications made through the Platform, including messages, scope and move photographs, evidence approvals, sign-off and completion-review records, tracking milestones, Operator capacity and insurance confirmations, performance and trust records, review consent and moderation records, audit logs, and IP-address information. We use these records to operate and protect the Platform, resolve disputes and claims, demonstrate compliance and, where necessary, produce them in legal proceedings involving Movesmith. Our Privacy Policy explains the applicable purposes and retention periods.
11. Notices
11.1 A notice under this agreement must be in writing and in English and delivered by email to the other party’s most recently notified email address. Notices to Movesmith must be sent to hello@movesmith.uk. Notice is taken to be given 24 hours after sending (or the next Working Day if that is not a Working Day), or when replied to, whichever is earlier.
12. General
12.1 Governing law and jurisdiction. This agreement and any dispute or claim (including non-contractual disputes or claims) arising out of or in connection with it are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction. Nothing in this clause affects a consumer’s statutory right to bring proceedings in the courts of the part of the United Kingdom in which the consumer is resident.
12.2 Third-party rights. This agreement does not give rise to any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of its terms.
12.3 Waiver. No party may rely on a waiver of any right unless it is in writing and signed by the party granting it.
12.4 Severance. Any term that is wholly or partly void or unenforceable is severed to that extent, and the remainder of this agreement continues in full force.
12.5 Assignment. You may not assign or transfer your rights or obligations without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer our rights and obligations in connection with a sale, merger, or restructuring of the business.
12.6 Entire agreement. This agreement, together with the Privacy Policy, embodies the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes any prior arrangement in relation to its subject matter.
12.7 Interpretation. The singular includes the plural and vice versa; a reference to a person includes any entity; headings are for convenience only; “includes” is not a word of limitation; a reference to a statute includes any amendment or replacement of it; a reference to £ or GBP is to pound sterling; and no provision is interpreted against a party merely because that party prepared it.
Part B — Operators
13. Independent contractor status
13.1 You are an independent business and not an employee, worker, agent, or partner of Movesmith. Nothing in this agreement creates an employment, agency, partnership, or joint venture relationship. In particular:
- (a) you set your own hours and decide when to accept Bookings, and you may decline any Booking before acceptance without consequence;
- (b) you are free to provide services to other platforms, including competitors;
- (c) you provide your own vehicles, equipment, fuel, insurance, employees, drivers, and subcontractors at your own cost, and you bear the commercial risk of your business;
- (d) you are responsible for your own tax, National Insurance, VAT (if applicable), and statutory contributions, and for those of anyone you engage; and
- (e) we do not direct or supervise the day-to-day performance of Moves beyond the service standards in this agreement.
14. Onboarding and ongoing verification
14.1 To be approved and to remain on the Platform, you must at all times:
- (a) operate as a registered business in the United Kingdom (sole trader, partnership, or limited company);
- (b) hold and maintain valid Public Liability insurance with minimum cover of £1,000,000 throughout the term;
- (c) hold and maintain valid Goods in Transit insurance, arranged on a liability basis, meeting the minimum cover for your Operator tier set out in clause 18 throughout the term;
- (d) operate roadworthy, taxed, MOT-valid, V5-registered vehicles, ULEZ-compliant where your work takes you into a ULEZ-affected zone;
- (e) ensure you and all your drivers hold valid UK driving licences; provide any private identity and driving-entitlement evidence reasonably required for restricted Admin or Ops review; and, for each driver assigned to a Customer, provide a separate current customer-facing profile portrait with the driver’s specific, informed and affirmative display consent; and
- (f) complete the assigned current version of the Movesmith Supplier Readiness Course before final job-eligibility approval and complete any separately assigned material-revision refresher. An Operator with attributable evidence of a welcome call completed before the Course replaced that onboarding process is not required to repeat the full Course unless Movesmith assigns it for a recorded quality or remediation reason. A later human welcome or support call is optional and may provide a specific, reasonable accessibility, language, technical or other support route, but does not complete or pass an assigned Course or refresher; and
- (g) accurately confirm your fleet composition, maximum crew size, suitable job types, specialist capabilities and current capacity, and reconfirm that information at least every 90 days.
14.2 Vehicle Compliance Declaration. You self-certify, at onboarding and continuously, that every vehicle you use holds a valid MOT where required, is registered and taxed, is ULEZ-compliant where required, and is roadworthy. This is a contractual declaration on which we rely; a false declaration is a material breach.
14.3 You must upload current copies of all required documents and re-upload them before they expire. You must also keep the capacity and capability information in clause 14.1(g) accurate and complete. Movesmith may ask you to review that information periodically, but passing the requested review date does not by itself pause matching. Expired documentation, missing capacity information or materially incomplete capacity information blocks new job offers, assignment and dispatch until corrected and re-verified.
14.4 You must notify us promptly if your insurance is cancelled, declined for renewal, or materially amended; if you or any driver is convicted of an offence relevant to the safe performance of Moves; if you become insolvent; or if your ownership changes. You must tell us about a change to your VAT status within the time set out in clause 17.2.
14.5 Driver identity, portrait and consent. A driving licence or other identity document is private compliance evidence and is never used as the Customer-facing portrait. The portrait must be a separate, current, clear head-and-shoulders image. Before it is used, the driver must affirmatively agree that their first name, approved portrait and verified-driver status may be shown only to the Customer for whose Move they are assigned, including on that Customer’s booking confirmation, tracking page and relevant service emails and text messages. Uploading a portrait is not consent and does not approve it. An Operator may submit the portrait and consent itself, or authorised Admin or Ops staff may record them on the Operator’s behalf only where attributable evidence of the driver’s agreement is retained. A missing, rejected, replaced or withdrawn portrait or consent blocks that driver from Customer-visible assignment and dispatch until remedied; it does not expose the licence image and does not by itself remove another eligible driver or retrospectively cancel an Operator’s existing approval.
14.6 Public crew profiles. Separately from clause 14.5, Movesmith may show a driver on its public area pages with their first name, approved portrait, verified-driver status, the number of Movesmith Moves they have completed in that area and, once enough eligible ratings exist, their average customer rating. A profile appears only with the consent of both the Operator and the driver, recorded with the statement shown, in addition to the booking-only consent in clause 14.5. That consent is optional and is not a condition of receiving offers. The Operator or the driver may withdraw it at any time through the Supplier Portal or by emailing suppliers@movesmith.uk; the profile is then removed from public pages as soon as reasonably practicable. No surname, contact details, vehicle registration or licence information is shown publicly.
15. How bookings are allocated
15.1 Bookings are allocated only to verified, job-eligible Operators. Portal access or an active account does not guarantee work. Each offer requires current approvals and Terms acceptance, suitable insurance and Declared Value limits, verified drivers, suitable crew and vehicles, route, access, service capabilities and available capacity for every committed day. A category-based offer uses disclosed planning assumptions for vehicle space, payload and dimensions; these are not a physical inspection or verified specifications for your vehicle. Before acceptance you must confirm that your actual vehicles, equipment and crew can fulfil the inventory, fit, time and access requirements shown for every day. Do not accept if the plan cannot be fulfilled. Movesmith rechecks the resources and agreed economics before assignment; an unsuccessful check does not authorise a higher Customer price or a change to an accepted offer. The disclosed itinerary includes any positioning and return journeys and the prohibition on overnight supplier custody. For a Shared-Load Offer, the itinerary covers the collection and delivery only. Your travel to the collection address and from the delivery address is part of your own planning, as clause 15.7 explains. Missing requirements prevent allocation. Acceptance confirms that you can perform that itinerary and scope; declining before acceptance is not a Strike. You may give these confirmations, and the evidence acknowledgement in clause 15.3, in a single acceptance declaration. Once the Customer and collection contact details are released, you must check access, release authority and collection readiness with those contacts and report anything beyond the disclosed plan before doing extra work. Each offer shows its response deadline, which is no later than the automatic cancellation cut-off 12 hours before the start of the arrival window; if no Operator has accepted by then, the Booking is cancelled automatically and the offer lapses.
15.2 Binding commitment. Once you accept a Booking you are contractually committed to perform the Move on the agreed date within the agreed arrival window. The 06:00-08:00 early-start option is a two-hour arrival window and is not a promise of arrival at exactly 06:00. It is offered only where your explicitly declared working hours cover the window and the disclosed lawful access supports it. The Customer’s details are released to you and you must assign a specific driver whose private licence evidence is verified and whose separate Customer-facing portrait and consent satisfy clause 14.5. After assignment, Movesmith may show that Customer only the assigned driver’s first name, approved portrait and verified-driver status; it does not show the driver’s licence image, full identity, personal contact details or licence information. Card authorisation is scheduled for around 48 hours before the Move, or starts immediately where the Move is within 48 hours. You must not begin the Move unless the Supplier Portal confirms that there is valid payment coverage under clause 28, including verified collection where expressly agreed. Cancellation after acceptance is subject to clauses 20 and 21.
15.3 Evidence and performance gates. Where a Move is routed for scope evidence or high-risk pickup or delivery access, we may offer it to you before the Customer has completed the requested access reconfirmation or sent the requested photos. If we do, the Supplier Portal flags this before you accept and shows what the Customer declared. When the photos or answers arrive, they are attached to the Booking and we tell you. Photos we have returned to the Customer are not treated as received. A named Operator receiving such an offer can view the approved private access pack and must acknowledge the current evidence version before acceptance. The evidence is supplied only for planning, safety, scope verification and dispute or claim handling, and must not be copied or used for another purpose. Verified performance, complaints, upheld claims, cancellations, compliance and service outcomes may affect offer order and allocation priority. A red trust status blocks new allocation unless Movesmith records a reasoned, time-limited Admin override. You may ask us to explain or review an adverse status or allocation restriction, correct inaccurate information and consider relevant evidence by contacting suppliers@movesmith.uk.
15.4 Fixed-offer planning and Customer readiness. Before accepting, the Supplier Portal shows one fixed payout for the complete disclosed Move and may show positioning, loaded and assumed return/dead mileage; estimated loading, unloading, booked-work and total committed time; and access, parking and waiting assumptions. It may also show a privacy-safe Booking-readiness summary confirming whether the current scope, access and parking facts are recorded, whether Movesmith has a Customer contact route, and whether an approved scope change means you must review the latest version. This summary is operational information about that Booking, not a Customer rating, reputation score or assessment of the Customer, and it does not disclose the Customer’s contact details before acceptance. Journey and time figures are planning estimates based on the disclosed scope and mapped route, not a guarantee of duration. You may enter private vehicle, crew, fixed-overhead and waiting-buffer assumptions to calculate a private planning contribution. Those inputs and calculations are not shown to the Customer or other Operators and do not change the Customer price, fixed payout, job-fit eligibility, allocation ranking or acceptance outcome. You remain responsible for your business costs and for deciding whether to accept the fixed offer. Movesmith does not operate a reverse auction and you cannot bid a different price through this planner.
15.5 Return-work suggestions. If you opt in, the Supplier Portal may identify potential same-day work after one of your accepted Bookings by comparing your declared working days, operating areas, maximum wait and empty-connection preferences with your booked delivery corridor and the outward areas, route estimate and time window of another otherwise visible Booking. A suggestion is planning information only: it does not reserve, allocate, guarantee or promise the second Booking; does not widen the jobs you may see; and does not bypass price, job-fit, availability, driver-conflict, evidence, payment or two-step acceptance controls. Before acceptance, the suggestion identifies only outward postcode areas and route estimates, not the other Customer’s name, exact address or contact details. Estimated empty mileage avoided and paired contribution remain estimates based on mapped routes and your private inputs. They are not measured fuel, emissions, profit or a sustainability guarantee, and we will not make a public environmental claim without separately measured and supportable evidence.
15.6 Hired vehicles and subcontractors.
- (a) You may use a vehicle you hire for a Move, and people who are not your employees or verified drivers (“subcontractors”), only if you tell us when you accept the Move and give us the details we ask for.
- (b) For each hired vehicle you must: (i) hire it from a hire company whose agreement allows it to be used for removals, that is, carrying customers’ goods for payment, and keep to that agreement; (ii) make sure it has motor insurance that covers that use for the whole Move, and is roadworthy and legal for the load; (iii) make sure its payload is at least the per-vehicle load shown on the offer; and (iv) give us its registration at least 72 hours before the Move starts.
- (c) For each subcontractor you must: (i) give us their name at least 72 hours before the Move starts; (ii) for anyone driving, check that their driving licence allows them to drive the vehicle; and (iii) make sure they are covered by your Public Liability insurance, which must include an Indemnity to Principals clause, for the whole Move.
- (d) You remain responsible for hired vehicles and subcontractors as if they were your own vehicles and staff, including for their acts and omissions, and for all hire charges, deposits, fuel, tolls, penalty charges and excesses.
- (e) If you have not given us the details in (b)(iv) and (c)(i) at least 72 hours before the Move starts, we may remove the Move from you and offer it to another Operator. You will not be paid for that Move, and it will not count as a strike or a cancellation by you. We will tell you by email.
- (f) Movesmith accepts liability to Customers as set out in the Customer Terms. Nothing in this clause changes that, or the Customer’s price.
- (g) If you accept this version before it takes effect and then declare in the Supplier Portal that you are ready to use hired vehicles and subcontractors (“hire-ready”), this clause applies to you from when you declare, even before this version takes effect. By declaring, you agree to that and give up the rest of the notice period for this clause only. The rest of this version takes effect on its effective date.
15.7 Shared-Load Offers.
- (a) What the offer shows. Before you accept a Shared-Load Offer, the Supplier Portal shows the Flexible Window, the collection and delivery postcode districts, the Goods, their Van Share, the crew needed at each address, the mapped drive from collection to delivery and your fixed payout under clause 17.13. It may also show how the job fits work you have already accepted, for example a booked job on the same route on a day in the window. That fit is a planning estimate, as in clause 15.5. It does not reserve, allocate or promise any Booking.
- (b) Who is offered it. Shared-Load Offers go to Operators who pass the usual job-fit checks in clause 15.1. You do not need to opt in. Your return-work settings may decide which fits we show you first, but never whether you may see or accept the offer.
- (c) Accepting. When you accept, you choose the day within the Flexible Window and an arrival window at each address on that day. You also confirm that:
- (i) your vehicle will have room for the Goods’ Van Share alongside everything else you carry that day, within its payload and legal limits;
- (ii) you will collect and deliver the Goods on that day;
- (iii) your goods-in-transit cover suits the Goods’ Declared Value together with everything else you carry that day;
- (iv) every driver can do the whole day within the drivers’ hours rules that apply to the vehicle, including tachograph rules for a vehicle over 3.5 tonnes, and you hold any operator’s licence the vehicle needs; and
- (v) your agreements with anyone else you carry goods for that day allow you to carry the Goods with their goods. Keeping to those agreements is your responsibility.
- (d) Combining work. You may carry several Shared-Load Bookings, and your other work, in the same vehicle on the same day. Each Shared-Load Booking remains a separate Booking with its own Customer, Sign-Off PIN, payout and release under clause 17. You must:
- (i) keep each Customer’s Goods identifiable and separate from other goods;
- (ii) not keep any Goods in a vehicle or anywhere else overnight;
- (iii) not move the Goods to another vehicle or Operator unless Movesmith agrees it through the Platform;
- (iv) never share one Customer’s details with another Customer;
- (v) load the Goods so that other goods cannot crush, stain, soak or contaminate them, and never carry waste, chemicals, fuel, food or anything that could leak in the same load space as the Goods; and
- (vi) keep each Customer’s paperwork, labels and job details out of sight of anyone else you carry goods for.
- (e) Payout changes before acceptance. Movesmith may raise the payout of a Shared-Load Offer before anyone accepts it. Once you have accepted, your payout is fixed under clause 17.1 and only clause 16.4 can change it.
- (f) Cancelling. If you cancel after accepting, clauses 20 and 21 apply as for any Booking. Movesmith may then offer the Booking to other Operators within the same Flexible Window.
- (g) Days with several stops. On a day with Shared-Load Bookings you must:
- (i) arrive at each address within its confirmed arrival window, and tell the Customer and Movesmith through the Platform as soon as you know you will be late;
- (ii) after arriving within an arrival window, wait at least 20 minutes and ask Movesmith through the Platform to contact the Customer before you report that nobody is there or the Goods are not ready;
- (iii) if a delivery cannot be completed, report it through the Platform before you leave the address and follow Movesmith’s instructions under clause 27.16(j), and never leave Goods anywhere Movesmith has not instructed; and
- (iv) record in the Platform when you load and unload each Customer’s Goods.
- (h) Failed visits and returns. If you attend within the arrival window and a visit fails for a reason within the Customer’s control, you receive your share of the Customer’s charge as set out in clause 20.1. If Movesmith asks you to return or take Goods somewhere under clause 27.16(j), the Supplier Portal shows the amount we pay for it before you agree, and you may decline.
15.8 Dedicated Moves. On a Booking that is not a Shared-Load Booking, from loading until delivery the vehicle carries only that Customer’s Goods and your own equipment, unless Movesmith agrees otherwise through the Platform. Where the Booking says “dedicated vehicle” or “direct transport”, Movesmith will not agree otherwise.
15.9 Helpers and helper vans.
- (a) Who a helper is. A helper is anyone you bring on a job who isn't you or one of your verified drivers. They're on your Crew list in the portal.
- (b) Helpers work for you. Helpers work for you, not for Movesmith. You are responsible for them: what they do, their pay, their tax and National Insurance, and their conduct in the customer's home. Nothing in these Terms makes a helper Movesmith's employee, worker or contractor. You are responsible for their acts and omissions on a job as if they were your own.
- (c) Our prior written consent means approving a helper for a job. You may only use a helper on a Movesmith job with our prior written consent. We give that consent only by approving the helper for that job in the portal (“your helper, approved for this job”). No other message, call or chat counts as consent. A helper not approved for the job must not work on it.
- (d) Right to work before any work. Every helper must pass Movesmith's right-to-work check before they work on any job. A new helper's check must be finished at least 3 days (72 hours) before the move. If it isn't, they come off that job. You must not let anyone work on a job if you know or suspect they aren't allowed to work in the UK. If a helper's permission to work ends, they can't work on jobs from that date. You must also do any right-to-work checks the law requires of you as their employer or engager. Our check doesn't replace yours.
- (e) A helper who drives. A helper may drive a van on a job only if Movesmith has checked their driving licence. They must hold the right licence for that van.
- (f) A helper's own van. A helper's own van may cover a job only if, for that van, the helper holds:
- (i) goods in transit cover of at least £10,000; and
- (ii) public liability cover of at least £1,000,000 that includes Indemnity to Principals.
- (g) Your insurance covers everyone and every van. Your insurance must cover every van and every person you use on a job, including helpers and helper vans. On each crew job you confirm this with one tick: “My insurance covers every van and every person on this job.” Ticking it when it isn't true is a serious breach.
- (h) No subcontracting beyond approved helpers. You must do the job yourself, with your verified drivers and helpers approved for that job. You must not pass the job, or any part of it, to anyone else. Hired vans follow the hire-in rules (clause 15.6). Any person who works on a job and isn't you or one of your verified drivers is a helper under this clause, including a subcontractor under clause 15.6, and must meet both clauses.
- (i) The crew check. Before each crew job we check your crew covers it: every van has a licensed driver, every helper is approved, the insurance tick is done. Times: 10:00 the day before (a reminder), 18:00 the day before (final). Same-day jobs: about 3 hours and 2 hours before. Not covered at the final check: the job goes back to other movers. The customer keeps their booking and price. This counts as you not being ready for the job (clause 15.6(e)). Clause 14.9(e) doesn't apply to the crew check.
- (j) Records. You must give Movesmith accurate details for every helper. Tell us straight away if a helper's details, licence or van documents change. We keep helpers' right-to-work records for the work plus 2 years (Home Office guidance), even after you remove them.
- (k) You give helpers our privacy notice. Before you add a helper, give them Movesmith's helper privacy notice (“How Movesmith uses your details as a helper”, the current version shown in the portal; see also clause 14.9(d)). When we update it, give them the new version and confirm in the portal.
16. Service standards and move-day obligations
16.1 You will perform each Move to a professional standard, with reasonable care and skill, safely and lawfully, and in accordance with the Booking details. On the day of the Move you must:
- (a) arrive within the agreed arrival window and record each required milestone accurately so the Customer’s tracking page can show the latest reported status;
- (b) perform a GPS-stamped arrival check-in at the pickup address;
- (c) For jobs first accepted after the photo-evidence release, Operators must save at least two different condition photographs at pickup before loading and two at delivery after unloading. High-value jobs require at least three at each end, as shown in the job. Existing accepted jobs retain their recorded requirement, including after reassignment. Photographs must cover the Goods, not repeat a view merely to meet the count. Add close-ups for relevant damage or incidents; additional room/group coverage is recommended for home moves and loaded-van photographs remain optional. Failed uploads do not count as saved evidence. The required saved photographs are necessary for completion; existing customer PIN, payment, dispute and completion-review safeguards still apply. Avoid unrelated people, credentials and unnecessary personal information.
- (d) mark the Move complete only when it is actually complete (the Platform rejects completion before the Move date or without the required photographs); and
- (e) Sign-off. ask the Customer or their Authorised Representative for the one-time Sign-Off PIN and enter it into the Supplier Portal. Successful PIN entry starts completion and settlement checks under clause 17; an already collected payment is not captured again.
16.2 PIN integrity. The Sign-Off PIN is sent privately to the Customer. You may only enter a PIN the Customer or their Authorised Representative has voluntarily provided. You must never obtain a PIN by deception, pressure, intimidation, threat, or coercion, and must never attempt to guess or circumvent the PIN mechanism. Any such conduct is a material breach, is a Major Breach under clause 21, and may result in immediate removal and recovery of any payout released under fraudulent sign-off.
16.3 Code of Conduct. You and your crew must comply with the Movesmith Operator Code of Conduct at all times, including: arriving sober, presentable, and identifiable; treating Customers and third parties with courtesy; following safe lifting and handling practices and protecting floors, walls, and Goods; not smoking, vaping, or consuming alcohol in or around the Customer’s property; not soliciting cash, tips, off-Platform contact, or off-Platform business, and never asking for or hinting at a tip, suggesting an amount, or making sign-off, the PIN, the price or the quality of your work depend on one; not discriminating against any person on the basis of a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010; and promptly reporting any damage, injury, prohibited item, or safety incident. Discrimination, intoxication, dishonesty, violence, or fraudulent PIN entry may result in immediate termination.
16.4 Scope changes. The job details and payout shown in the Supplier Portal reflect the agreed fixed scope, including separate pickup and delivery parking and access facts and any packing-package limits. Except as clause 16.4A provides for harder access that can be handled safely, if there is no lawful parking or loading position, furniture does not fit, access is unsafe, unplanned dismantling is required, delivery cannot be completed, or other work materially differs, you must pause the changed work and submit the structured Platform report with the required evidence. You must not enter or promise a price, negotiate or collect an extra payment directly from the Customer, or record access codes or credentials. Additional work proceeds only after Movesmith reviews the report and the Customer expressly approves and pays an additional fixed price, or Ops records another safe resolution. This does not prevent the crew accepting a cash tip that the Customer freely offers (clause 17.12).
16.4A Harder access than booked. Where the access at an address is harder than the Booking records (more stairs, no usable lift, a longer carry or waiting before you could start), and the work can still be done safely:
- complete the Move;
- record what you found in the Supplier Portal with photos, during the job or within 3 days of it;
- don't ask the Customer for any payment, and don't collect one.
We work out the difference using the Booking's own price and show it to you. You're paid that difference whether the Customer pays it or Movesmith waives it, unless the Customer disputes it and we find the access wasn't harder than booked.
Where the access isn't safe, or materially differs in another way, clause 16.4 applies instead. A change the Customer confirms before the Move follows clause 16.4 and your answer in the Supplier Portal. This includes a new price you're asked to accept for a bigger team, more vehicles or more days.
Customer changes before the Move. Before the Move a Customer may change their item list through the Platform. Movesmith sends you the changed scope with your payout recalculated on the same basis as your accepted offer: higher for added items, lower for removed items. Where the changed list still fits the crew, vehicles and working days of your accepted Booking (or needs fewer of them), the change is treated as accepted by you and applies to your Booking automatically, with your payout recalculated as above. We tell you straight away by email (and by text inside 24 hours of the Move), and the updated list is on your job page. If the change causes you a genuine problem (for example, an item that can’t be carried safely by the planned crew), report it through “Report a problem” on the job before the Move and Movesmith will resolve it with the Customer.
Where the changed list needs a larger crew, more vehicles or more working days, we ask you first. You have 6 hours to accept or decline in the Supplier Portal, and never later than 2 hours before the start of the arrival window. If you decline, or don’t answer in time, only the change is refused: your accepted Booking, its items and your payout stay exactly as they are.
16.5 Storage facilities and exceptions. Movesmith and the Operator supply the removal service only; neither supplies, manages or guarantees the storage unit. Before accepting, you must review the disclosed facility floor, lift, carry, loading, vehicle and timing conditions. If the facility refuses entry, booked access is missing or expired, the unit or route materially differs, access hours overrun, waiting occurs or redelivery is required, pause and submit the structured Platform report with the required photographic evidence. You must not record access codes or credentials, enter or negotiate a price, collect cash, wait beyond the authorised plan, make an extra journey or unload elsewhere. The launch rules are 15 minutes' waiting free, then £25 per started 30-minute block (maximum three chargeable blocks); £60 fixed for a configured failed-access event; and £120 for a short repeat visit only where the same booked locations and disclosed access still apply. A changed or uncertain journey/access requires a fresh fixed quote. Further work proceeds only when the Supplier Portal shows that the Customer approved and paid the configured variation, or Ops records another safe resolution.
16.6 Furniture Collection Moves. Before loading, you must follow the assigned collection instructions, check the release authority or reference presented in the Supplier Portal, and record the required item, quantity, packaging and visible-condition evidence. You must collect only the listed Goods and follow the confirmed delivery dates. You must not keep Goods in supplier custody overnight or add an unauthorised stay, stop or delivery date, pay a seller, handle marketplace cash, substitute an item or agree unlisted work. Where a retailer’s loading or access facts were unknown at Booking, confirm the lawful loading point and safe route on arrival. If the Goods are unavailable or not ready, release is refused, the item or quantity differs, packaging is unsafe, access is incompatible, the Collection Party is absent or delivery cannot safely be completed, pause the affected work and submit the structured Platform report. Do not leave with the Goods or unload them elsewhere unless the Supplier Portal records a safe resolution authorised by Movesmith.
16.7 Item services and appliance safety. Dismantling, reassembly, appliance disconnection and appliance reconnection are separate services and may be performed only for the specific item, endpoint and number of units listed in the assigned manifest. Appliance work is limited to eligible freestanding appliances using a standard plug or an accessible standard water connection, and only where you have confirmed through the job acceptance checklist that you can safely perform the exact displayed work. Gas, hardwired, integrated or otherwise non-standard appliances are excluded from the standard service. You must stop and report the issue without performing the affected work where there is unsafe wiring, leakage, corrosion, an inaccessible or failed isolation point, incompatible fittings, pre-existing damage or any other safety doubt. You must not improvise specialist work, promise that a connection is safe, or charge the Customer directly.
16.8 Move-day arrival estimate. Where the Supplier Portal offers it, when you report that you are on your way the device you use takes one location reading. Movesmith uses that reading or, if it is unavailable, your last recorded stop that day or your base, to estimate your arrival time and text it to the Customer, with the assigned driver’s first name where clause 14.5 permits. If no estimate can be calculated, you choose an approximate arrival time. This is not continuous tracking: no further location is collected for the estimate after that reading. The reading, the estimate and how it was calculated are stored with the Booking as move-day evidence for the Customer’s late-arrival credits under clause 33.4. They are not used to issue or support a Strike under clause 21.1. An estimate is not a new arrival window and does not change your obligation under clause 16.1(a).
16.9 Extra Stops. Where a Booking includes Extra Stops, the Supplier Portal lists them in the Customer’s order with each stop’s access answers and the items to be collected or dropped off there. You must complete them on the same day in that order, collect and drop off only the listed items at each address, and apply clause 16.6 at every collection address of a Furniture Collection Move. You must not add, skip, reorder or combine stops or agree a stop directly with the Customer; any change follows clause 16.4.
16.10 Long-Distance Moves: driving. For a Long-Distance Move you confirm that every driver complies with the GB domestic drivers’ hours rules and any other law on driving time, breaks and rest. Movesmith plans each working day at no more than 11 hours on duty and 10 hours of driving, with breaks. That plan is a planning limit, not permission: you remain responsible for complying with the law and for driving safely. If the law or safety needs a longer break or an earlier stop, you must take it and tell Movesmith straight away. You must use vans with a maximum authorised mass of no more than 3.5 tonnes. Goods must be delivered on the day they are collected; on a Deliver-and-Rest Move the crew rests only after all the Goods have been delivered, and overnight custody of Goods is not permitted.
16.11 Clean Air Zones. Where an offer’s route passes through a charging Clean Air Zone, the offer prices the Clean Air Zone charge at £0 on the condition that every van used meets that zone’s standards, so no charge is due. The offer shows when this condition applies. By accepting it you warrant that every van used for the job is compliant. If a charge or penalty arises because a van is not compliant, you must pay it; it is not paid to you or charged to the Customer.
16.12 Parking penalty charges.
- (a) You must still park lawfully. Use the lawful parking or loading position recorded in the Supplier Portal. If it is not available, or there is no lawful position, pause and submit the structured access report under clause 16.4 before stopping anywhere a penalty charge may be issued. Never stop anywhere dangerous or obstructive. This clause is not permission to park unlawfully.
- (b) What Movesmith reimburses. Movesmith reimburses you for a parking or loading penalty charge, including a private parking charge, issued for a vehicle used on a Booking, where:
- the Booking recorded that the Customer, or their building or facility, would arrange the parking, permit, bay suspension, loading bay or paid parking, or Movesmith recorded the Customer’s express agreement on the day;
- it was not in place or usable, or the parking was materially different from what the Booking recorded;
- you used the recorded or agreed position, or the nearest reasonable position when neither was available, for no longer than needed to load or unload; and
- you reported it at the time through the access report, unless the problem could not reasonably have been seen on the day.
- (c) What we do not reimburse. We do not reimburse:
- a charge caused by your own breach or choices, such as not displaying a permit or ticket you were given, or staying longer than needed;
- moving traffic contraventions;
- speeding or other driving offences;
- a red route, bus stop, zig-zag or school keep-clear stop you chose;
- congestion, Clean Air Zone (clause 16.11), ULEZ, toll or other road user charges;
- clamping, removal or storage fees;
- any increase because the charge was paid late;
- administration fees.
- (d) How to claim. Upload the claim in the Supplier Portal within 7 days of receiving the charge, and no later than 56 days after the Move. Include:
- a clear copy of both sides of the charge or notice;
- the vehicle registration;
- photos showing where the vehicle was, the signs and markings and, where relevant, the missing permit, suspension or bay;
- anything the Customer told you or gave you.
- (e) Paying the charge. The charge is issued to you as the vehicle’s keeper, so pay it within its discount period unless we ask you to challenge it first. If we ask you to challenge it and that causes you to lose the discount, we reimburse the full amount. If the charge is later cancelled or refunded to you, you must repay what we paid you.
- (f) Review and payment. Movesmith reviews your claim and evidence. A Movesmith administrator may review it at any stage and must approve it before we contact the Customer or pay you. We may ask you for more evidence, send the claim back for further review, or reject it and tell you why. We may also re-open a claim we have closed, for example if new evidence comes to light. Once the claim is approved and the Customer’s dispute period under the Customer terms has ended without a successful dispute, we pay you the amount you paid with your next payout. That amount is never more than the reduced amount, if a discount was available when you received the charge. It is shown as a separate line, with no Platform Fee deducted. Payment does not depend on whether the Customer pays us.
- (g) Never ask the Customer. You must not ask the Customer to pay a penalty charge, collect any money for one, or use the risk of a charge to pressure the Customer. All recovery goes through Movesmith.
16.13 Protecting the property and reporting damage.
- (a) You and your crew must take reasonable care to protect the property at every address, including walls, floors, carpets, doors and frames, stairs and banisters, lifts, fixtures, gates, driveways and communal areas, using protective covers, door and banister protection and careful handling where the job reasonably needs them.
- (b) Where the Supplier Portal asks for it, or where a route has vulnerable areas (for example a narrow stairwell, a lift, a newly decorated hallway or a communal area), photograph their condition when you arrive and before you start work, and upload the photographs to the job. Do not photograph people, access codes, personal documents or unrelated private information.
- (c) If you think a route or item cannot be moved without a real risk of damaging the property, pause and submit the structured Platform report under clause 16.4. Do not go ahead because the Customer tells you to unless Movesmith records the Customer’s agreement through the Platform.
- (d) If your crew or vehicle damages the property, or you notice damage that was already there, tell the Customer at the time and report it through the job straight away, with photographs, before you leave the address. Do not agree liability, offer or make a payment, or arrange a repair directly with the Customer, their landlord or the building: Movesmith handles all contact (clause 19.4).
16.14 Add-on Services. Where a job includes an Add-on Service (as defined in clause 1.1), the offer shows each add-on line, its item, address and your payout for it before you accept.
- (a) Same job, same rules. Add-on work is part of the job. Clauses 16.3 (code of conduct), 16.4 (scope changes), 16.7 (item services and safety) and 16.13 (protecting the property) apply to it.
- (b) Accepting. By accepting the job you confirm that you and your crew can do every add-on shown, with the skills, tools and insurance it needs. If you can't, decline the job. You can't accept the job and leave out an add-on.
- (c) Standards.
- Flat-pack. Build to the maker's instructions with the parts supplied. Fit the maker's anti-tip kit where the wall is suitable. If the customer declines it, or the wall isn't suitable, record that.
- TV mounting. Use a cable and pipe detector before every hole. Fix only to suitable walls (Part C 27.17(c)) using fixings rated for the load. Check the bracket is rated for the TV. Mount it level. Use a crew of 2 for TVs over 65".
- What you must never do. No electrical work of any kind. No chasing cables into walls. No mounting above a working fireplace.
- Tools. Bring the tools the work needs, including a detector, level, drill and suitable fixings, and surface trunking where it is booked.
- (d) Photos. Through the Supplier Portal, take a photo of each built or mounted item when finished, and of the anti-tip fixing or bracket fixing where fitted. If you can't do or finish an add-on, record the reason and photos before you leave. The customer is refunded for it (Part C 27.17(f)) and your payout for that add-on is not paid.
- (e) Waste.
- Take-away is not your job. You must not handle, load or take away an item booked for take-away, or any other waste. A Waste Partner collects it from inside the property. The only exception is a swap below.
- Swap while the van is here. Where the job shows a swap line, carry the named old item to just inside the customer's front door during the job, and leave it safely without blocking the exit. Never put it in your vehicle, on the street or in a shared hallway. Take a photo of it in place through the Supplier Portal. If the item isn't ready or the route isn't safe, don't carry it. Record why, and the Waste Partner collects it in the customer's slot instead. You are paid for the swap only if you do it. A Shared-Load Booking never has a swap line.
- Packaging. For a packaging line, unpack the items, flatten the boxes and bag the plastic and polystyrene, and leave everything at the property where the customer asks. Don't take any of it away.
- (f) No selling on the day. You must not offer, price or do any add-on that isn't in the job, or take payment for one. If the customer asks, tell them to add it on their booking page.
17. Your payment
17.1 For a new Booking expressly identified as net-vat-launch-2026-09-14-v1, Movesmith’s Platform Fee is the greater of (a) 18% of the transport price excluding customer VAT and (b) the minimum Platform Fee for that type of Booking in the table in clause 17.9. The rest of the transport price excluding customer VAT is your complete gross transport payout, including any VAT for which you must account (clause 17.2). Where 18% is more than the minimum, that is 82%; where the minimum applies, it is the transport price excluding customer VAT less the minimum. Road charges are paid separately in full; increased cover and retail materials are outside this transport split, and no Platform Fee is taken from them. The offer shows your complete payout before you accept, and your payout is fixed when you accept. It is not reduced by customer discounts, later pricing changes or any later change to the Platform Fee, the table in clause 17.9 or these terms. The operating-cost calculation sets a minimum acceptable offer; it does not replace the Platform Fee in this clause. Cost and workload estimates do not guarantee your actual profit. Previously accepted Bookings, written supplier arrangements and offers retain their applicable terms and amounts. Changed scope or payout requires the existing acceptance process, except that a Customer’s item-list change that fits the crew, vehicles and working days of your accepted Booking is treated as accepted under clause 16.4. Add-on Services are not part of the transport price. Clause 17.15 sets the payout and Movesmith's fee for them, separately from the Platform Fee, the clause 17.9 table and any cap on it.
17.2 VAT. Every amount we pay you under this agreement, including the fixed payout, the long-distance mileage payment, any crew overnight allowance and any share of a retained cancellation fee, is the full amount for that work and includes any VAT for which you must account. We do not add VAT on top of any of these amounts, whether or not you are VAT-registered, and Movesmith does not hold back any part of a payment for VAT. You remain responsible for your own VAT registration, VAT returns and payments to HMRC. Where you are VAT-registered you must issue Movesmith a valid VAT invoice for each payment, showing the VAT included in it. Any remittance statement we give you is a record of what we paid; it is not a VAT invoice or a self-billing invoice. You must tell us through the Supplier Portal within 30 days if you register for VAT, if your registration ends or if your VAT number changes.
17.3 The fixed payout is the complete amount offered for the disclosed Move. Expected driving time, confirmed crew, access, handling and the planned return to the operating area are internal pricing inputs, not separately payable operating amounts. Mapped mileage is also an internal pricing input, except for the long-distance mileage payment in clause 17.7. Regulatory route charges currently supported by the Platform, including the Central London Congestion Charge, Dartford Crossing and relevant tunnel tolls, are included at the applicable amount without a Platform Fee deduction. ULEZ remains your responsibility, and so do Clean Air Zone charges under clause 16.11. For a Shared-Load Booking, your payout is calculated under clause 17.13 and does not include positioning, the return to your operating area or Duty Miles.
17.4 Payment readiness and settlement. Customer collection and supplier settlement are separate. Customer prepayment does not establish completion or release your payout. For platform-collected bookings, after completion and applicable release or hold checks, Movesmith releases the agreed eligible supplier payment through Stripe to your connected account. A customer payment collected before the Move does not authorise early supplier release. Transfer to your Stripe balance and arrival in your bank account are separate events. The offer must disclose the settlement route and expected submission target before acceptance. A missing PIN requires a documented completion review; silence or elapsed time alone does not establish completion or authorise supplier settlement. Stripe destination-charge bookings retain their disclosed settlement route. Bank arrival depends on the applicable provider and bank; no guaranteed arrival date is introduced here.
17.5 Deductions. A deduction (for late cancellation under clause 20, a Strike under clause 21, or a Customer service credit or refund) is applied to your next eligible payout, with a clear breakdown in the Supplier Portal. Each Booking is treated separately; deductions are not carried forward as a running balance. Where the amount due exceeds the available payout, the unrecovered balance is a debt due to Movesmith and recoverable by any lawful means.
17.6 Evidence-led holds. We may withhold or delay a payout where we reasonably believe a Customer dispute is active, a damage complaint requires investigation, a chargeback applies, or you are in breach of this agreement. A Booking-linked hold shown in the Supplier Portal identifies the reason, Movesmith owner, review target and release condition. It remains separate from any other Booking hold. You may submit relevant evidence and request review through that Move. Movesmith records the financial outcome before release and restores the applicable settlement process only when no other Booking-linked or manual hold remains. A review target is not an automatic release time.
17.7 Long-distance mileage payment. For a Long-Distance Move you are paid 55p for each Duty Mile that each van drives after its first 50 Duty Miles on that job. The offer shows this mileage payment as its own line before you accept. It is paid to you in full on top of the fixed payout, with no Platform Fee deducted, in the same way as the route charges in clause 17.3, and clause 17.2 applies to it. The Customer is charged the same amount plus VAT. The mileage payment is fixed when you accept the offer, using the route Movesmith mapped. It is not recalculated for the route you choose to drive, diversions or traffic.
17.8 Crew overnight allowance. On a Deliver-and-Rest Move the crew may stay overnight after delivery is complete and return with the empty vehicle the next day. The fixed payout then includes an overnight allowance of £70 for a room and £25 for subsistence for each crew member for each night, plus £10 for each van for each night for secure parking. The offer shows the allowance before you accept. It is part of the fixed payout and is treated like the rest of the payout under clause 17.1; it is not a pass-through. It is a fixed amount, not a reimbursement: you arrange the accommodation and parking. The overnight stop may begin only once all the Goods have been delivered. Goods are never kept in a vehicle or anywhere else overnight.
17.9 Platform Fee table. For clause 17.1, the minimum Platform Fee for each Booking is:
| Type of Booking | Minimum Platform Fee per Booking |
|---|---|
| Item jobs that Movesmith plans as a small job | £20 |
| Larger item jobs that are not a small job, such as a studio moved as a list of items | £62 |
| Home moves, and any other Booking | £70 |
The minimum applies once per Booking, however many vans, crew members or days it uses, and is measured against the transport price excluding customer VAT. Movesmith’s pricing engine decides which row applies to a Booking from its planned scope. Movesmith may apply a lower minimum, or no minimum, to any Booking or group of Bookings. The payout shown on the offer you accept always applies.
17.10 Changes to the Platform Fee. We may change the 18% rate in clause 17.1 or the amounts in the table in clause 17.9 by giving you at least 30 days’ written notice under clause 11 and showing the change in the Supplier Portal. A change applies only to offers you accept after it takes effect and never changes the payout for a Booking you accepted before then. If you do not agree with a change, you may end this agreement by written notice given before the change takes effect, without waiting for the 30-day period in clause 25.3; you must still complete the Bookings you have already accepted. We may lower the rate or a minimum at any time without notice.
17.11 Moving to this version. If you do not wish to accept this version of these terms, you may stop using the Platform and end this agreement straight away by telling us in writing, without giving the 30 days’ notice in clause 25.3. You must still complete the Bookings you have already accepted, and they keep the payout you accepted.
17.12 Tips.
- (a) Tips through the Platform. Where a Customer chooses to tip through the Platform, Movesmith pays you 100% of the tip, with no Platform Fee and no deduction for card fees. We pay it with your next payout after the tip clears, shown as “Tips (100%)” on your remittance statement with the Move it relates to. It is not held because of a hold on the job payout under clause 17.6, unless we reasonably suspect fraud or a mistake. Tips are separate from, and never reduce, your payout for the Move.
- (b) Cash tips. The crew may accept and keep a cash tip that the Customer freely offers. It does not go through Movesmith.
- (c) Passing tips on. You must pass every tip paid through the Platform in full to the crew members who worked on that Move, sharing it fairly between them, and comply with any law on the allocation of tips that applies to you. If you did the Move alone as a sole trader, the tip is yours.
- (d) Never ask. You and your crew must never ask for a tip, suggest an amount, or make anything depend on a tip (clause 16.3).
- (e) Not a payment for the Move. A tip is a voluntary gift from the Customer. It is not part of your payout and clause 17.2 does not apply to it. You are responsible for your own tax and accounting for tips, including any tax on tips you pass to your crew.
- (f) Refunds and reversals. If a Customer asks within 14 days for a tip to be refunded, or their bank reverses it, and we have already paid it to you, we may recover it from your next payout under clause 17.5.
- (g) Disguised payments. A payment for extra work, waiting, a changed scope or anything else connected with the Move is not a tip, whatever it is called. Asking for or accepting one breaches clause 16.4.
17.13 Shared-load payout. For a Shared-Load Booking the fixed payout shown in the offer is calculated from:
- (a) the planned handling time at the collection and delivery addresses for the crew needed;
- (b) a stop allowance for each address; and
- (c) a share of the planned time and mileage of the mapped drive from collection to delivery, in proportion to the Goods’ Van Share,
subject to the minimum payout for Shared-Load Bookings shown in the Supplier Portal. Clauses 17.7 (long-distance mileage payment) and 17.8 (crew overnight allowance) do not apply. No payment is made for Duty Miles, positioning or your return to your operating area: a Shared-Load Booking is work you choose to fit into your own route. Clauses 17.1, 17.2 and 17.9 apply as for any other Booking. Route charges under clause 17.3 are paid in full only where Movesmith’s mapped route from collection to delivery incurs them. The rates used are shown in the Supplier Portal. A change to them applies only to offers you accept after the change and never changes a payout you have accepted. The minimum payout includes a minimum amount for each hour of the planned time in (a) to (c), also shown in the Supplier Portal.
17.14 When a Customer changes the date. If a Customer changes the date or arrival window of a Booking you have accepted, we show you the payout for the new date and arrival window. Where we ask you to confirm the new date, you can keep the job at that payout or release it, and releasing it because the Customer changed the date is never a Strike. Where we do not ask you to confirm, you stay booked and your payout does not go down. If a Booking you have not yet accepted changes date, it is offered again at the payout for the new date.
17.15 Add-on payout. For each Add-on Service you do, your payout is the add-on's customer price excluding VAT, minus Movesmith's fixed add-on fee for that line, as shown in the offer:
- building flat-pack: £8;
- TV wall-mounting: £8;
- cable trunking: £0;
- unpacking and bagging the packaging: £5.
- Swap fee. For a swap under clause 16.14(e) you are paid £10 when you carry one item, or £15 when you carry two or more, as shown in the offer. Movesmith takes no fee from it. It comes out of the Waste Partner's share, so the customer's price doesn't change.
- How it's paid. The add-on payout and any swap fee are each shown as their own line, are fixed when you accept, and are paid with the job payout under clause 17.4. Clauses 17.2 (VAT), 17.5 (deductions) and 17.6 (holds) apply to them. Movesmith pays the card fees. If the Customer removes an add-on before it starts (Part C 33.6), it is no longer part of the job and its payout is not paid.
- Changes. We may change these fees only under clause 17.10 (notice), and a change never affects a job you have already accepted.
18. Operator insurance
18.1 You must hold and maintain, throughout the term, valid Goods in Transit insurance arranged on a liability basis (not a weight or rate basis) and valid Public Liability insurance with minimum cover of £1,000,000. The minimum Goods in Transit cover required to receive any Move is £10,000 per Move. You must evidence your Goods in Transit cover, and that it is arranged on a liability basis, at onboarding and at each renewal. The two protections are independent: your Goods in Transit insurance covers your own liability, and Movesmith is separately liable to the Customer under Part C and recovers from you under clause 24. Maintaining the required insurance does not cap your liability to Movesmith under clause 24: your indemnity and contribution obligations apply in full, including to the extent your own insurance does not respond.
18.2 Continuous cover matching and allocation. You are allocated a Move only where the required verified insurance remains valid on the scheduled Move date and your verified Goods in Transit limit is equal to or greater than the Declared Value of that Move. The matching ceiling is the exact verified limit: for example, £10,000 cover qualifies for Declared Values up to £10,000, £15,000 cover up to £15,000, £20,000 cover up to £20,000 and £25,000 cover up to £25,000. These examples are not a £25,000 ceiling; any suitably verified limit may qualify where it equals or exceeds the Declared Value. Expired cover, cover that expires before the Move, or a Move above your verified limit must not be offered, claimed, allocated or dispatched to you. Moves with a Declared Value above £50,000 are routed to the bespoke-quote process and are not allocated through the standard process.
18.3 You must provide your insurer name, policy reference, renewal date, and claim contact. We snapshot these at the time of any damage complaint so that later changes do not affect historical complaints or claims.
18.4 You must not proceed with a Move where the Declared Value exceeds your verified Goods in Transit limit. Bookings with a Declared Value above £50,000 are routed to the bespoke-quote process and are not allocated through the standard process.
18.5 Indemnity to Principals and Employers’ Liability. Your Public Liability insurance (and any Employers’ Liability insurance) must have a limit of indemnity of at least £1,000,000 any one occurrence and must include an Indemnity to Principals clause that extends to Movesmith. If you employ anyone, or use anyone who is treated as your employee for Employers’ Liability purposes, you must hold Employers’ Liability insurance as required by law. You must give us written evidence of this at onboarding, at each renewal and whenever we ask, and tell us at once if your cover lapses, is cancelled, or changes.
18.6 Cover for add-on work. Your Public Liability insurance must cover the add-on work you accept, including assembling furniture and drilling and fixing to walls. Clause 18.5 applies to it. If your policy excludes any of that work, you must not accept a job that includes it.
19. Damage and customer disputes
19.1 Where a Customer reports damage to Goods during a Move you performed, the matter is handled as a damage complaint by Movesmith on the Customer’s behalf under Movesmith Cover. You must engage fully and in good faith, including responding to information requests within 5 Working Days, cooperating with any insurance claim, and honouring valid complaints. We may seek recovery from you and your insurer for any amount we pay where you are at fault, in accordance with the indemnity and contribution obligations in clause 24.
19.2 Where a service-failure dispute is raised, we may place your payout on hold pending investigation, request evidence, and resolve by releasing, reducing, reversing or withholding the payout. We will give you a reasonable opportunity to respond or appeal using the Booking-linked review route and aim to resolve disputes within 14 days. Where evidence shows the Operator is not at fault, Movesmith may refund the Customer while preserving the fixed Operator share at Movesmith’s cost. Where Operator fault is recorded, the related transfer and applicable fee may be reversed. A single damage complaint does not automatically trigger any consequence.
19.3 Shared case record. Where a Booking-linked cancellation, lateness, access, completion, payment or damage issue is opened, the Supplier Portal may show the case reference, a role-appropriate summary, the Movesmith owner, next action and update target, evidence state and relevant payout state. This does not give you access to the Customer’s private contact, claim, payment or internal case information. Only timeline updates expressly marked for Operators or both parties are displayed. An update target is a communication or action target, not a promise that an investigation will be finally resolved by that time. You may respond, correct inaccurate information or ask for review through Movesmith.
19.4 Property-damage reports. Where a Customer reports damage to a property under Part C clause 31A on a Move you performed:
- (a) Movesmith tells you through the Supplier Portal and by email, and shows you the report and the Customer’s photographs (without the Customer’s private contact details).
- (b) You must give your account and any photographs within 5 Working Days, keep your own evidence, and cooperate with any inspection.
- (c) Where your crew or vehicle may have caused the damage, you must notify your Public Liability insurer (or, for damage caused by the vehicle, your motor insurer) promptly as your policy requires, and give Movesmith the insurer’s claim reference. Your insurance responds first. Movesmith will not agree liability or settle on your behalf without first giving you a reasonable opportunity to respond, and will act reasonably in handling the report.
- (d) A property-damage report is not itself a Strike and does not by itself hold your payout. Movesmith may hold the payout under clause 19.2 only where the evidence reasonably supports it and only for as long as needed, with a stated reason and review date.
- (e) Clauses 24.2 to 24.5 apply to any amount Movesmith pays or is liable to pay for damage your crew or vehicle caused.
20. Operator cancellations
20.1 Where a Customer cancels a Booking allocated to you and a fee is retained, you receive a share as compensation for blocked capacity, as set out in the table below.
| Customer cancellation timing | Fee retained from Customer | Your share |
|---|---|---|
| 48 hours or more before Move | None | None |
| 24 to 48 hours before Move | 50% | 60% of the retained fee |
| Less than 24 hours before Move | 75% | 65% of the retained fee |
| Customer no-show on Move day | 100% | 70% of the retained fee |
20.2 Where you cancel a Booking you have accepted, you receive no payment for the Booking and the consequences below apply. Movesmith automatically restarts suitable replacement matching. A cancellation with less than 24 hours’ notice, or a no-show, also opens an urgent operational case owned by Movesmith. We keep the Customer informed and maintain, replace, release or refund the payment authorisation according to the rematch outcome, without duplicate holds or charges. If no suitable replacement is secured, or the Customer elects not to proceed with a replacement, the Customer receives a full refund.
| Your cancellation timing | Customer credit funded by you | Strike |
|---|---|---|
| 72 hours or more before Move | None | No |
| 24 to 72 hours before Move | None | Yes |
| Less than 24 hours before Move | 5% of Quote (min £25, max £150) | Yes |
| No-show on Move day | 8% of Quote (min £25, max £150) | Yes |
20.3 Genuine vehicle breakdown, illness with medical evidence, or other genuine emergencies (including force majeure affecting you) are reviewed case by case and may not result in a Strike, at our reasonable discretion.
20.4 Flagged Bookings. If the Supplier Portal flagged a Booking when you accepted it because the Customer's access answer, reconfirmation or photos were not yet in, and they arrive after you accepted, you may withdraw from the Booking through the Supplier Portal, giving one of the reasons listed there, at any time up to 48 hours before your arrival window starts. A withdrawal under this clause is not a cancellation for clauses 20.2 and 21: no Strike, no deduction, no Customer credit funded by you, and it is not counted in any measure of your reliability. Movesmith restarts matching as clause 20.2 describes. Withdrawing from a Booking that was flagged but whose details have not arrived, or after that time, is a cancellation under clauses 20.2 and 21.
21. Strike system
21.1 We operate a cumulative Strike system to maintain Platform quality. A Strike is recorded for: late or same-day cancellation or no-show by you; arrival more than 60 minutes after the agreed window without contacting the Customer (Customer credit of 5% of the Quote, min £25, max £150); obtaining a PIN by deception, pressure, intimidation, or coercion or circumventing the PIN mechanism (a Major Breach that may trigger immediate Strike 3 or 4); material breach of the Code of Conduct; failure to follow Move-day Platform processes where it prejudices the Customer; or a verified dispute upheld against you.
21.2 Declining a Booking before acceptance, cancelling 72 hours or more before the Move, genuine emergencies, and withdrawing from a flagged Booking under clause 20.4 do not count as a Strike.
| Strike | Consequence |
|---|---|
| 1 | Formal warning. No financial deduction. Notified by email and in the Supplier Portal. |
| 2 | 5% deduction on the relevant payout (min £25, max £150). |
| 3 | 10% deduction (min £50, max £300). Account paused pending admin review; no further Bookings until review complete. |
| 4 | Account removed. 10% administration retention (min £100, max £500) on held earnings; the remaining balance is paid in accordance with clause 17 (Your payment). |
21.3 You may appeal any Strike through My Record in the Supplier Portal, or by emailing suppliers@movesmith.uk, within 7 days of notification. You may give reasons and relevant evidence. We will conduct a human review in good faith, record the written outcome and aim to confirm it within 14 days. A pending appeal does not suspend an otherwise applicable safety, payment or allocation control. A successful appeal removes the Strike; account reactivation remains subject to any separate unresolved compliance or safety restriction.
21.4 Strikes and claim contribution. Where a claim, complaint, refund, or insurance loss arises from a performance failure that is, or gives rise to, a Strike under this clause, that performance failure is treated as fault on your part for the purposes of the contribution obligation in clause 24.3. Your contribution in such a case is proportionate to your fault and to the loss actually arising, reflects Movesmith’s legitimate interest in being compensated for claims caused by Operator performance failures, and is not a penalty. A pattern of Strikes does not of itself create liability for unrelated claims; contribution applies only to the claim that the relevant performance failure caused.
22. Operator confidentiality and non-solicitation
22.1 You must keep confidential Customer personal data, our pricing and commission structure, our internal processes and strategy, and the terms specific to your Account. These obligations survive termination for 24 months.
22.2 Non-solicitation. During your engagement and for 6 months after its termination, you must not directly or indirectly approach, contact, or solicit any Customer introduced to you through the Platform in order to provide removal services outside the Platform. While you are working with us, this includes not soliciting any Platform-introduced Customer to book off-Platform. This restriction is limited in scope, duration, and geography to what is reasonable to protect our legitimate business interests. It does not prevent you from serving a person who was your customer independently of the Platform.
23. Operator data protection
23.1 In performing Moves you process Customer personal data. With respect to that data, Movesmith is the controller (ICO reference ZC149218) and you are a processor. You agree to: process Customer personal data only to perform the Move and only on our instructions; not use it for your own marketing or any other purpose; not contact a Customer except through the Platform; not retain it after the Move and any dispute are resolved, except as required by law; maintain appropriate security measures; notify us promptly of any data breach; and comply with UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. You agree to enter into a Data Processing Addendum if and when we issue one.
24. Operator liability and indemnity
24.1 Nothing in this agreement limits either party’s liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud, or any matter that cannot lawfully be limited. Subject to that, Movesmith’s total liability to you, however arising, is limited to the total Platform Fees you paid us in the 12 months before the event giving rise to the claim, and neither party is liable for indirect or consequential loss or loss of profit, revenue, business, or anticipated savings.
For a Move expressly accepted under the 18%-before-VAT workload policy, the reference above to Platform Fees is replaced by the total gross Supplier Payment agreed for the Move giving rise to the claim. Where the same event or series of related events gives rise to claims concerning more than one such Move, the limit is the sum of the agreed gross Supplier Payments for those Moves. This limit applies in aggregate to claims arising from that event or series of related events. It does not limit our obligation to pay sums properly due to you under an accepted offer, subject to the agreed refund and deduction provisions. The exclusions for death or personal injury caused by negligence, fraud and liability that cannot lawfully be limited remain applicable. This paragraph does not alter customer rights or cover under Part C, or retrospectively amend previously accepted bookings.
24.2 Operator indemnity. You indemnify Movesmith and its officers, employees, and agents against all losses, costs (including reasonable legal and claims-handling costs), claims, liabilities, and damages arising out of or in connection with: your negligence, breach of this agreement, or breach of statutory duty in the provision of services through the Platform; loss of or damage to a Customer’s Goods during a Move you performed; injury or damage you or your drivers cause to any person or property; fines or penalties from your non-compliance with road traffic, ULEZ, or other regulatory requirements; any breach of data protection law by you or your drivers; any Add-on Service you perform, including damage caused by fixing to walls or by an item you assembled; and any claim by your employees, drivers, or subcontractors against Movesmith.
24.3 Contribution to claim costs. Where a claim, complaint, refund, service credit or insurance loss arises from a Move you performed, and you are found, on Movesmith’s reasonable assessment and after you have had a reasonable opportunity to respond (clause 24.4), to be wholly or partly at fault, you must contribute to the cost Movesmith incurs in meeting the claim, in proportion to your fault and to the loss actually caused.
- (a) Your insurance first. Where your Goods in Transit, Public Liability or motor insurance responds to the loss, Movesmith will normally look first to your insurer, and any amount your insurer pays is credited against your contribution, so you are not charged twice.
- (b) What you may still owe. To the extent of your fault, you remain responsible for any part of the loss your insurance does not pay, including your policy excess, an amount above your limit, or an amount your insurer declines. Holding insurance does not cap your contribution, and Movesmith does not give up any right to recover from you or your insurer.
- (c) Limits. Your contribution for loss of or damage to Goods is limited to the Declared Value of the Move and in any event £50,000 per Move. For damage to a property under Part C clause 31A, it is limited to the property-damage limit in that clause.
- (d) What it is not. A contribution is not a penalty. You can ask for a fault decision to be reviewed through the Booking-linked review route under clause 19.2, and a single complaint does not automatically lead to a contribution.
24.4 Contractual cascade. Movesmith’s liability to the Customer is set out in the Customer-facing terms (Part C), and includes Movesmith Cover and any enhanced customer protection product Movesmith offers from time to time. Where that liability is triggered by a Move you performed and you are at fault, the indemnity and contribution obligations in this clause flow that liability through to you to the extent of your fault. Movesmith will notify you of any claim to which this clause may apply, give you a reasonable opportunity to respond before determining fault, and act reasonably in handling and settling the underlying claim.
24.5 Recovery and outside the cap. Your indemnity and contribution obligations under this clause are not subject to the liability cap on Movesmith in this clause, and are in addition to any deduction, Strike consequence, or recovery elsewhere in this agreement (without double recovery for the same loss). Movesmith may recover sums due under this clause from your insurer, by deduction from payouts under clause 17 (subject to the deduction cap in that clause), or as a debt due.
24.6 Claims on your insurance.
- (a) Tell us straight away. If you know or suspect that anything was lost, damaged or broken on a job, or that anyone was hurt, tell us through the Supplier Portal within 24 hours, even if the Customer hasn't reported it. Include what happened and any photos.
- (b) Claim on your insurance. Where your crew or vehicle may have caused loss or damage, you must notify the right insurer promptly and as your policy requires:
- your Goods in Transit insurer for the Customer's goods;
- your Public Liability insurer for damage to a home, building or person;
- your motor insurer for damage caused by a vehicle.
- (c) Don't settle it yourself. You must not admit fault to the Customer, offer or pay them money, or agree a repair or settlement directly. All settlement goes through Movesmith (clause 24.4). Telling the Customer you're sorry it happened is fine.
- (d) Help both insurers. You must cooperate with your insurer and with ours: give accurate information, keep your evidence, and respond to reasonable requests on time. You must not do anything that lets your insurer refuse or reduce the claim.
- (e) If your insurer refuses because of you. If your insurer refuses or reduces a claim because you reported it late, didn't cooperate, broke a policy condition or let the policy lapse, you are responsible for that amount, as part of your contribution under clause 24.3, within the limits in clause 24.3(c).
- (f) Our insurers can claim too. Movesmith, or its insurers acting in its name, may bring any claim against you or your insurer that Movesmith could bring itself.
- (g) Your crew and helpers. This clause covers everyone you bring on a job, including helpers and hired crew (clauses 15.6 and 15.9). You're responsible for making sure they tell you about any incident straight away.
25. Suspension and termination (operators)
25.1 We may suspend your Account for a Strike reaching the suspension threshold, lapsed documentation, investigation of a dispute or damage complaint, a pattern of complaints or low ratings, suspected fraud or unlawful conduct, or any material breach. While suspended you receive no Bookings but retain Portal access to manage accepted Bookings and respond to investigations.
25.2 We may terminate immediately by written notice for a fourth Strike; failure to maintain required insurance; material misrepresentation at onboarding; fraud; criminal conduct relevant to the safe performance of Moves; insolvency; persistent or material un-remedied breach; or conduct likely to bring Movesmith into disrepute.
25.3 Either party may terminate without cause on 30 days’ written notice. During the notice period you must complete any Bookings already accepted. The clauses concerning payment, damage, disputes, data protection, confidentiality and non-solicitation, liability, and indemnity survive termination.
Part C — Customers
26. How Movesmith works
26.1 Your contract is with Movesmith. When you complete the booking flow and we send a Booking confirmation, a binding contract is formed between you and Movesmith Ltd. We are the merchant of record for your payment and are responsible to you for the service you receive, subject to and in accordance with these terms. Your Booking is confirmed only once your card has been saved with Stripe under clause 28.1. Until then it is unconfirmed and nothing is charged or held. An unconfirmed booking closes automatically no later than 12 hours before the start of your arrival window, with nothing charged; this is not a cancellation by you and does not give rise to the remedies in clauses 33.3 and 33.4.
26.2 We subcontract the physical Move. To carry out the Move we subcontract to a vetted independent Operator from our network. The Operator performs the Move on our behalf. You are not required to deal with the Operator on any matter of contract, payment, or dispute; those are handled through Movesmith. Your statutory rights against the Operator in tort or otherwise are not affected by this agreement.
26.3 We provide the Booking, the Quote, payment processing, the Operator verification framework, dispute resolution, and customer support. Before an Operator becomes job-eligible, we check identity and Goods in Transit and Public Liability documents, record the declared vehicle type, require a Vehicle Compliance Declaration, and complete the other onboarding gates. Movesmith does not physically inspect vehicles.
26.4 Although the Operator performs the Move, Movesmith remains responsible to you under these terms and under your statutory rights as a consumer under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and other applicable consumer protection law.
26.5 Per-Move suitability checks. Before an Operator can be offered or assigned your Move, we check the disclosed scope against recorded vehicle and fleet capacity, inventory or property volume, crew size, job type, specialist capabilities, route, availability, Declared Value and insurance valid on your scheduled Move date. A Furniture Collection Move requires a current furniture-collection approval; for supported dismantling, reassembly and eligible appliance work, the Operator confirms the exact displayed services through the job acceptance checklist before assignment. A missing saved capability entry alone does not block a category-based quote or job offer. Where your request requires scope evidence or has high-risk pickup or delivery access, matching remains on hold until you reconfirm the current access through your private tracking link and Movesmith approves the requested photographs. The named Operator must review and acknowledge the approved evidence version before accepting the offer. Where your Booking includes an Add-on Service, the Operator confirms the exact add-on work, as shown in the job, when it accepts the job. An Operator who cannot do it does not take the job, and we offer your Move to other Operators at the same price.
26.6 Status tracking. Your tracking page shows recorded service milestones, such as assigned, en route, arrived and completed. These are Operator- or Platform-reported status updates, not continuous live GPS tracking. Where the service is available, when your Operator reports that they are on the way we may text you an estimated arrival time calculated from a single location reading (clause 16.8). It is an estimate, not a guaranteed arrival time or a new arrival window, and it is kept with your Booking as evidence, including for late-arrival credits under clause 33.4.
27. Booking and pricing
27.1 Movesmith operates a fixed-pricing model. An unsubmitted Quote may expire after 24 hours. Once you submit a Priority Request, its displayed fixed price remains held while the requested Move date, inventory, access, route, selected services and other disclosed requirements remain unchanged. Operator-confirmation timing alone does not change that price. If the request proceeds, the Quote confirmed at Booking is the total price you pay, subject only to the agreed variations in clause 27.4, any higher price you choose under clause 27.6 and any lower price under clause 27.15. Clause 29.10 (parking penalty charges) is separate from the price.
27.2 Your Quote is one complete fixed price, including applicable VAT, for the disclosed inventory, quantities, endpoint services, access and dated itinerary. Any Add-on Service you choose is shown as its own fixed-price line, including VAT, and forms part of your Quote (clause 27.17). Ordinary home, furniture and single-item Moves may span multiple working days through separately identified batches, each collected and delivered on the same day. The confirmed itinerary identifies the Goods in each batch and requires access at both properties on every service day. Goods awaiting collection remain with the Customer between days. Overnight supplier custody of Goods is not available under this launch policy. On a Deliver-and-Rest Move the crew may rest overnight only after all your Goods have been delivered (see clause 27.13). An automatic Booking is unavailable where a supported itinerary cannot establish this boundary. The Platform presents the complete feasible operating plan before you accept. For a Shared-Load Booking, the day is confirmed later, within your Flexible Window, as clause 27.16 explains. Where feasible, several fully delivered runs can occur within one day using the same paid crew. The recommended option is the lowest priced plan that meets Movesmith’s planning rules for your Move, including the crew and number of vans we plan for its size. Another arrangement could cost less. Where customer help is selected, the displayed arrangement identifies the endpoints and every visit requiring one capable adult. The help you agree to applies at every address, including each Extra Stop. Movements requiring professional skills, including booked item services, remain with the paid crew. No automatic surcharge follows if help becomes unavailable; contact Movesmith to review a workable alternative before the arrangement changes. Every required crew and vehicle day, positioning journey, return journey and applicable route charge is included. For a Long-Distance Move this includes the mileage charge and any crew overnight allowance under clause 27.13. Crew days can include return travel after the planned delivery completion date. The accepted scope, itinerary and price are versioned; changes require your express agreement. Undefined specialist services, storage or retail purchases are not included merely because a Move spans multiple days.
27.3 ULEZ and Clean Air Zone charges are not charged to you; all Operators must run compliant vehicles where their work takes them into a ULEZ-affected zone or a charging Clean Air Zone. All prices are inclusive of VAT where applicable.
27.4 Quote revisions. The fixed price remains the same while the Move date, requirements, selected Journey Plan and disclosed scope remain unchanged, including while a priority request awaits suitable Operator capacity. Any post-Booking change to run count, vehicle, route, crew, price or another material fact must use Movesmith’s structured scope-change process and be expressly approved by you before changed work or a charge. The Operator pauses affected work and submits evidence; the Operator must not substitute a journey plan or promise an on-site amount. Silence does not authorise a change, except as clause 27.4A(c) provides for access that was harder than you told us or confirmed, and Operators cannot create a price or collect payment directly.
Checking your item list. Before the Move we may ask you to check your item list through your private tracking link. If you remove items, we lower your Quote by the difference our prices give for those items on the same Booking, as far as our minimum service margin for your Move allows. If you add items, we show you the new fixed price first and it applies only if you expressly approve it and complete any payment step. A change that fits the crew, vehicles and time already planned applies once you complete any payment step. A change that needs a larger crew, more vehicles or more time also needs your Operator’s agreement, which we ask for straight away. If they decline, or don’t answer in time, only the change is refused: your Booking stays exactly as it was, with the same Operator, items and price. You can then remove items so the list fits the plan, or ask us to look for another Operator at the new price. Your Booking stands as it is until a new Operator accepts. Where a change can’t be priced online, Movesmith agrees it with you before the Move, and nothing extra is charged without your express approval.
If a change you make within 48 hours of the start of your arrival window means your Move needs a smaller crew, fewer vehicles or fewer working days, the cancellation charges in clause 33.1 apply to the part of the price that the change removes, as if you had cancelled that part:
| When you make the change | Charge on the removed part |
|---|---|
| 48 hours or more before your Move | none |
| 24 to 48 hours before | 50% |
| Under 24 hours before | 75% |
Your Operator receives their share of that charge as set out in clause 20.1, because they held the crew and vehicles for your Move. We show you the charge, and the smaller refund or lower price after it, before you confirm the change. A change that keeps the same crew, vehicles and working days carries no charge, whenever you make it.
27.4A Access you weren't sure about, and confirming your access.
(a) Typical access. If you answer "Not sure" about the floor, a lift, how far we carry or any waiting at an address, we price the access that kind of place typically has: for a flat, the 1st floor with no lift; where you collect from a shop, auction house or seller, the ground floor and a short walk. Where there is no typical answer, we price an allowance. Before you pay, we show you what we have assumed.
(b) Confirming your access. After you book, we ask you to confirm your access on your private tracking page by the time we show you (usually 48 hours before your Move). Confirming locks your price for the access you confirm. If the access you confirm is the same as or easier than we priced, your price doesn't change. If it's harder, we show you a new price before your Move:
- before an Operator has accepted your Move, you can accept it or cancel your Booking for a full refund with no fee;
- after an Operator has accepted, you can accept it or change your answer. If the harder access needs a bigger team, more vehicles or more days, your Operator must agree too. If they don't, your Booking stays as it was and we contact you.
Your price never goes up before your Move without your agreement.
(c) If access is harder than you told us, or than you confirmed. Clause 27.4 covers changes we agree with you before or during your Move. This clause 27.4A(c) covers access that was harder than the Booking records, where that wasn't agreed before the work, because:
- you gave us access details that weren't right; or
- you didn't confirm access we priced as typical.
In either case, you pay the difference in price for the access as it actually was, worked out in the same way as your Booking's price. Your Operator records the access with photos. Before we charge anything, we send you the photos, what was found against what was priced, and the difference. You then have at least 48 hours to tell us through your private tracking page if you disagree. If you disagree, we don't charge you while we review it, and we tell you our decision. Otherwise, we charge the difference once to the card you booked with.
(d) Never on the day. We never ask you to pay for access on the day, and your Operator must not ask for or collect any payment for it.
(e) Things nobody could know. If you confirmed your access and it was still harder for a reason nobody could reasonably know in advance (for example, a lift out of order or a road closed on the day), you don't pay the difference.
(f) Your Operator is paid, and we may waive. Your Operator is paid for the extra time whether you pay the difference or we waive it. We may waive a charge under (c) in exceptional cases.
(g) Answers from the seller. If you're collecting from a seller, a shop or an auction house, you can send them a link to tell us the floor, whether there's a lift and whether a van can park nearby. We never contact them ourselves. We treat their answers as access details given on your behalf:
- if their answers mean the access is the same as or easier than we priced, your price doesn't change;
- if they mean it's harder, we show you a new price under (b), and you choose whether to accept it;
- if you confirm your access yourself on your tracking page, your answers replace theirs.
If the seller's answers turn out to be wrong, (c) applies as if you had given them.
27.5 There is no automatic custom-quote cutoff based only on distance. Mapped outward and return travel, the platform-confirmed safe crew and the complete operating plan are calculated into the single fixed price and fixed payout described in clause 27.2. For a Long-Distance Move, the mileage charge and any crew overnight allowance in clause 27.13 are part of that fixed price. Movesmith calculates a safe minimum crew from the structured property, inventory, handling and access information supplied; you may request a larger crew but not reduce that minimum. Temporary route-data failures are retried and the fixed quote remains in a calculating state until a supported provider or recent safe route result is available. If a customer answer needed for calculation is missing, checkout identifies that specific answer and recalculates after it is supplied. A Move is routed to tailored review only where the completed route, access, value, commercial nature, complexity or handling requirement falls outside the published fixed-price rules.
27.6 Booking and finding your Operator. If your Quote shows a fixed price you can book, your Booking is made at that price when you complete checkout. Your card is saved when you book, and payment is authorised and collected as clause 28 describes. We then offer your Move to Operators who pass our checks for it, including a check, each time we offer it, that their cover suits your Move. A Booking does not mean that a particular Operator, vehicle or crew has been chosen, and we do not promise that any particular Operator will take your Move. Each Operator decides whether to accept it. Your price does not go up because an Operator declines or cannot do your Move; we keep offering it to other eligible Operators at the same price. If no Operator accepts it in time, we cancel your Booking, release any card authorisation and refund in full anything you have paid for it, as clause 33.3 says. Any Packing Kit bought with your Move is dealt with under clause 27.8. A change you ask for, or a material change to the disclosed scope, follows clause 27.4. Priority Requests. Where our team needs to review your Move before it can be booked, for example to check its scope, or while online booking is closed, we may offer you a Priority Request instead. A Priority Request is not a Booking. It does not save a card or take payment, and it creates no payment obligation.
If no local Operator takes your Move. We may price your Move as if an Operator were based near you. If no Operator has accepted it by the time shown on your booking page, we may offer you a choice:
- (a) book an Operator from further away at the higher fixed price we show you;
- (b) keep waiting for a local Operator; or
- (c) cancel.
Your price changes only if you expressly choose (a). If an Operator accepts before you do, your Booking stays at its original price. If you choose (b), or don't answer, we keep looking. If no Operator has accepted 48 hours before the start of your arrival window, we cancel your Booking and you pay nothing. Where we offer the choice later than that, this happens at the time in clause 33.3. If you choose (c), we cancel your Booking and you pay nothing; the charges in clause 33.1 don't apply. Nothing is charged until an Operator is confirmed.
27.7 Packing labour and materials. Packing labour and materials are separate. Only an expressly offered and accepted service is included. Any packing-labour offer must identify its crew, quantities, working allowance and fixed price; there is no automatic hourly overrun or direct Operator charge. Unavailable or undefined packing work is not part of an automatic launch Quote. Where a “Packed for you” service is offered and you select it, the packing labour is part of your fixed price and is carried out on the Move day or at a separate packers-only visit on the day before, as shown in your Quote. A packers-only visit involves no vehicle or transport, and packed Goods stay at your property until the Move. Packing materials are supplied through a separate Packing Kit order under clauses 27.8 and 27.9 unless your Quote expressly includes them. This paragraph applies only while that service is offered in the booking flow; otherwise it forms no part of your Booking.
27.8 Packing Kits bought with a Move. Where the booking flow offers it, you may buy a Packing Kit with your Move. The kit is a separate purchase of goods from Movesmith. Its contents and price are shown before you book. It is charged when you book, separately from the price of your Move, and is delivered before your Move date. It does not add packing labour to your Move. If your Move is cancelled before the kit has been dispatched, we refund the kit in full. Once the kit has been dispatched, clause 27.14 applies to it in the same way as to a kit bought on its own. If we cancel your Move after the kit has been dispatched, you may return it and we refund the kit in full and pay the cost of returning it. Changing your Move date does not change the kit order; if you need the kit delivered on a different date, tell us before it is dispatched and we will try to help. Clause 27.9 applies to delivery.
27.9 Packing Kits bought on their own. You can also buy a Packing Kit on its own. Movesmith sells it to you as principal. Before you pay, we show you the kit’s exact contents, its total price including VAT, how it will be delivered and who pays for change-of-mind return postage. Standard delivery to mainland UK addresses is included in the price. For a remote, offshore or unrecognised postcode, we give you a fixed delivery price before you pay. You pay by card when you order, and we send the kit once your payment is confirmed. Delivery is by courier and normally takes 1–3 Working Days. This is an estimate, not a guaranteed date, so we recommend ordering at least 5 Working Days before your Move. If we have not delivered within 30 days of your order, you may cancel and we will refund everything you paid. Please check the kit when it arrives against the contents list shown when you ordered.
27.10 Storage-removal pricing. A Quote may cover one home-to-storage or storage-to-home leg where the storage facility details fall within the published fixed-price access rules. Normal on-site or legal kerbside loading, a booked loading bay, confirmed 3.5-tonne vehicle access, less than 50 metres carry, and ground-floor access or upper-floor access by a usable goods lift can be priced in the standard journey. Storage-to-storage, unconfirmed or incompatible access times, restricted vehicle routes, 50 metres or more carry, required stairs without a usable goods lift, missing authority or incomplete facility details require a tailored fixed quote. Each journey into or out of storage is a separate Move unless the Quote expressly says otherwise. The same applies where a storage facility is an Extra Stop between collection and delivery, as shown in the Quote: the same facility access rules apply, and so do the waiting and failed-access charges in clause 29.6.
27.11 Furniture Collection Move scope and price. Your Booking identifies the authorised pickup, delivery address, items and actual quantities, crew and vehicle plan, access, collection date and planned delivery completion date, and any defined item-bound endpoint services. Work across multiple dates is available only with a supported itinerary keeping the Goods with the Customer between working days. The Operator must not retain collected Goods overnight. Extra Stops, including extra collection stops, are included only where listed in your Booking under clause 27.12. For each collection address you must give the information in clause 29.8, and the proof and evidence rules for its collection source apply. No unlisted seller, stop, storage service or delivery address is included. The Collection Party’s availability is a collection window, not a guaranteed delivery time. Your tracking page reports the service milestones described in clause 26.6.
27.12 Extra Stops. Where the booking flow offers it, you may add up to three Extra Stops to collect or drop off Goods between your main collection and delivery addresses. All stops are completed on the same day, in the order you set. You must answer the access questions for each stop as you would for a main address, and choose where each item is collected and dropped off. Your fixed price covers the stops, their access and the item routes as quoted. Before your Booking is confirmed you must give each stop’s full address and an on-the-day contact. A later change to a stop, its order or its items follows clause 27.4. More than three stops, or stops that cannot be completed in one working day, need a tailored quote.
27.13 Long-Distance Moves. Where your Move is a Long-Distance Move, your fixed price includes a mileage charge for the Duty Miles each van drives after its first 50 on your job, at the amount Movesmith pays the Operator for them plus VAT, shown in your Quote. Where your Move is planned as a Deliver-and-Rest Move, your fixed price also includes the crew’s overnight allowance. The crew rests only after all your Goods have been delivered; your Goods are never kept overnight. These amounts are fixed at Booking and are not recalculated for the route the crew drives or for diversions. A change you ask for follows clause 27.4. Nothing else about your Booking changes because it is a Long-Distance Move, including your cancellation rights, refunds and statutory rights.
27.14 Packing Kit cancellations, returns and refunds. This clause applies to every Packing Kit, whether bought with a Move or on its own.
- (a) Before dispatch. You may cancel a kit order at any time before we dispatch it by contacting us through your customer account or at hello@movesmith.uk. We refund everything you paid, including any delivery charge, within 14 days.
- (b) Changing your mind. You have 14 days to cancel for any reason. The 14 days start on the day after you receive the whole kit; if it arrives in more than one delivery, they start on the day after the last delivery. To cancel, tell us within those 14 days through your customer account, by email to hello@movesmith.uk or using the model cancellation form we provide before checkout; you do not have to give a reason. You must then send the kit back within 14 days after telling us. You pay the cost of returning it, as we tell you before checkout. If you cancel after dispatch but before delivery, this paragraph applies in the same way.
- (c) Condition of returned kits. Please return the kit unused and in a condition we can resell. You may handle the items as you would in a shop to check them. If they have been handled more than that and are worth less as a result, we may reduce your refund by that loss of value. If we do, we tell you the amount and the reason and keep the evidence.
- (d) Refunds. We refund the price of the kit and the delivery charge you paid within 14 days of receiving the kit back or of you giving us proof that you have sent it, whichever is sooner. Refunds go to the payment method you used, and we do not charge a fee for making them.
- (e) Refused or failed delivery. If you refuse delivery, or the courier cannot deliver because of the address or access details you gave, or because no one was available, and the kit comes back to us, we treat the order as cancelled. We refund what you paid, less our actual cost of the return shipment, and tell you that cost. If you prefer, we can send the kit again instead; we tell you the actual redelivery cost first and send it only once you agree to pay it. If delivery failed because of our mistake or the courier’s, we redeliver or refund in full at no cost to you.
- (f) Damaged, missing or wrong items. If anything arrives damaged, is missing or is not what you ordered, please tell us within 7 days of delivery, with photos where you can. This helps us put it right quickly; it does not limit your legal rights. At our cost, we will send replacement items or refund you. If only part of the kit is affected, we send the missing or replacement items or, if you prefer, refund those items. If anything needs collecting, we arrange and pay for it.
- (g) Your legal rights. Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 are not affected. The kit must be as described, of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose. If it is not, you may reject it and get a full refund within 30 days of delivery; after that, you are entitled to a repair or replacement or, if that is not possible or does not work, a price reduction or refund.
- (h) No exceptions. None of the legal exceptions to the right to cancel, such as for sealed hygiene goods, apply to Packing Kits. The contents list you confirm when ordering is for your information and does not reduce your rights.
- (i) VAT. Where Movesmith charges VAT on your order, we give you a VAT invoice for it and a credit note for any refund.
27.15 Price-Drop Promise. When we authorise payment for a Booking priced online (normally around 48 hours before the Move), we recalculate its price on our published prices in force that day for exactly the same Booking: the same Goods, addresses, access, Move date, arrival window and selected services. If that price is lower than your confirmed Quote, we reduce your Quote to that price, or as close to it as our minimum service margin for your Move allows, and the reduced Quote is the amount we authorise and collect; we will tell you. This clause can only lower your price, never raise it. It does not apply to promotional codes, partner or organisation discounts, a different date or arrival window, changes you request, Moves priced by tailored review, or a Booking whose payment is authorised when you book because the Move is within 48 hours. Your Operator’s accepted payout is not affected. We apply this to every Booking whose payment we authorise on or after 4 November 2026, including Bookings made under earlier versions of these terms.
27.16 Shared-Load Bookings.
- (a) What it is. For some single items and part loads, the Quote may offer a shared-load price next to the price for a dedicated Move. A Shared-Load Booking costs less because your Goods travel in a van that may also carry other goods on the same route. The shared-load price is one fixed price including VAT, shown before you book, like any Quote. A dedicated Move means the van carries only your Goods from collection to delivery.
- (b) Your Flexible Window. You choose the first day and the length of your Flexible Window when you book. Your Goods are collected and delivered on the same day, on one day within the window. We confirm that day and the arrival windows at both addresses by the Match Deadline, and always at least 48 hours before the day. Until we confirm the day, you must be able to give access at both addresses on every day of the window, except any days you told us at booking that you can’t do.
- (c) Your Goods. The Operator may carry other goods in the same vehicle, including other customers’ goods and goods they carry for other companies. Your Goods are kept identifiable and separate. They are never kept in a vehicle or anywhere else overnight, other than at secure premises under (j), and they are not moved to another vehicle or Operator without our agreement. Movesmith accepts liability for your Goods under clause 31 (Movesmith Cover) exactly as for any other Move. Completion sign-off, disputes (clause 32) and your statutory rights are unchanged.
- (d) Payment. You give us a card when you book. We take no payment until we have confirmed your day. We then authorise and collect payment as clause 28 describes, measured from the confirmed day.
- (e) If no Operator takes your Booking by the Match Deadline. We tell you straight away. Nothing has been charged. You can choose:
- (i) a dedicated Move on a date you choose, at the price we show you then. It goes ahead only if you expressly approve that price;
- (ii) a new Flexible Window, at the shared-load price we show you then; or
- (iii) to cancel, with nothing to pay.
- (f) Cancelling. You can cancel free of charge until we confirm your day, and for 2 hours after we confirm it. After that, the charges in clause 33.1 apply, measured from the start of the confirmed arrival window at the collection address.
- (g) Changes. A change to your Goods follows clause 27.4. If a change means your Goods no longer suit a shared van, we tell you and offer the choices in (e).
- (h) Price-Drop Promise. Clause 27.15 applies to a Shared-Load Booking. We recalculate the shared-load price for the same Goods, addresses, access and Flexible Window.
- (i) Waiting and access on the day. On the confirmed day, you or someone you have authorised must be at each address, with the Goods ready, from the start of its arrival window. Clause 29.2 applies at both addresses. The crew has other stops that day, so after arriving within the window it waits up to 20 minutes while we try to reach you. If a collection then fails for a reason within your control, the charge for cancelling 24 to 48 hours before the Move in clause 33.1 applies, and you may book a new Flexible Window at the shared-load price we show you then.
- (j) If delivery can’t be completed. If nobody can take delivery, or the delivery address can’t be reached, for a reason within your control, we contact you straight away. With your agreement, the crew hands your Goods to someone else you name at the delivery address, or delivers them to another address on its route that day. If neither is possible, the crew returns your Goods to the collection address that day where it can. If it can’t, we arrange for them to be kept at secure premises we approve until a redelivery date we agree with you. You pay the reasonable cost of the return, keeping and redelivery, which we tell you before we incur it wherever we can. Movesmith Cover continues to apply until your Goods are delivered.
27.17 Add-on Services. This clause applies when you add an Add-on Service to your Booking.
- (a) The basics.
- Fixed price. Each Add-on Service has a fixed price, including VAT, shown before you book. It is part of your Quote and is paid in the same way and at the same time as your Move (clause 28). The crew can't sell you an add-on, change its price or take payment for it on the day.
- Named items only. An add-on covers only the item, quantity, size band and address shown in your Booking. To add or change one, use your booking page. Clause 27.4 applies, and the price is shown before you confirm.
- Who does it. Your Operator does the building, mounting and packaging work. A Waste Partner takes old items away. We are responsible to you for all of it (clause 26).
- Shared-Load Bookings. You can add any Add-on Service to a Shared-Load Booking, including taking an item away: the Waste Partner collects it separately from your Operator. The optional swap in clause 27.17(d) is not available on a Shared-Load Booking.
- Price-Drop Promise. Your add-ons count as “selected services” under clause 27.15.
- (b) Building flat-pack furniture.
- What's included. The crew unpacks and builds the item at the address shown, following the maker's instructions, using the parts and fittings supplied with it. Where the maker supplies a wall fixing (anti-tip) kit and the wall is suitable, the crew fits it. The crew flattens and stacks the packaging for your recycling, at no charge.
- Size bands. You choose the size band (small, medium, large, or per wardrobe frame) from the examples shown when you book. If the item is in a bigger band than booked, clause 27.4 applies before the extra work is done.
- What's not included. Altering, cutting or adapting the item. Fitting kitchens, bathrooms, built-in or bespoke furniture. Any plumbing, gas or electrical connection. Items without the maker's instructions. Wall fixings other than the maker's anti-tip kit.
- Missing or faulty parts. If parts are missing, damaged or faulty, or the instructions are wrong, the crew builds as much as can be done safely and tells you. We refund the parts of the add-on that couldn't be finished (clause 27.17(f)). The maker or seller is responsible for the parts, not us.
- Anti-tip fixing. If you ask the crew not to fit an anti-tip kit, or the wall isn't suitable, the crew records it through the Platform. We are not responsible for the item tipping over because it was not fixed to the wall, unless the crew failed to take reasonable care.
- (c) Wall-mounting a TV.
- What's included. The crew fixes your TV to a suitable wall at the position you choose, using a bracket you supply that is rated for your TV's size and weight, or one we have approved in your Booking. The crew checks the wall with a cable and pipe detector before drilling and mounts the TV level. If you choose cable trunking, the crew fits surface trunking up to 1.5 m that it supplies.
- Suitable walls. These are solid brick, block or concrete walls, or timber stud walls where the bracket can be fixed into the studs with suitable fixings. The crew won't mount on plasterboard alone, tiles over an unknown surface, chimney breasts with a working flue, or any wall it reasonably thinks is unsafe. In that case clause 27.17(f) applies.
- What's not included. Any electrical work, including moving, adding or extending sockets or aerial points. Hiding cables inside the wall. Mounting above a working fireplace. Mounting soundbars, shelves or other equipment, unless your Booking lists them. Tuning or setting up the TV.
- Before the crew arrives. Tell us when you book, or on your booking page, about any pipes, cables or underfloor heating you know of in the wall. Have the TV, its stand screws and the bracket ready.
- Fixing holes. Mounting leaves fixing holes in the wall. They are part of the service, not damage, and the crew does not fill or redecorate them if the TV is later moved.
- (d) Taking an old item away.
- What's included. The Waste Partner collects the named item from the address and on the date shown in your Booking, and disposes of it lawfully. We show the Waste Partner's name and waste carrier registration number with your Booking, and we give you its waste receipt on request.
- Sofas, armchairs and other upholstered seating go for incineration as the law requires.
- Fridges, freezers and other electrical items go to an authorised treatment site.
- Items may be reused or recycled where the law allows.
- Your collection slot. When you add a take-away, you pick a collection slot from those we offer. The Waste Partner comes in that slot, collects the item from the room it is in at the address shown, and carries it out. Carrying it out is included in the price.
- Swap while the van is here (optional). Where we offer it, you can ask your Operator to carry the old item to just inside your front door while they are there on your Move day. The Waste Partner then collects it from there in a slot later that same day. The swap is not available on a Shared-Load Booking.
- The swap costs you nothing extra.
- The item is never put in the Operator's van.
- Until the Waste Partner collects it, the item stays your responsibility. It is never left on the street or in a shared hallway.
- If the item isn't ready when the crew is there, the swap doesn't happen. The Waste Partner collects from inside the home in your slot instead.
- Access in your slot. Someone aged 18 or over must be at the address during your slot to let the Waste Partner in. Tell us about stairs, lifts, parking and anything that could block the route out. The Waste Partner may decline a route that isn't safe.
- If the item isn't there or the partner can't get in. The Waste Partner waits up to 15 minutes and tries to call you. If it still can't collect the item (for example nobody is in, the item isn't there, it isn't as described, or the route out isn't safe), it records why with photos.
- If the visit failed because of you (nobody was there to let the Waste Partner in, the item wasn't there, or it wasn't as described in your Booking), a £15 failed-visit fee applies. It pays the Waste Partner for the visit. We then offer you one new slot with no further charge. If you don't want one, we refund the take-away less the £15 fee.
- Otherwise, we offer you one new slot at no charge. If you don't want one, we refund the take-away in full.
- Any failed-visit fee is charged through the Platform, never on the day.
- What you confirm. When you add a take-away you confirm that:
- you own the item, or its owner (for example your landlord) has agreed that it can be thrown away;
- you have removed everything from it, including food, personal belongings and any personal data on a TV or other device, which you must log out of and reset;
- a fridge or freezer is emptied, switched off and defrosted the day before; and
- the item is free from hazardous contents and infestation: no asbestos, chemicals, paint, fuel, gas bottles, loose batteries, clinical waste or bedbugs.
- What's not included. Items that aren't named in your Booking. General household rubbish, garden waste or building waste. Gas appliances. Anything that needs disconnecting from plumbing, gas or hard wiring, unless your Booking also includes disconnection (clause 26.5).
- Once it's gone. An item that has been taken away is no longer your Goods. It isn't covered by Movesmith Cover, and it can't be returned.
- What's included. The Waste Partner collects the named item from the address and on the date shown in your Booking, and disposes of it lawfully. We show the Waste Partner's name and waste carrier registration number with your Booking, and we give you its waste receipt on request.
- (e) Unpacking and bagging the packaging.
- What's included. The crew unpacks the items delivered on your Booking, up to the number of boxes you chose, and places them in the room you ask. The crew flattens the boxes and bags the plastic and polystyrene, ready for your recycling, and leaves it all neatly at the property where you ask.
- Nothing is taken away. The packaging stays with you for your own recycling or council collection. To have old items taken away, use clause 27.17(d).
- (f) If an add-on can't be done. If an Add-on Service can't be done, or can't be finished, on the day, we refund the price of the part not done. This includes a wall that isn't suitable, missing parts, an item that isn't ready or doesn't match its description, or a safety concern. The crew records the reason and photos through the Platform. The rest of your Move goes ahead as booked. No other charge applies, apart from a failed-visit fee under clause 27.17(d), and the crew never asks you to pay on the day. If the work is done but not with reasonable care and skill, tell us. We will arrange for it to be put right or give you a price reduction, as the Consumer Rights Act 2015 allows.
- (g) Liability.
- Our duty. We provide Add-on Services with reasonable care and skill. Clause 37.1 and your statutory rights apply in full.
- Your items. Damage to an item while the crew builds or mounts it is handled as damage to your Goods under clause 31. Damage to walls or other fixed parts of the property is handled under clause 31A.
- What we are not responsible for. Unless the crew failed to take reasonable care, we are not responsible for:
- defects in the item, its parts, its fittings or its instructions;
- a bracket that you supplied failing or being unsuitable;
- damage caused by a weakness or defect in the wall, or by pipes or cables that couldn't reasonably be found with a cable and pipe detector and that you didn't tell us about;
- loss caused by your confirmation under clause 27.17(d) being untrue, including a claim by the item's owner; or
- data left on a device you asked us to take away.
- Limit. The limits in clauses 31, 31A.8 and 37.2 apply.
28. Payment flow
28.1 Payment is processed through Stripe. A Priority Request does not save a card or collect funds. At Booking, Stripe saves your card; Movesmith does not receive or store its number. Normally the agreed total is authorised around 48 hours before the Move, or immediately where Operator confirmation occurs within that window, and captured after sign-off or documented completion review. For a multi-day Booking where you expressly accept the displayed payment agreement, Movesmith may collect the agreed total before work starts if the confirmed card hold cannot cover completion. Prepayment does not establish completion or itself release supplier payment. Your applicable cancellation and refund rights continue. Completion or a retry does not cause a second collection of the same agreed amount. Your statement identifies Movesmith.
28.2 Work must not begin until the Supplier Portal confirms valid payment coverage: a sufficient authorisation or verified collection under the expressly accepted multi-day payment agreement. Failed authentication is resolved through the secure payment-recovery process. A valid existing hold is not released until its replacement is accepted. If payment remains unresolved, the Booking may be cancelled under the applicable terms. Duplicate submissions or provider retries must not create duplicate bookings or charges.
28.4 An organisation-paid booking is paid with the organisation's saved company card under the standing authority in the Business Customer Agreement. Only the organisation's owner may add, replace or remove that card. The card is authorised up to 48 hours before the Move (or when the booking forms or the Operator is assigned within that period) and charged at completion sign-off or documented completion review. Where Movesmith has agreed an Invoice Account with the organisation in a signed Order Form, a booking within its credit limit is instead invoiced after completion sign-off and paid to Movesmith by bank transfer, with the saved company card held as security, as the Business Customer Agreement sets out. Any organisation discount is funded by Movesmith and shown as a separate line on the price before the organisation confirms. Only the owner and commercially authorised staff may access the organisation's receipts and billing documents. Organisation-paid moves earn no referral reward, and an organisation receiving a discount earns no referral fees on those bookings. Eligible customer-paid introductions remain subject to their separately agreed referral terms. None of this changes operator settlement.
28.5 Partner links. If you reach Movesmith through a partner’s link, such as an estate agent’s or a building’s link, your Booking may be credited to that partner under its separately agreed referral arrangement, as described in the Privacy Policy. That credit never changes your price: a partner link does not add a charge or alter your Quote. Building details that a partner link fills in are a starting point; you must check them and correct anything that does not match your Move under clause 29.1.
28.6 Tips. Tipping is entirely optional and never expected. Not tipping never affects your Move, your sign-off, your Quote, your rating or any complaint. After your Move is signed off, and after you have had the chance to rate it, we may offer you the option to tip your moving team: on your sign-off page, and through a link in your completion email for 7 days. A tip is a separate payment from your Quote, charged to your card only when you choose to give one, up to £200 for each Move. We take nothing from it and we pay the card fee: the whole amount goes to your Operator, who passes it on to the crew who did your Move. If you want a tip refunded, tell us within 14 days. A tip is not a payment for the Move, so it is not refunded or reduced if the Move price is. You may also give the crew a cash tip if you wish. Never pay the crew in cash for the Move itself or for any extra work: those payments go through us under clause 27.4.
29. Your obligations (customers)
29.1 At Booking you must provide accurate and complete information, including pickup and delivery addresses; property type and floor level; access conditions; the confirmed inventory, actual box quantity, volume and nature of the Goods used for the selected Journey Plan; the date and arrival window; and any special requirements.
29.2 You must ensure safe, lawful, and reasonable access to both properties at the agreed time, including any required parking permits, lift bookings, building-management arrangements and known access or noise restrictions. Selecting the 06:00-08:00 window does not override a lawful parking, loading, building or residential restriction and does not guarantee arrival at exactly 06:00. Where the Platform requests pre-Move access reconfirmation, you must use your private tracking link by the stated deadline, provide the minimum current photographs requested for each high-risk access point, and report any material change rather than confirming unchanged access. Do not include access codes, keys, passwords, faces or unrelated personal information in those photographs. A reported change pauses matching and follows the fixed scope-change process; it does not by itself authorise changed work or a charge. You are responsible for packing your Goods unless you select a packing service; we and the Operator are not liable for damage to inadequately packed items. You must be present, or arrange for an Authorised Representative to be present, at both pickup and delivery. At each Extra Stop, you, an Authorised Representative or the stop contact you gave at Booking must be present. Where you agreed to help with the Move, you must provide that help at every address, including each Extra Stop.
29.2A We usually ask about 72 hours before the start of your arrival window (or as soon as we can, if you book later than that). We don’t ask once your crew has set off. Where we ask you to check your item list before the Move, please check it by the time shown and tell us through your private tracking link about any change, including boxes. Items that are not on your confirmed list may not fit the planned vehicle or time, and any change on the day follows clause 27.4.
29.3 Ownership and authority. You confirm that you own the Goods, or that you have the owner’s authority to move them. If you do not, you indemnify Movesmith against any claim arising from our moving them.
29.4 Preparing appliances and connection services. You must prepare appliances for transport, including emptying, defrosting and draining them where relevant and securing loose parts. Ordinary unplugging is included in transport. Other eligible disconnection or reconnection work is included only when the Quote lists it for the specific appliance, endpoint and quantity. The standard service is available only for eligible freestanding appliances using a standard plug or an accessible standard water connection and only where a suitably approved Operator is available. Gas, hardwired, integrated and non-standard work is excluded. The Operator must stop the affected service where wiring, fittings, isolation, leakage, corrosion, access or condition is unsafe or materially different from what you declared. We are not liable for loss or damage caused by your failure to prepare an appliance, and the Operator may refuse to move or connect an unprepared or unsafe appliance without performing the affected service.
29.5 Sign-off by PIN. When the Operator marks the Move complete you receive a one-time Sign-Off PIN by SMS and email. You (or your Authorised Representative present at delivery) read the PIN to the Operator, who enters it to confirm completion. By providing the PIN you confirm the Move is complete and you are satisfied with the work at sign-off. Where sign-off cannot take place via the PIN, we carry out and record a completion review using the available evidence and audit trail, normally within 48 hours. There is no automatic timer- or silence-based sign-off. Providing the PIN does not waive your right to raise a later complaint for damage or other issues that become apparent after sign-off; see clause 32. The Operator may only enter a PIN you have voluntarily provided; if you suspect a PIN was obtained by deception, pressure, intimidation, or coercion, raise it immediately under clause 32. A typed confirmation on your sign-off page records that you are satisfied, but it does not by itself take payment; payment is taken only after the Sign-Off PIN or a documented completion review.
29.5A For organisation-paid moves, the Business Customer Agreement's named completion approver and current owner backup control completion sign-off. For an individual move, the organisation may choose client on-site sign-off: the Sign-Off PIN is then sent only to the client's confirmed mobile, and the client may give it to the Operator to sign off on the organisation's behalf. The named approver remains the fallback and may sign off remotely. Any other collection contact, delivery recipient or nominated replacement may acknowledge receipt, but does not receive payment authority or completion credentials, and their receipt alone cannot authorise capture or operator payout. A change to authority, to the client's contact details or to the sign-off option cancels any outstanding PIN. Unanswered or disputed completion uses Movesmith's recorded review process, not silence-based approval. Customer-paid bookings keep the customer's existing completion safeguards.
29.6 Your storage facility. You arrange and pay for the storage unit separately. You must identify the facility and unit, confirm opening hours and any booked access slot, disclose loading, lift, stairs, carry and vehicle restrictions accurately, and ensure you, an Authorised Representative or confirmed facility staff can lawfully give access at the agreed time. Do not provide storage account passwords, online credentials, access codes or payment details through the Platform. If entry is refused, access is unavailable, the unit is unsuitable, the disclosed access is materially wrong, or the Move runs beyond the facility window for a reason within your control, the Operator pauses and records structured evidence. The authorised launch rules are 15 minutes' waiting free, then £25 per started 30-minute block up to three blocks; £60 fixed for facility refusal, missing booked access, access-hours overrun or a unit/access mismatch where the rule applies; and £120 for redelivery only as a short repeat visit using the same booked locations and disclosed access. Any material or uncertain route/access change returns to a fresh fixed quote. You must expressly approve and pay a proposal before varied work proceeds. Rejection creates no variation charge and Ops coordinates the safe next step or rebooking. No silence-based, hourly, free-form Operator or doorstep charge applies, and the original fixed Move price remains separately recorded.
29.7 Parking and ordinary access incidents. Pickup and delivery parking are recorded separately. You must disclose the lawful parking or loading type, who will arrange it, whether it is confirmed, any time window, carry distance and known vehicle restrictions. Unknown, incomplete or unsupported access may be routed to Ops for a tailored fixed quote and is never treated as confirmation that no restriction exists. If an ordinary Move encounters no lawful parking, furniture that does not fit, unsafe access, unplanned dismantling or a failed delivery, the Operator pauses the changed work and records structured facts and evidence. You must expressly approve any additional fixed proposal before changed work or a variation charge. Rejection creates no variation charge and Ops coordinates the safe next step, rebooking or fresh quote.
29.8 Furniture collection information and authority. For a Furniture Collection Move, you must identify the collection source accurately and provide the Collection Party’s name and operational contact details, the agreed collection window, the delivery recipient and any order, release, lot or collection reference reasonably required. You confirm that the Goods are ready or state truthfully where readiness is awaiting confirmation; that the Collection Party permits the assigned Operator to collect them; that you are authorised to give us the supplied details; and that the recipient can receive the Goods on the confirmed delivery date. You must disclose known packaging, condition, dimensions and access restrictions and must not guess information you do not know. For a retailer collection, you may mark store floor, lift, carry, parking or loading facts as unknown rather than provide pickup-access photographs you cannot reasonably obtain; the assigned Operator confirms the safe collection route on arrival. You remain responsible for accurate delivery access information. Do not upload payment-card details, passwords, account credentials, government identity documents or unrelated personal information as release evidence. Where a Furniture Collection Move includes an extra collection stop, this clause, and the proof and evidence rules for that stop’s collection source, apply to each collection address.
29.9 No overnight supplier custody. A Furniture Collection Move follows the dates expressly confirmed in the Booking. Collected Goods must be delivered on the same day; they must not remain with the Operator overnight in a vehicle, depot, hotel parking area or other supplier location. Work across more than one day requires expressly booked daily batches, each collected and delivered that day, with access at both addresses and suitable vehicle capacity confirmed by the Operator before assignment. Goods awaiting collection remain with the Customer. No unbooked storage service, additional delivery address or redirection is authorised. If the agreed itinerary becomes unavailable or unsafe, pause the affected work and use the structured resolution process; do not leave Goods at an unbooked address or with an unauthorised person.
29.10 Parking penalty charges.
- (a) When you pay. You must pay us the amount of a parking or loading penalty charge, including a private parking charge, issued for a vehicle used for your Move, where all of these apply:
- (i) your Booking records that you, or your building or facility, would arrange the parking, permit, bay suspension, loading bay or paid parking at that address, and it was not in place, valid or usable at the recorded time; or the parking you described at Booking was materially different from what was there; or you expressly agreed through the Platform on the day that the crew could stop at a position where a penalty charge might be issued;
- (ii) the crew used the position recorded in your Booking, a position you directed or agreed, or, where none of those was available, the nearest position they reasonably could, and stayed no longer than needed to load or unload; and
- (iii) the charge relates to that address, from the start of your arrival window until the crew left it.
- (b) What you never pay. You do not pay:
- a charge caused by the Operator’s own breach or choices, for example stopping somewhere other than the recorded or agreed position without good reason, staying longer than needed, or not displaying a permit or ticket you provided;
- moving traffic contraventions, such as bus lanes, banned turns or yellow box junctions;
- speeding or any other driving offence;
- stopping on a red route, bus stop, zig-zag or school keep-clear markings, or anywhere dangerous or obstructive, where the Operator chose that position;
- congestion, Clean Air Zone, ULEZ, toll or other road user charges;
- clamping, removal or storage fees;
- a charge issued outside the times in (a)(iii);
- any increase because the charge was paid late (you pay no more than the reduced amount if a discount was still available when the charge was reported to us);
- administration, handling or recovery fees of any kind; or
- a charge that is being challenged or appealed, until the challenge is finally decided. If it is cancelled, you pay nothing.
- (c) Evidence and notice. We charge you only after our team has reviewed the Operator’s claim and evidence and it has been approved internally. We then send you a notice with:
- a copy of the charge, with the Operator’s personal details removed;
- its date, time, place and reason;
- the crew’s photographs and timestamps;
- what your Booking recorded about parking;
- the amount.
- (d) Disputing. You have 14 days from the notice to pay using the secure link, or to tell us you dispute the charge and send any evidence, such as a permit, a suspension confirmation or a bay booking. You can also ask us to have the charge challenged if you think it was wrongly issued. We will not charge you while a dispute is open. We will tell you our decision and reasons. If you still disagree, you can use our complaints process. Your statutory rights are not affected.
- (e) How we charge. If you have neither paid nor disputed within 14 days, we send you a reminder. If you still have not paid or disputed 3 days after the reminder, we charge the amount to the card saved for your Booking as a separate payment, identified as a parking charge for that Booking. If that payment fails, we may ask you to pay by link or recover the amount as a debt. The amount is never added to your Quote, and the Operator never collects it from you.
- (f) This clause applies only to Bookings made under version 2.34 of these terms or a later version.
30. Prohibited items and declared goods
30.1 Declaring your goods value. When the Booking flow requests itemised values, you must declare each item’s value per unit and quantity and confirm the Platform-calculated total of those lines. For other Moves, you must declare the total value of all the Goods. That confirmed total is the “Declared Value”. The Declared Value is the most we will pay for loss of or damage to your Goods, up to £50,000 per Move. Every Move includes a £10,000 Movesmith Cover Limit at no extra charge. A Declared Value from £10,001 to £25,000 requires the £25,000 increased Cover Limit, and a Declared Value from £25,001 up to and including £50,000 requires the £50,000 increased Cover Limit. The applicable increase is added and priced clearly in your fixed Quote before you proceed. Separately, the Declared Value determines Operator eligibility: we allocate only an Operator whose exact verified Goods in Transit limit equals or exceeds your Declared Value (see clause 18). £10,000 is the minimum Operator Goods in Transit limit accepted for any Move, not an automatic ceiling on the value you may declare. Values and uploaded listings, receipts or order evidence are supplied by you and are not independently verified merely because the Platform accepts them. Please declare accurately: if the actual total value of your Goods materially exceeds the Declared Value, any claim is reduced proportionately (see clause 31).
30.2 The following must not be included in your Move under any circumstances and we will not be liable for any loss if you include any such items: cash, bank notes, or negotiable instruments; jewellery, watches, or precious metals; passports, original deeds, or other irreplaceable documents; firearms, ammunition, explosives, or weapons; illegal substances or items prohibited under UK law; hazardous materials (flammable liquids, pressurised gases, corrosives, toxic substances); perishable or temperature-controlled goods; live animals, restricted plants, or biological materials; and unlawfully obtained items.
30.3 The following must be declared at Booking and may attract a specialist surcharge or specific handling: items valued over £8,000; antiques, fine art, or items of significant sentimental value; pianos, safes, or other items requiring specialist handling; items that are not a standard two-person lift; and goods requiring special permits or licences. A “standard two-person lift” is an item that weighs no more than 160 kg and that two people can move safely with standard handling equipment, such as a sack truck, dolly or straps. Any heavier item, and any piano, safe, slate pool table, stove or stone worktop whatever its weight, is an item requiring specialist handling under this clause.
30.4 Value over £50,000. Where the total value of your Goods exceeds £50,000, contact hello@movesmith.uk before completing your Booking so we can arrange a bespoke scope and confirm suitable cover. Where the actual value or items materially differ from what you declared, the Operator must pause and report the difference to Movesmith. Any revised fixed price or handling requirement must be agreed with you through Movesmith before the affected work proceeds; the Operator may not impose or collect a direct additional charge.
31. Movesmith Cover — loss and damage
31.1 Movesmith accepts liability for loss of or damage to your Goods up to a total of £50,000 per Move, and not exceeding the Declared Value (“Movesmith Cover”), subject to the exclusions below. Movesmith Cover applies to accidental loss, theft, fire, water damage, and damage during loading, transit, and unloading (including drops, handling, and breakage), subject to the exclusions below. Movesmith is your single point of contact: we handle your complaint, assess the loss or damage, and make any payment to you directly.
31.2 For Goods declared above £50,000 the Booking is routed to a custom-quote process, and we agree the basis and limit of our liability with you.
31.3 How we put things right. Where we are liable, we satisfy our liability at our option by repairing the item, replacing it, or paying the cost of repair or the current market value of the item, taking account of its age and condition. We do not pay on a new-for-old basis. Any payment is within the Declared Value and the £50,000 per-Move limit.
31.4 Where we repair an item, you have no further claim on the basis that the item is worth less after repair.
31.5 For a pair, set, or suite, we pay for the damaged item alone, or its proportionate share of the value of the pair, set, or suite. We do not pay for any special value the set has as a whole.
31.6 We are not liable for items reported missing unless they are evidenced by the photographic record kept under this clause or by an itemised inventory you provided before the Move.
31.7 Where the actual total value of your Goods materially exceeds the Declared Value, any claim is reduced in the same proportion that the Declared Value bears to the actual total value of the Goods.
31.8 Damage that is not reasonably apparent at delivery must be notified to us within 7 days of completion of the Move. This time limit does not affect your statutory rights and operates alongside the fast-track process in clause 32.
31.9 Exclusions. Movesmith Cover does not extend to: items prohibited under clause 30; items required to be declared but not declared; cash, jewellery, watches, precious metals, original documents, or items of exceptional sentimental value; loss or damage caused by inadequate packing where you were responsible for packing; pre-existing damage and normal wear and tear, assessed against the photographic record under this clause; and internal electrical or mechanical failure with no physical external damage, unless caused by fire, flood, or vehicle collision.
31.10 Move evidence. The Operator’s saved-photo minimum is set out in clause 16.3(c) and shown in the job; previously accepted jobs keep their recorded requirement. Before the Operator can mark a Move complete, the Platform requires photographic evidence of the Goods at pickup and delivery. The required pre-Move evidence depends on the source and risk: it may include item or condition photographs, delivery-access photographs, and private listing, order, receipt, ready-notice or release evidence. A retailer Customer is not required to supply store access photographs they cannot reasonably obtain; the assigned Operator records the required collection and condition evidence. Evidence may be enhanced according to your Declared Value or the nature of specialist items. It is used to identify the agreed Goods, plan and protect the Move and assess a complaint, not for advertising or wealth profiling. Uploading value or condition evidence does not itself verify your declaration or guarantee a claim outcome. The evidence is retained and handled as described in the Privacy Policy. Where damage occurs, you raise a damage complaint under clause 32, and it is resolved through Movesmith Cover, with Movesmith as your single point of contact.
31A. Damage to your home or building
31A.1 What this clause covers. This clause applies to physical damage to the fixed parts of a property at a pickup, delivery or Extra Stop address of your Move, such as walls, floors, carpets, doors and frames, stairs and banisters, lifts, fixtures and fittings, gates, driveways and the communal areas of a building (“Property Damage”), caused by the Operator’s crew or vehicle during your Move. It does not apply to your Goods, which are covered by clause 31.
31A.2 Who is responsible. The Operator must carry out your Move with reasonable care and skill and protect the property (Part B clause 16.13). Where Property Damage was caused by the crew or the vehicle not taking reasonable care, you are entitled to have it put right, as set out below. Your contract is with us, so you do not have to pursue the Operator. This clause explains how we handle a report. It does not reduce your legal rights against us, and it does not make Movesmith responsible for damage that neither we nor the Operator would be legally responsible for.
31A.3 What is not covered. We are not responsible for:
- (a) damage that was there before the Move, or normal wear and tear;
- (b) damage caused by you, your Authorised Representative, or anyone helping you, including where you chose the option to help with the Move, unless the crew directed the lift or handling that caused it;
- (c) damage caused by a route, method or item handling that the crew warned you about and that you then asked them to go ahead with, where you agreed to that through the Platform (we do not rely on a verbal agreement);
- (d) minor marks that could not reasonably be avoided, where you agreed in advance through the Platform that they might happen (for example a very narrow stairwell);
- (e) damage caused by a defect in the property itself, such as a loose banister, an unsecured fixture or an unsafe floor, that the crew could not reasonably have known about;
- (f) damage caused by inaccurate access information you gave us (clause 29.1), where accurate information would have avoided it; or
- (g) indirect or consequential loss, such as loss of rent, loss of earnings, or the cost of alternative accommodation, except where that loss was a reasonably foreseeable result of the damage when you booked.
- (h) the fixing holes made when a TV, bracket or anti-tip kit is fixed to a wall as part of an Add-on Service (clause 27.17), and any marks left when it is later removed.
We apply an exclusion only to the damage it actually concerns.
31A.4 Telling us. Report Property Damage as soon as you can:
- ideally on the day of the Move, before the crew leaves, so it can be recorded while everyone is there;
- otherwise through the “Report damage to my home” option on your booking page, or by emailing hello@movesmith.uk, within 7 days of the Move being completed.
Include what was damaged, where, when you noticed it and photos. Please keep the damaged area as it is, where it is safe and reasonable to do so, until we have had a fair chance to see it or photos of it, and take reasonable steps to stop further damage (for example a leak). If you report later than 7 days, tell us why: we still consider the report, but the delay may affect what the evidence can show. This time limit does not affect your statutory rights or any period allowed by law.
31A.5 How we use photos. The crew may photograph the condition of vulnerable areas (for example the stairs, hallway, lift and door frames) when they arrive, and photographs your Goods at pickup and delivery (clause 31.10). We use those photographs, yours, and the crew’s account to assess a report. A photograph showing damage that was there before the Move is evidence that the crew did not cause it; the absence of a photograph does not mean damage was there before.
31A.6 How we handle a report. Movesmith is your single point of contact. We acknowledge your report, review the evidence, ask the Operator for their account, and tell you our decision and the reasons. We aim to acknowledge within 4 working hours, to complete our first review within 3 Working Days and to resolve within 21 Working Days, but a report involving a third party (such as a building) or an inspection may take longer, and we will keep you updated. We may ask the Operator, or an insurer acting for the Operator or for us, to inspect, assess or settle the damage. You still deal with us. We do not agree liability or make an offer until we have reviewed the report.
31A.7 Putting it right. Where Property Damage is covered by this clause, it is put right, at our option, by:
- (a) a repair carried out by a competent tradesperson, or
- (b) paying you the fair and reasonable cost of repair, supported by a quote or invoice.
Where the damaged part was already worn, the payment reflects its condition before the damage (no betterment), but you are never left to pay for the part of a repair that is needed only because of the damage. If a repair does not adequately fix the damage, tell us and we will review it.
31A.8 Limit. Our total liability for all Property Damage arising from one Move is limited to £50,000. This limit is separate from, and in addition to, Movesmith Cover for your Goods (clause 31.1), and it does not apply to the matters in clause 37.1.
31A.9 Buildings, landlords and neighbours. If the damaged property belongs to someone else (for example your landlord, the building’s freeholder or managing agent, or a neighbour), tell us who they are when you report it. If they contact you about the damage, or send you a claim, pass it to us straight away and do not agree anything with them on our or the Operator’s behalf. We deal with them directly. This does not limit any rights they have themselves.
31A.10 No double recovery. If you are paid for the same damage by someone else (for example your own home insurer, a landlord or the Operator directly), we deduct that amount. If your own insurer pays you, it may take over your claim against us or the Operator.
32. Disputes and the 24-hour fast-track window
32.1 If you are unhappy with any aspect of your Move, raise it through the sign-off link, the Report a problem option on your booking page (available for 7 days after completion), the Report damage to my home option on your booking page (clause 31A), or by emailing hello@movesmith.uk. We acknowledge a reported problem within 4 working hours. You have 24 hours from the moment the Move is marked complete to raise a dispute for fast-track resolution. The fast-track window does not extinguish or affect your statutory rights, which remain available for the period permitted by law, including under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
32.2 Path A — service-failure disputes. For items missing on delivery, significant lateness, Operator behaviour, or other service failures, we investigate and may request evidence. Where upheld in your favour you may be entitled to a partial or full refund under clause 33.
32.3 Path B — damage to Goods. Damage during the Move is handled as a damage complaint, resolved through Movesmith Cover up to the £50,000 limit and not exceeding the Declared Value, with Movesmith as your single point of contact. Movesmith assesses it and settles your complaint directly and ensures you are made whole within the limits of Movesmith Cover and your statutory rights. To support a damage complaint, photograph the damage immediately and notify us within 7 days; we acknowledge within 4 working hours, investigate within 3 Working Days, and aim to resolve within 21 Working Days.
32.3A Path C — damage to your home or building. Damage to a property (rather than your Goods) is handled as a property-damage report under clause 31A, with Movesmith as your single point of contact.
32.4 We aim to resolve all disputes within 14 days of receipt. Where a dispute cannot be resolved through the Platform, the governing law and jurisdiction provisions in clause 12 apply; if it remains unresolved within 30 days either party may refer it to mediation through CEDR or another agreed mediator (costs shared equally), and failing resolution within 60 days of referral, either party may pursue the courts of England and Wales. External options include Citizens Advice (0808 223 1133), Trading Standards, an approved ADR scheme, card-issuer chargeback, and the small claims court.
32.5 Your case record. For a Booking-linked cancellation, lateness, access, completion, payment or damage issue, your secure Booking or tracking page may show the case reference, a role-appropriate summary, the named Movesmith owner, next action and update target, evidence state and relevant payment state. Internal investigation notes, the Operator’s private information and material that is not necessary for your case update are not displayed. Only timeline updates expressly marked for you or both parties appear. An update target is a communication or action target and does not replace the resolution aims above or your statutory rights.
33. Refunds, cancellations, and reschedules
33.1 If you cancel your Booking, the following cancellation fees apply, based on the time of cancellation relative to the start of your arrival window. You see the exact fee before you confirm. If we have not yet taken payment, nothing is refunded because nothing has been charged: any fee is charged to your saved card and nothing else is taken. If you have already paid, we refund what you paid less any fee.
| Cancellation timing | Fee retained | Refund (if you have already paid) |
|---|---|---|
| 48 hours or more before Move | None | Full refund (100%) |
| 24 to 48 hours before Move | 50% | 50% refunded |
| Less than 24 hours before Move | 75% | 25% refunded |
| Customer no-show on Move day | 100% | No refund |
33.2 Changing your date. You can ask to move your Booking to another date or arrival window. We work out the price of the same Move on the new date and arrival window and show it to you, with any fee, before you confirm. If the new date costs more, you pay the difference. If it costs less, you pay the lower price, and if you have already paid, we refund the difference to the card you paid with. Nothing changes until you confirm, and you can keep your original date. Your first change has no fee if you ask at least 48 hours before the start of your arrival window. A change with less than 48 hours' notice, and any later change, costs a £35 administration fee, shown before you confirm. The new date must be within 90 days of your original Move date; for a later date, the change is treated as a cancellation under clause 33.1. A price difference from a change you ask for is not a price drop under clause 27.15. For a Same-Day Booking, the Same-Day Booking Terms set the fee instead of the £35 administration fee.
33.3 You are entitled to a full refund where we fail to assign an Operator in time (including where no Operator takes a Shared-Load Booking by its Match Deadline, under clause 27.16(e)) (and where your Booking is cancelled, or you cancel it, under the last paragraph of clause 27.6), the Operator cancels less than 24 hours before the Move with no replacement, the Operator fails to attend, or the Move is not completed for reasons within the Operator’s or Movesmith’s control.
33.4 Service credits. In addition to a full refund (where your Booking was made at least 48 hours before the Move), you may receive a Movesmith service credit (min £25, max £150): 5% of the Quote where the Operator cancels with less than 24 hours’ notice; 8% where the Operator no-shows; or 5% where the Operator arrives more than 60 minutes after the agreed window without contacting you in advance. Where the Operator communicates a delay in good faith and a reasonable revised time is agreed, no credit applies.
33.5 You are not entitled to a refund for: cancellations outside the fee structure above; damage to Goods (handled under clause 32); subjective dissatisfaction not amounting to a service failure; or failure to complete the Move because access was denied for reasons within your control. Refunds are processed to the original payment card. Where nothing has been captured, we release the card authorisation instead of making a refund, and your bank controls when the pending hold disappears; where clause 19.2 requires Movesmith to preserve a no-fault Operator share, we may capture and then fund the Customer refund at Movesmith’s cost. Refunds after capture typically arrive within 5 to 10 Working Days. Nothing in this clause affects your statutory rights.
33.6 Removing an add-on. You can remove an Add-on Service on your booking page.
- Work the crew does. Building flat-pack furniture, wall-mounting a TV, and unpacking and bagging the packaging: you can remove one at any time before the crew starts it. You pay nothing for it.
- Taking an item away. There is no charge if you remove it 24 hours or more before the start of your arrival window. Less than 24 hours before, you pay only the Waste Partner's fixed call-out charge shown in your Booking, never a percentage of the price. We refund the rest.
- Cancelling your whole Move. Your add-ons are cancelled with it, on the same terms as above. The charges in clause 33.1 apply only to the rest of your Quote.
This does not affect clause 27.17(f) or your rights under clause 34.
34. Cooling-off period
34.1 Under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, where you book a Move more than 14 days before the Move date you have a statutory right to cancel within 14 days of Booking without giving any reason and without incurring any fee.
34.2 Where you book a Move within 14 days of the Move date, by completing the Booking and ticking the relevant acknowledgement at checkout you expressly request that Movesmith and the assigned Operator begin performance during the statutory cooling-off period. You acknowledge that your right to cancel without fee is reduced or extinguished to the extent we have begun performance, and the cancellation fee tiers in clause 33 apply.
34.3 Where your statutory cooling-off right applies and you exercise it, you will be refunded in full within 14 days of notice. To exercise it, notify us in clear terms by email to hello@movesmith.uk or via your Booking record before the deadline expires.
34.4 Add-ons and your 14 days. The cancellation right in clause 34.1 applies to Add-on Services in the same way.
- Cancelling your Move cancels your add-ons. If you cancel your Move within the cancellation period, your add-ons end too, and we refund them in full.
- Add-on done inside your 14 days. If you ask us to do an add-on within the 14 days, you agree to that when you book. If the add-on is then fully done, you lose the right to cancel it. If you cancel after part of it has been done, you pay only for the part done, in proportion to its price.
- Taking an item away. Once an item has been taken away it can't be returned, so the add-on counts as fully done from that point.
35. Ratings and reviews
35.1 Who may review. You may rate and review a Move you booked through the Platform. We describe a review as “verified” only where it is linked to a completed Movesmith Booking. Reviews must be true, fair and accurate, concern your own experience, and must not be submitted by an Operator, competitor or person with an undisclosed personal or professional relationship to the Operator.
35.2 Consent and moderation. A rating may be used privately for service quality and Operator performance. We publish written review content or a customer display name only after you give a separate, affirmative public-display choice and Movesmith completes moderation. Consent to publish is separate from Booking, marketing and cookie consent. You may withdraw public-display consent by contacting hello@movesmith.uk; withdrawal affects future display and does not affect processing already lawfully carried out.
35.3 Fake, misleading and incentivised reviews. Fake reviews, review manipulation and concealed incentivised reviews are prohibited. A review must not be bought, fabricated, copied, selectively altered or submitted in return for payment, a discount, a refund, preferential treatment or another benefit unless the incentive is lawful, does not depend on sentiment and is prominently disclosed. We do not present an incentivised review as independent or verified merely because a Booking exists.
35.4 Publication policy. We may refuse, delay, label, redact or remove a review where reasonably necessary to verify authenticity; protect personal data, confidential information or safety; address unlawful, defamatory, abusive or irrelevant content; disclose a lawful incentive; or comply with law. Moderation must not be used merely to suppress genuine negative feedback. We maintain records of verification, consent, moderation and publication and may suspend review privileges or Operator accounts involved in manipulation.
35.5 Operator response and review. The reviewed Operator may submit one factual response for Movesmith moderation and may ask Movesmith to review inaccurate or materially incomplete feedback using the Supplier Portal. A response is displayed only with the related consented, moderated and published review, must not reveal Customer personal data and may be rejected for the same safety, relevance and legality reasons that apply to review content. Requesting review does not automatically remove the rating from performance or allocation controls. If a human reviewer upholds the appeal, we record the reason, end public display and exclude that rating from trust-band calculation; if declined, we record the written reason.
35.6 Rating scores and crew profiles. When you rate a Move you may also give optional scores for being on time, care with your belongings and communication. We publish these only as anonymous averages for an area, never with your name or review text. Written review content still needs your separate consent and our moderation under clause 35.2. Public crew profiles are shown only with the consent described in clause 14.6.
36. Events outside our control
36.1 Neither party is liable for any failure or delay arising from causes outside its reasonable control, including severe weather, flood, fire, or natural disaster; pandemic or epidemic and related public health measures; strikes or industrial action; war, terrorism, or civil unrest; government or regulator action; failure of utilities, telecommunications, or internet networks; cyber-attack; or prolonged failure of payment infrastructure not within our control.
36.2 Where such an event prevents your Move on the scheduled date, we offer a free reschedule or a full refund at your election. Where it affects your ability to attend (for example illness with medical evidence or government travel restrictions), we offer a free reschedule on production of reasonable evidence; this does not extend to general inconvenience or change of plan. Where it affects the Operator, we will, as far as reasonably practicable, assign an alternative Operator.
37. Customer liability
37.1 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence; fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; or any matter for which it would be unlawful to limit liability under English law, including breach of statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
37.2 Cap. Subject to the clause above, our total liability arising out of or in connection with your Booking, however arising, is limited to the greater of the total Quote you paid for the affected Booking or the applicable Movesmith Cover amount of up to £50,000 per Move and not exceeding the Declared Value, in respect of loss of or damage to Goods, in each case subject to the exclusions in clause 31. Separately, our liability for Property Damage is limited as set out in clause 31A.8, subject to the exclusions in clause 31A.3.
37.3 Subject to the above, we are not liable for indirect or consequential loss; loss of profit, revenue, business, or anticipated savings; pure economic loss; or loss arising from your inaccurate Booking information, from undeclared or prohibited items, or from third-party events outside our reasonable control.
37.4 You indemnify Movesmith and its employees and agents against all liability for loss, damage, or injury suffered by any person arising from your breach of these terms, your use of the Platform, or your receipt of services.