What is the Code of Practice?

The British Association of Removers Code of Practice is the only code in the moving industry that's approved and monitored by the Trading Standards Institute.

All BAR members abide by the Code that dictates the standards of service you will receive, the quality of the materials used, the standards of vehicles and warehouses, staff training requirements and what will happen if something goes wrong. Most importantly the Code requires BAR moving companies to deal with you in a courteous and sympathetic way at all times.

Every BAR Member makes the following key commitments:

We promise to act fairly and reasonably with you and uphold all the standards contained in the Code. Our key commitments are:

To make sure that our advertising and promotional literature is clear and not misleading.
To provide you with a clear description, price and timetable for the work carried out.
To offer insurance or other protection options.
To explain clearly our liability for loss or damage, the time limit for making claims, and cancellation/postponement rights and charges.
To provide staff who are courteous, competent, and committed to providing a high standard of service.
To deal quickly and sympathetically with things that go wrong.
To publicise this Code, have copies freely available and make sure our staff are trained to put it into practice.

Financial Protection

The Code says that if your BAR remover cancels a removal more than 10 days before the agreed date for the work it must pay you back everything you paid to them. If it cancels less than 10 days before the agreed date it must pay you 150% of the monies paid. This means that you can be confident that your BAR remover will arrive to do the work on the agreed date.

If your BAR member is not able to do the work on the agreed day or pay the 150% refund, the BAR Pre-payment Protection Scheme will be speedily activated to have the work completed by another member or provide you with a full refund.

If something goes wrong

If you have a complaint about the service your BAR member will try to resolve it fairly, quickly and efficiently. If it can't settle your complaint to your satisfaction you may refer it to the the low cost independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) provided by the Association. consumer.affairs@bar.co.uk Tel: 01923 699486.

The scheme is an effective and user friendly alternative to the County Court small claims procedure. Any Adjudication award made under this scheme will be legally binding upon both parties and may only be challenged on certain limited grounds under the Arbitration Act 1996.

TSI Monitoring

The Trading Standards Institute monitors the performance of all BAR members, to make sure that they are operating within the BAR Code of Practice and that the Code is working properly in the customers’ interests. You can help by completing the customer satisfaction survey your BAR remover will give you.