When choosing a moving company it’s so important to do your research. Researching a moving company may seem tedious but it can save you stress, time, and money in the long run. The Moving Site has put together a guide for how to check if a moving company is legitimate.
Check If The Moving Company Is Properly Licensed and Insured
The first thing you may want to check is the status of the company’s federal, and state, registration. You can verify this by getting their DOT or MC registration numbers. Look for the numbers on the company’s website, or you may need to contact the moving company directly to get them.
Interstate Moving Companies (Provide Services Across State Lines)
- USDOT#: Interstate moving companies are required to be registered with the Department of Transportation and have a valid USDOT#. This shows that a moving company complies with federal regulations regarding interstate transportation.
- MC/MX/FF#: Interstate moving companies also need to have an operating authority number issued by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). This number is represented by MC, MX, or FF number, with MC being the most common. Operating Authority dictates the type of operation a company may run and the cargo it may carry.
Intrastate Moving Companies (Provide Services Only in Their State)
- State Registration: Intrastate moving companies need to be registered with their state as a household goods carrier, although some states do not require it.
- USDOT#: Some states also require intrastate moving companies to register with the Department of Transportation. States that do not require intrastate moving companies to have a USDOT include Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont.
Moving Labor Companies
- State Licensing: Moving labor companies do not transport the goods, they only provide help with the labor portion. Moving labor companies are not required to register with the DOT, however they should still be properly licensed to operate a business in their state.
- Check the Secretary of State Business Entity Search by name.
- Insurance: Request a copy of the company’s certificate of insurance (COI). Request this early because it can take some time.
Check The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Mover Database
Visit The FMCSA website below and search their mover database with the numbers you gathered.
1. Type the DOT# into the search and click on the moving company’s name. There you will see contact details, safety rating, and fleet size.
2. Under “Licensing and Insurance” click on “Here”, confirm you are not a robot and click “Search”.
3. Then under “View Details” click on “HTML”. Here you can view their authority status (broker, contract, or common), insurance requirements and if the company meets those requirements.
The information you can review about each company includes:
- The location of the moving company’s headquarters and contact information
- Does it match the information that they gave you on your estimate?
- Registration status
- Registration status should be “ACTIVE”
- Type of moving business (e.g., carrier, broker, freight forwarder, etc.)
- Should match up with the type of business that the company advertised it is.
- Insurance Information
- Does the insurance that the company is carrying meet or exceed the DOT’s minimum requirements?
- Complaints filed
- Are there serious complaints filed against them? Are there many complaints?
- Safety ratings
- Should be “Satisfactory” if the company has been reviewed. If a company’s safety rating has not been reviewed it will say, “not rated”, which is not to be perceived as negative.
- Fleet Size
- Does the company operate enough vessels to be a fully functional moving company?
Check The Secretary of State Business Entity Search in Your State
The Secretary of State (SOS) records will have information on all registered businesses in their particular state. Verify that the information the moving company gave you matches the information on the SOS site, and that their license status is active. Use the form below to lookup the SOS site in your state.
Secretary Of State Website Lookup
Do Some Online Research
Every established moving company may have a negative review here and there, but if a company has an outright bad reputation you’ll see it online. Below are some of our favorite places to start to check if a moving company is legitimate.
- Better Business Bureau (BBB)- The BBB’s mission is to set standards for business marketplace trust by encouraging best practices, celebrating marketplace role models, addressing substandard marketplace behavior, and creating a community of trustworthy businesses.
- Yelp– Yelp is an online review site where people can review and share information about businesses. It’s the second most popular online review site in the US, with over 2.7 million daily visitors. They also have a review filter that filters out fake reviews.
- MovingScam.com– Movingscam.com is an online review website dedicated to helping people avoid rogue moving companies and advocating for you, the customer.
Even with the proper licensing, insurance, and a positive online reputation it’s still possible to have a bad moving experience, but you can minimize the chances of that with the proper research and verification. Always check if a moving company is legitimate before you sign any paperwork.
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