International moves involve paying for a service weeks or months before it’s delivered. That gap between payment and completion is where fraud happens – and moving-company fraud follows a recognisable pattern. Understanding it takes five minutes. Checking against it before you pay takes ten. Both are worth doing before you hand over a deposit to any company for an international removal.
How Moving Company Fraud Actually Works
The pattern is consistent across reported cases. A quote comes in significantly below every other estimate you’ve received. The company explains the gap – a one-off availability slot, a direct loading route, simpler logistics – and the explanation sounds plausible enough. There is some pressure to confirm quickly, and a deposit is requested. Often a large one.
What happens next varies. In some cases, the company collects your belongings and then demands additional payment before releasing them at the destination – sometimes months later, sometimes never. One reported case involved a customer whose belongings were collected in February with no delivery by the agreed date, no meaningful communication, and a five-month non-resolution. In other cases, the company takes the deposit and is simply unreachable from that point.
The common thread is not bad luck or an unusually poor experience. It is a recognisable fraud pattern: price below market to win the booking, collect deposits at scale, fail to deliver. An unusually low quote is not a finding worth celebrating – it is the first signal that something needs checking.
How Moving Company Fraud Actually Works
The pattern is consistent across reported cases. A quote comes in significantly below every other estimate you’ve received. The company explains the gap – a one-off availability slot, a direct loading route, simpler logistics – and the explanation sounds plausible enough. There is some pressure to confirm quickly, and a deposit is requested. Often a large one.
What happens next varies. In some cases, the company collects your belongings and then demands additional payment before releasing them at the destination – sometimes months later, sometimes never. One reported case involved a customer whose belongings were collected in February with no delivery by the agreed date, no meaningful communication, and a five-month non-resolution. In other cases, the company takes the deposit and is simply unreachable from that point.
The common thread is not bad luck or an unusually poor experience. It is a recognisable fraud pattern: price below market to win the booking, collect deposits at scale, fail to deliver. An unusually low quote is not a finding worth celebrating – it is the first signal that something needs checking.
What to Actually Check Before Paying a Deposit
These checks take minutes and can be done before any money changes hands.
BAR membership – verify at bar.co.uk. The British Association of Removers publishes its full current member list. If a company claims BAR membership, find their name there before paying anything. If they are not listed, they are not currently a member, regardless of what their website shows. Membership can lapse; the directory reflects current status.
IAM membership – verify at iamovers.org. The International Association of Movers maintains a global member directory. For any company handling international moves, IAM membership indicates they have met the Association’s standards and are subject to its accountability framework.
FIDI FAIM accreditation – verify at fidi.org. FIDI (Fédération Internationale des Déménageurs Internationaux) FAIM accreditation involves an independent third-party audit of the company’s operations. It is more demanding to obtain and maintain than a membership subscription, which makes it harder to fake and more meaningful as a quality signal.
Companies House – search at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Every legitimate UK-registered company appears here. Check that the company is actively registered, that it has been trading for a reasonable period, and that the registered address is consistent with what the company has told you.
Read reviews critically – look for patterns, not averages. Complaints about communication delays during transit, customs holdups, and minor damage are common in the removal industry and relatively normal. What is not normal: reviews describing items never arriving, deposit disputes where the company became unreachable, or multiple independent accounts of the same pattern. A company with hundreds of 5-star reviews posted within a short window, and no substantive negative reviews at all, is worth scrutinising.
Not Sure Whether a Removal Company Is Legitimate?
Your move manager can talk you through what to check and what genuine accreditation actually covers – before you commit to anything. Most questions get answered in the first call.
What the BAR Advanced Payment Guarantee Actually Protects
The BAR Advance Payment Guarantee (APG) is a specific financial protection scheme – not a quality mark or a code of conduct. It is worth understanding precisely what it does, because it is the direct answer to the question most people actually want answered before paying a deposit.
If a BAR standard member is unable to complete a move – for example, if the company ceases trading after you have paid but before your goods are collected or delivered – the APG scheme covers the customer’s pre-payments to that member, up to the scheme’s limits. This is administered independently of the removal company and does not depend on the company still being solvent or contactable.
That is a concrete, specific protection. “We’re a trusted company” is not. “We’ve been in business for thirty years” is not. A named, independently administered financial guarantee for your pre-payments is.
When you ask a removal company about their BAR membership, the follow-up question worth asking is: “Are you a standard member with APG cover, or an associate member?” Only standard BAR members carry the APG protection. Associate membership does not include it.
Gerson Moving Services is a standard BAR member with APG cover. We are also IAM accredited, part of the AGM Group, and FIDI FAIM accredited. You can verify each of these directly with the relevant accrediting bodies – and we would encourage you to do exactly that, before booking any international removal, with us or with anyone else.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a moving company deposit scam?
Moving company fraud typically follows a consistent pattern: an unusually low quote attracts a booking, a deposit is paid, and then either the company fails to collect at all, collects your belongings and holds them until additional payment is made, or becomes entirely unreachable. The fraud relies on the customer being past the point of easily switching providers before the problem becomes apparent.
How much deposit is normal for an international removal?
A typical deposit for an international removal is 10–20% of the total cost at booking, with the balance due closer to the collection date. A demand for significantly more than this – particularly early in the process, or before a written contract has been provided – is worth questioning.
What does BAR accreditation actually guarantee?
BAR standard membership includes the Advance Payment Guarantee (APG), which provides specific financial protection for pre-payments made to a BAR member if that member cannot complete the move. It also means the company is subject to BAR’s code of practice and dispute resolution scheme. BAR membership can be verified directly at bar.co.uk – always check rather than relying on a logo.
How can I verify a removal company is genuinely accredited?
Each major accrediting body maintains a public directory: BAR at bar.co.uk, IAM at iamovers.org, FIDI at fidi.org. Verify the company’s name in the directory directly – do not rely on logos, certificates displayed on the website, or the company’s own assurances. Membership status can be checked in under two minutes.
