TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Definitions

In this contract unless the context otherwise permits the following expressions shall have the following meanings:

“Contractor” shall mean and include “National Moving” and its servants, agents, employees and sub-contractors.

“Contract” shall mean the contract for the removal or storage of goods made between the Contractor and the Customer as evidenced by the Quotation and these conditions.

“Customer” shall mean and include the person making the Contract with the Contractor and any person authorising the performance of the work by the Contactor and any person on whose behalf that authority is given.

“Quotation” means the quotation signed by the Customer and submitted with these conditions.

“Working Day” means the day upon which the offices of the Contractor are open for normal business hours.

1.1 This contract shall be constructed according to the laws of Queensland, Australia.

1.2 The transaction and terms shown on this invoice are subject to approval by the head office of the Contractor.

2 Notices

2.1 Any notice given hereunder may unless otherwise provided be given to the Customer personally or by ordinary pre-paid post addressed to the Customer at the last address of the Customer known to the Contractor.

2.2 Unless expressly stated otherwise, the Customer consents to receiving notices by electronic mail and in the event that a notice is given to the Customer in this manner such notice shall be deemed to have been received on the day the notice was sent.

2.3 The Customer shall furnish to the Contractor a specimen signature and an address to which the Contractor may forward any notice or correspondence and shall promptly notify the Contractor of any change of address. For the purposes of this Clause, “address” includes email address.

3 Variations

3.1 The Contract may be altered by mutual consent of the Contractor and the Customer but so far as these conditions are concerned the Contractor’s consent for any such alterations may only be given by the proprietor of the Contractor and must be evidenced in writing.

4 Contractor’s Rights and Obligations

4.1 The Contractor is not a common carrier and may refuse to accept for removal or storage any or all goods for any person without being obliged to give any reason for such refusal.

4.2 The Contractor may assign the Contract without the consent of the Customer and the Contractor is authorised by the Customer to arrange to contract with any other person or company to provide the services to be performed hereunder or any part thereof as and upon such items and conditions as the Contractor may in its absolute and unfettered discretion deem appropriate and the Customer appoints and authorises the Contractor to enter into any such contract as aforesaid as agent and attorney for himself and for the owner of the goods and any person entitled to possession thereof.

4.3 The Contractor may at any time during the removal break the journey, transfer goods from vehicle to vehicle and travel to any destination by any route whatsoever and when goods are in store it may store the goods in any warehouse whatsoever.

5 Customer Responsibilities

5.1 The Customer warrants the accuracy of any information (other than estimates of value given to the Contractor) on which the Contractor reasonably relies in assessing the estimate of the resources necessary to carry out the work performed under the Contract.

5.2 In respect of any goods packed or removed or stored hereunder the Customer warrants that he or she has the right, power and authority to deal with such goods and to enter into this Contract and shall indemnify the Contractor against any claim against it by reason of any breach of such warranty. In the event that any goods may be lawfully seized, detained or removed from the custody of the Contractor the liability of the Customer hereunder shall remain in force and the liability of the Contractor to produce or deliver the goods shall thereupon cease.

5.3 The Customer shall prior to the commencement of the removal or storage give written notice to the Contractor of any goods which are: of a fragile or brittle nature or which are not readily apparent as such, or include any jewellery, plate, precious object, object d’art, work of art, medal, money, stamp, collection of items, fur or piece of precision equipment in any case having a value in excess of $200.00.

5.4 The Customer or its agent is requested to be in attendance at the premises when the Contractor arrives and until the service is completed. It is impossible for the Contractor to give an exact time for the completion of services, therefore the Contractor cannot arrange for services to be carried out at specific times of day. It is the responsibility of the Customer or its agent to ensure that all goods to be removed or stored are given to the Contractor and none is left behind or taken by the Contractor in error and the Customer shall indemnify the Contractor against any claim against the Contractor arising from breach by the Customer of this condition.

5.5 The Customer shall not tender for removal or storage any article or substance which is or may become of a dangerous corrosive inflammable explosive or damaging nature, nor anything likely to encourage any vermin or pest and the Customer shall indemnify the Contractor against any loss or damage which may be suffered by the Contractor through the presence of any such article or substance in any goods removed or stored for such Customer and against any claim made against the Contractor by any other person arising therefrom. In the event of discovery by the Contractor the Customer shall upon notification thereof immediately remove such article or substance from the place where the same is situated and if the Customer should fail to do so the Contractor may at its discretion remove, destroy or otherwise dispose of the same without in any way becoming liable to the Customer.

6 Delivery

6.1 The Contractor shall not be bound to deliver any goods except to the Customer or a person authorised in writing by the Customer to receive such goods, but may at its discretion.

6.2 If the Customer or a person authorised to receive the goods is unable to receive them at the place where they are to be delivered immediately upon their arrival or is unable to be contacted immediately prior to delivery and/or if the Contractor cannot by reason of circumstances beyond its control gain access to the place to which the goods are to be delivered, the Contractor shall be entitled to unload the goods in its own or any other storing place and such unloading shall be deemed to be delivery in accordance with this Contract and the Contractor shall be entitled to charge its normal charges in respect of storage and delivery of the goods thereafter.

7 Storage

7.1 After receipt of the goods the Contractor shall prepare an inventory of the goods received at the time of their receipt and the Customer or such other person on behalf of the Customer shall, if satisfied that the inventory is complete and accurate, sign the inventory The Contractor shall provide the Customer with a copy of the inventory. If the Customer signs the inventory or fails to object to signing the inventory within 7 days of receipt, the inventory shall be conclusive evidence of the goods received by the Contractor. Such inventories shall disclose only visible items and not any contents thereof unless the Customer shall so specify, in which case the Contractor shall be entitled to make a reasonable additional charge of the preparation of such inventory.

7.2 Where the goods have been stored for a period exceeding 26 weeks or any longer period agreed upon in the Quotation, the Contractor may change the storage charges from time to time by giving 28 days prior written notice to the Customer.

7.3 The Customer shall be entitled upon giving to the Contractor reasonable notice to uplift the goods in storage and the Contractor shall be entitled to make a reasonable charge thereof.

7.4 The Customer shall remove from storage within 28 days or any longer agreed period after written notice of the requirement to do so given by the Contractor to him/her and, in the event of failure by the Customer to do so, the Contractor may (without prejudice to any other rights or obligations which the Contractor may have under this Contract or otherwise at law) sell all or any of the goods by public auction (or if this is not reasonably practicable) by private treaty and apply the net proceeds in satisfaction of any amount owing to the Contractor and hold the balance (if any) on account of the Customer.

8 Charges and Payments

8.1 All charges payable to the Contractor under this Contract are payable by the Customer in advance as specified by the Contractor from time to time and in the event that any charge made by the Contractor shall not be paid within the date set for payment the Contractor shall be entitled to charge a ‘late payment’ fee of $3.00 per calendar day until the account is cleared in full. This is a default clause and should not be interpreted as an offer of credit.

8.2 Deposits may be requested by the Contractor and any such deposit requested is payable at the time of booking the removal. Failure to pay the deposit may result in delay or cancellation of requested services. A deposit of 20% is required at the time of quote acceptance. The deposit is non-refundable.

8.3 Cancellation fees will be incurred when the Customer cancels a job or the date changes with less than 2 working days’ notice. Cancellation fees of up to 80% may be incurred when the Customer cancels a job or the date changes with less than 2 working days’ notice. The Contractor may agree to waive cancellation fees at its discretion. Cancellation fees will be withheld from any deposit (or prepayment) made by the Customer and any balance returned to the Customer via the same payment method employed by the Customer.

8.4 All goods received by the Contractor are subject to a general lien for all moneys owing to the Contractor hereunder and such lien will continue notwithstanding that any portion of such goods has been delivered to the Customer or dealt with by the Contractor pursuant to its lien. In the event of the Contractor exercising its lien against any goods the liability of the Customer in respect of storage of such goods shall continue until the same are delivered. If any amount payable hereunder by the Customer shall be outstanding for a period of 26 weeks after the same shall become due the Contractor may in respect of all or such or part of the goods in respect of which such charges have accrued give notice to the Customer of its intention to sell such goods. If the amount due is not paid within 1 month after the giving of such notice the Contractor may sell the goods or any part thereof (and if necessary break open any container or package) by public auction or by private treaty and may apply the proceeds of sale firstly towards payment of the expenses of such sale and secondly towards payment of any amount owing to the Contractor and shall pay any balance remaining to the Customer or as required by law. The Contractor will not become liable in any way for or in respect of any act or omission of any auctioneer engaged by it.

8.5 Where the work initially requested by the Customer to be undertaken varies from the work for which the Quotation is given (for instance, as to the nature or quantity of goods to be carried, whether any goods are required to be detached, dismantled, secured, assembled or installed, the nature or location of the premises from or to which the goods are to be carried, the facilities available for the packing, where applicable, or loading or unloading, or the times or dates upon which the goods are to be carried), the Contractor shall be entitled to make a reasonable additional charge for that, but otherwise these conditions and the Quotation shall continue to apply to the work. The Contractor shall also be entitled to recover from the Customer any amount which he is required to pay to a third party (other than a person to whom any part of the work to be performed hereunder is sub-contracted) to obtain or effect delivery of the goods.

9 Risk

9.1 If the Contractor shall be requested to deliver any goods for shipment or dispatch by road, rail, sea or any air service the responsibility of the Contractor under this contract shall cease when the goods are delivered to the person or organisation operating such road, rail, sea or air service or to any place specified by such person or organisation for the receipt of goods.

10 Liability for Loss and Damage

10.1 The Contractor shall not be liable for any loss or damage caused by or arising out of any fire (howsoever caused or any measures for the extinguishment or confinement of any fire).

10.2 The Contractor shall not be liable for any loss, failure to produce or damage caused by any strike, labour trouble, act of God, flood, storm, tempest or explosion, rot, rust, burglary or the breaking of any building, any railway, road, marine or air accident or delay, mechanical breakdown, act of third parties or causes beyond the control of the Contractor nor for anything arising as a consequence thereof.

10.3 The Contractor shall not be liable for loss of, failure to produce, or damage whatsoever caused to:-

• Any article contained in any piece of furniture, package, bundle, case or container not both packed and unpacked by the Contractor or its employees;
• Any plates, jewellery, money, trinket, picture or other article of special value unless contained in a sealed packet unless notice of the contents of such packet has been given in writing to the Contractor before the same is received by it;
• Any goods removed from or to any premises in which there are at the time of removal workmen other than employees of the Contractor or the Customer;
• Any mechanical, electrical or electronic instrument (including internal workings), device or appliance or any other article which is brittle in nature or apparently defective or in such condition that it cannot be removed without risk or damage or any article of a perishable nature including any leather or hide covering or imitation thereof;
• Any RTA (ready to assemble) furniture that is not disassembled by the owner prior to transportation;Any items chosen to be transported by the client in plastic containers, including plastic containers used in the transportation.

10.4 The liability (if any) of the Contractor for any loss, failure to produce or damage howsoever caused shall be limited to $20.00 in respect of any one complete case, bundle, package, or container or in respect of any single item not otherwise referred to herein (including any piece of furniture) and its contents or in respect of any one pair, set, suite or service (including plated goods and other valuables) or any other articles not being in such a case, bundle, package or container but such liability shall not in any event exceed the cost of repair or replacement. The Contractor shall be entitled, instead of paying, to repair or replace any item. The total liability (if any) of the Contractor shall not exceed the total of $200.00 in respect of all goods removed or stored pursuant to this Contract.

10.5 Any claim for loss or damage to goods or property must be made in writing to the Contractor within 2 working days after the date of delivery or the date upon which such goods would ordinarily have been delivered. In the event that any claim is not made within such period, liability (if any) of the Contractor hereunder shall thereupon cease.

11 Damage and Liability: Private Carriage

11.1 Notwithstanding any condition herein purporting to limit or exclude the liability of the Contractor, where the Contract involves the transportation of goods otherwise than for the purpose of a business, trade, profession or occupation carried on or engaged in by the person to whom the goods are transported, the Contract shall be subject to the warranty or warranties implied by the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and, in particular, the warranties by the Contractor that such transportation will be rendered with due care and skill and the following conditions of this clause 11 shall apply.

11.2 Neither party shall be liable to the other for any loss or damage (direct or consequential) occasioned to the other from any cause beyond the control of the Contractor or the Customer, as the case may be, including delays in transit (unless resulting from want of due care and skill or breach of this Contract by the other), industrial disputes, acts of God, weather difficulties or acts of third parties.

11.3 Any damage caused to goods by reason of defect or inadequate packing or unpacking and if such packing or unpacking is or was undertaken by a person other than the Contractor, its servants, agents or sub-contractors, the Customer shall not be entitled to recover for such damage from the Contractor.

11.4 Any claim for loss of or damage to goods under this clause 11 shall be notified by the Customer in writing (or by telephone and later confirmed in writing) to the Contractor within a reasonable time after the date of delivery or, in the case of loss, the date upon which the goods would ordinarily have been delivered. The Contractor will have the best chance of locating any misplaced item or ascertaining the cause of damage if notified within 2 working days of the date on which the goods would have been or were delivered.

11.5 Once notice of a claim has been given to the Contractor by the Customer within the stipulated time period, the Contractor will promptly investigate the Customer’s complaint and provide a response as soon as practicable. The Customer, upon receiving a response from the Contractor will provide any requested documentation to quantify or justify the claim as required by the Contractor within seven (7) days from the date the Contractor’s response is given to the Customer. If any requested documentation is not provided or returned to the Contractor within the stipulated timeframe then the Customer’s claim will lapse.

11.6 At any time for loss or damage to goods under this clause 11, the estimate of the maximum value of the goods set out in the Quotation shall be prima facie evidence that the total value of the goods did not exceed that value at the time of such loss or damage.

11.7 In the event of litigation arising between the Contractor and the Customer, the jurisdiction in which such proceedings shall be commenced, heard and determined shall be in the jurisdiction of the registered office of the Contractor at the time of entering into the contract.

12 Valuation of Goods

12.1 Where it is necessary to value any goods, the following principles shall be applied and used for determining the current market value of those goods unless there is clear evidence to the contrary:

(i) Items less than 5 years old shall be depreciated from their purchase price (or if this cannot be ascertained, a reasonable estimate of the purchase price) to account for the reduction in their value for age, condition, wear & tear, on the basis of the diminishing value method from the date of purchase or acquisition at the rate of 20% per annum e.g. item is purchased 4 years ago for $1000. Depreciated value at 20% is $1000 x 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 x 0.8 = $409.

(ii) Items over 5 years old shall be valued at 25% of the current market value of a new item of similar type and function at the same time of the commencement of this Contract.

12.2 Valuations obtained in accordance with clause 12.1 shall be subject to the following maximum values:

(i) The value of the contents of individual cartons, bags, packages or containers of any type with a value of over $250 are deemed to be limited to a maximum of $250 unless the client notifies the company in writing of a higher value prior to pick up.

(ii) The value of all other items shall be deemed to be limited to a maximum of $1500 per item unless the client notifies the company in writing of an alternate value prior to pick up.

12.3 Nothing in this clause shall operate in any way to extend the liability of the Contractor or to vary clauses 9, 10 or 11.

12.4 Dispute Resolution: Where for the purposes of this agreement a party disagrees with any valuation of goods that has been carried out in accordance with clause 12, that party may within 28 days supply any clear evidence of an alternate valuation and the matter shall then be re-assessed by a Director or Manager of the Contractor within a further 28 day period.

13 Transit Protection Options

13.1 Where prior to the commencement of any contract for the carriage of goods, the Customer agrees to make an additional payment in accordance with one or more of the Transit Protection (hereafter “TP”) options offered by the Contractor, the Contractor agrees to accept an increased level of responsibility for damage, loss or destruction of the goods, in the event of some or all of the occurrences listed in clause 10.

13.2 The effect on this Contract of the Customer selecting a Transit Protection option will depend upon the option selected, as follows:

(i) For fire, overturning or collision Transit Protection, sub-clause 10.1 shall not apply to this agreement.

(ii) For fire, overturning, collision and theft Transit Protection, subclauses 10.1 & 10.2 shall not apply to this agreement.

(iii) For all-risk Transit Protection, sub-clauses 10.1, 10.2 & 10.3 shall not apply to this agreement.

13.3 In the event of a claim or potential claim:

(i) The Customer agrees to notify the Contractor in writing of any claims or potential claims within 7 days of the receipt of the goods, or if a delivery is not made due to loss or total destruction of the goods, within 7 days of the Customer becoming aware of the event that caused the damage, loss or destruction of the goods.

(ii) In the event of loss or damage or destruction, the Contractor will pay to the Customer the reasonable costs of repair or restoration or an amount based on replacement cost less an allowance for age, condition, wear & tear. The Contractor will not pay on the basis of “new for old”. The Contractor may at its discretion choose to arrange for the repair of any damaged items at a repairer of its choice.

13.4 Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the following LIMITATIONS are applicable to Transit Protection Options:

(i) Any liability resulting from the acceptance of an increased level of responsibility relating to antiques, jewellery, collections, documents, works of art and the contents of individual cartons is limited to:

 – $250.00 for any item if no value nominated in writing prior to pick up; or

– $4,000.00 if a value for an item is nominated in writing prior to pick up as exceeding $250.00.

(ii) The first $200 of any claim shall be payable by the Customer and the maximum amount claimable where not otherwise limited by the terms of this agreement shall be $100,000 per conveyance or occurrence.

(iii) Any increased responsibility accepted for pairs or sets of items is limited to the repair or replacement of the lost or damaged part without reference to any special value that such item may have as part of such pair or set.

(iv) The increased level of responsibility does not extend to plants, animals, accidental damage to the contents of self-packed cartons or any self-packed items nor to electrical or internal derangement or failure of electrical or electronic goods, instruments or machinery. The increased level of responsibility does not extend to items not prepared for removal as advised in clause 10.3.

(v) The increased level of responsibility does not extend to loss or damage due to the nature, characteristics or inherent vice of any item making it susceptible to damage as a result of normal transit handling, road trauma or atmospheric conditions.

(vi) Where the amount paid to the Contractor for accepting an increased level of responsibility is based on a consignment valuation that is less than the full value of the total consignment, then any compensation for damage, loss or destruction will be made only in the same reduced proportion.

(vii) The Contractor does not accept an increased level of responsibility whilst goods are in storage, other than storage required as part of the normal transit process.

13.5 Except as provided in this clause, nothing in this clause shall operate in any way to extend the liability of the Contractor.

13.6 Fraud or attempted fraud shall void our acceptance of an increased level of responsibility and all attendant legal or other consequences.