It’s standard practice to pay a removal company some or all of the cost before moving day — often a deposit to secure the date, sometimes the full balance in advance. Most of the time that money is completely safe. But removal companies do occasionally cease trading, and it’s worth understanding, before you book, what actually protects an advance payment and what doesn’t — because “the company is a member of a trade association” and “your money is protected if they go bust” are not automatically the same thing.
Trade association membership is not, by itself, a deposit protection scheme
The main UK trade body for removals is the British Association of Removers (BAR). BAR membership involves financial vetting and adherence to a code of practice, and it’s a reasonable signal that you’re dealing with an established firm — but membership alone doesn’t guarantee your money is protected if that firm becomes insolvent. The specific protection comes from a separate scheme that most, but not necessarily all, BAR members participate in.
The BAR Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) scheme
Where a BAR member takes payment from you in advance of your move, the Advance Payment Guarantee scheme is designed to protect that payment if the mover experiences financial difficulty and can’t carry out the move. It’s aimed at private individuals moving to, from or within the UK, and BAR members can offer cover for UK-only moves or extend it to European and international moves — which one applies depends on the individual member, so it’s worth asking your mover directly which scope their APG cover provides rather than assuming the broadest version applies.
Two things worth being precise about, because generic reassurance isn’t the same as knowing your actual position:
- Check the firm is actually a current BAR member, and ask specifically whether they participate in the APG scheme — don’t rely on a logo on their website, which can be outdated. BAR’s own site lets you search current members.
- The scheme has its own terms and conditions, held in a formal trust deed, which govern exactly how a claim is assessed and paid. If you want to understand the fine print before paying a large deposit, BAR’s APG scheme team can be contacted directly ([email protected]) rather than relying on a summary written by a third party — including this one.
If your removal firm isn’t a BAR member, or is a member but doesn’t offer APG cover, an advance payment to them carries the same general risk as paying any small business ahead of a service being delivered — which is where general consumer protection, rather than an industry-specific scheme, becomes relevant.
What general consumer protection can and can’t do for you
If a non-BAR firm — or a BAR firm without APG cover — stops trading after taking your deposit, you don’t have an automatic industry safety net, but you do have some standard routes, none of which are guaranteed to get your money back:
- Card or bank chargeback. If you paid by debit card, ask your bank about a chargeback claim — there’s no legal right to one, but banks generally follow the card scheme rules (Visa, Mastercard) which allow claims where goods or services weren’t provided.
- Section 75 protection. If you paid any part of the cost — even a deposit — by credit card, and the total cost of the service was over £100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 can make your credit card provider jointly liable with the trader. This is a genuine legal right in England, Wales and Scotland, distinct from a chargeback, and worth invoking if the amount is significant enough.
- Registering as a creditor. If the company has formally entered administration or liquidation, you can register a claim as a creditor for what you’re owed. Realistically, secured creditors and staff wages are typically paid first, so an unsecured creditor claim from a customer often recovers little or nothing — this is worth knowing before you rely on it as your main protection.
If the firm hasn’t formally folded but has stopped responding
Not every problem is a formal insolvency — sometimes a firm just stops answering calls in the run-up to your move date. Start by writing to them (email, so there’s a record) setting out what you paid and what you expect — either the service delivered as booked, or a refund by a specific date. If that goes nowhere, a formal letter before claim, followed by a small claims court case, is the standard escalation route for a debt or undelivered-service dispute.
The court process itself differs by nation, and this matters if you’re trying to work out where to actually file: in England and Wales, small claims go through the county court system, commonly via Money Claim Online; Scotland has its own separate process through the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (the “simple procedure”); and Northern Ireland runs its own small claims process through the NI Courts and Tribunals Service. Don’t assume the England & Wales online portal covers a claim against a firm based in Scotland or Northern Ireland — check which jurisdiction the contract and the firm actually sit in.
Reducing the risk before you book
- Ask directly whether the firm is a current BAR member and whether they offer APG cover on your specific move — get the answer in writing if the deposit is substantial.
- Where possible, pay at least part of the cost by credit card, even if only the deposit, to bring Section 75 into play if the total service cost exceeds £100.
- Be cautious of a firm asking for the full balance well in advance of moving day, rather than a deposit followed by payment on or near completion — this is a reasonable question to ask any mover, not an accusation.
- Get a written quote and booking confirmation, not just a verbal agreement — this is what you’d need as evidence for a chargeback, Section 75 claim, or court case.
Removal company insolvency is genuinely uncommon, and the large majority of bookings complete without incident. But because the money involved can run into the thousands and is typically paid before the service is delivered, it’s one of the few parts of organising a move where a few minutes of checking beforehand is worth the time.