Terms and Conditions
General terms and conditions of Alpina Umzüge & Transport GmbH for removal services.
General conditions
1. Use of another carrier
The remover may engage another carrier to perform the services.
2. Additional services
The remover performs its obligations in the interest of the consignor, with the customary care of a diligent remover, in return for payment of the agreed fee. Special services and expenses that could not be foreseen when the contract was concluded are to be paid in addition. The same applies if the consignor extends the scope of services after the contract has been concluded.
3. Groupage transport
The move may also be carried out as a groupage (shared) transport.
4. Tips
Tips cannot be offset against the remover’s invoice.
5. Reimbursement of removal costs
Where the consignor is entitled to reimbursement of removal costs from a public authority or an employer, the consignor shall instruct that body, upon corresponding request, to pay the agreed and due removal cost reimbursement, less any deposits or instalments already paid, directly to the remover.
6. Securing items for transport
The consignor is obliged to have moving or electronic parts of highly sensitive appliances – such as washing machines, record players, television, radio and hi-fi equipment, and computer systems – professionally secured for transport. The remover is not obliged to check that they have been properly secured.
7. Electrical and installation work
Unless otherwise agreed, the remover’s staff are not authorised to carry out electrical, gas, wall-plugging (drilling and fixing) or other installation work.
8. Arranging tradespeople
Where the services of additional tradespeople are arranged, the remover is liable only for selecting them with due care.
9. Assignment
At the request of the persons entitled to compensation, the remover is obliged to assign to them the rights to which it is entitled under the insurance contract it is to conclude.
10. Misunderstandings
The remover is not responsible for the risk of misunderstanding of order confirmations, instructions and communications from the consignor that are not in writing, or of those given to persons employed by the remover who are not authorised to accept them.
11. Checks by the consignor
When the removal goods are collected, the consignor is obliged to check that no item or fixture is taken by mistake or left behind.
12. Due date of the agreed fee
For domestic transports, the invoice amount is due before unloading is completed; for international transports, before loading begins. It is to be paid in cash or by equivalent means of payment. Cash outlays in foreign currency are to be paid at the exchange rate charged. If the consignor fails to meet its payment obligation, the remover is entitled to withhold the removal goods or, once carriage has begun, to place them in storage at the consignor’s expense. § 419 HGB (German Commercial Code) applies accordingly.
13. Termination of or withdrawal from the contract
In the event of termination of or withdrawal from the contract, the relevant provisions of §§ 415, 346 et seq. HGB apply.
14. Storage contract
In the case of storage, the General Storage Conditions of the German Furniture Transport Association (Allgemeine Lagerbedingungen des Deutschen Möbeltransports, ALB) apply. These will be provided at the consignor’s request.
15. Place of jurisdiction
For legal disputes with fully qualified merchants (Vollkaufleute) arising from this contract, and for claims on other legal grounds connected with the transport order, the court in whose district the branch of the remover instructed by the consignor is located has exclusive jurisdiction. For legal disputes with parties other than fully qualified merchants, this exclusive jurisdiction applies only if, after the contract has been concluded, the consignor moves its domicile or habitual residence abroad, or if its domicile or habitual residence is not known at the time the action is brought.
16. Choice of law
German law applies.
Liability information of the remover pursuant to § 451g HGB
17. Scope
The carrier (hereinafter referred to as the remover) is liable under the removal contract and the German Commercial Code (HGB). The same principles of liability apply to the carriage of removal goods to and from places outside Germany. This also applies where different means of transport are used.
18. Principles of liability
The remover is liable for damage caused by loss of or damage to the removal goods in the period from their acceptance for carriage until delivery, or by exceeding the delivery deadline (custodial liability).
19. Maximum liability
The remover’s liability for loss or damage is limited to an amount of EUR 620.00 per cubic metre of loading space required to perform the contract. For exceeding the delivery deadline, the remover’s liability is limited to three times the freight charge. If the remover is liable for breach of a contractual obligation connected with the performance of the move for damage that is not caused by loss of or damage to the removal goods or by exceeding the delivery deadline, and the damage is other than damage to property or personal injury, liability in this case is limited to three times the amount that would be payable if the goods were lost.
20. Compensation for value
If the remover has to pay compensation for loss, the value at the place and time of acceptance for carriage is to be compensated. In the event of damage to the goods, the difference between the value of the undamaged goods and the value of the damaged goods is to be compensated. The place and time of acceptance for carriage are decisive. The value of the removal goods is generally determined by the market price. In addition, the costs of assessing the damage are to be reimbursed.
21. Exclusion of liability
The remover is released from liability insofar as the loss, damage or delay in delivery is due to circumstances that the remover could not have avoided even with the greatest care and whose consequences it could not have averted (unavoidable event).
22. Special grounds for exclusion of liability
The remover is released from liability insofar as the loss or damage is attributable to one of the following risks:
- carriage of precious metals, jewellery, precious stones, money, stamps, coins, securities or documents;
- inadequate packaging or labelling by the consignor;
- handling, loading or unloading of the removal goods by the consignor;
- carriage of goods in containers that were not packed by the remover;
- loading or unloading of removal goods whose size or weight does not suit the space available at the loading or unloading point, provided the remover has warned the consignor of the risk of damage in advance and the consignor has insisted on the service being performed;
- carriage of live animals or plants;
- the natural or defective condition of the removal goods, as a result of which they are particularly susceptible to damage, in particular through breakage, malfunction, rust, internal decay or leakage.
If damage has occurred which, in the circumstances of the case, could have resulted from one of the risks listed above, it is presumed that the damage resulted from that risk.
23. Non-contractual claims
The exclusions and limitations of liability also apply to a non-contractual claim by the consignor or the consignee against the remover for loss of or damage to the removal goods, or for exceeding the delivery deadline.
24. Lapse of the exclusions and limitations of liability
The exclusions and limitations of liability do not apply if the damage is attributable to an act or omission committed by the remover intentionally, or recklessly and with the knowledge that damage would probably result.
25. Liability of staff
If claims for damages based on non-contractual liability for loss of or damage to the removal goods, or for exceeding the delivery deadline, are made against one of the remover’s staff, that person may also invoke the exclusions and limitations of liability. This does not apply if that person acted intentionally, or recklessly and with the knowledge that damage would probably result.
26. Performing remover
If the move is carried out in whole or in part by a third party (performing remover), that party is liable in the same way as the remover for damage caused by loss of or damage to the goods, or by exceeding the delivery deadline, during the carriage it performs. The performing remover may raise all objections available to the remover under the contract of carriage. The remover and the performing remover are jointly and severally liable. If claims are made against staff of the performing remover, the provisions on the liability of staff apply to them.
27. Liability agreement
The remover draws the consignor’s attention to the possibility of agreeing with it, against payment of a corresponding fee, on liability exceeding that provided for by law.
28. Transport insurance
The remover draws the consignor’s attention to the possibility of insuring the goods against payment of a separate premium.
29. Notification of damage
To prevent claims for compensation from lapsing, please note the following:
The consignor is obliged to inspect the goods on delivery for externally visible damage or loss. This should be recorded – in specific terms – on the delivery receipt or in a damage report. It must be notified to the remover no later than the day after delivery.
Damage or loss that is not externally visible must be notified to the remover, in specific terms, within 14 days of delivery.
General, non-specific notifications of damage are never sufficient.
Claims for exceeding the delivery deadline lapse if the consignee does not notify the remover of the delay within 21 days of delivery.
If notification is made after delivery, it must – to prevent the loss of the claim – be made in text form (e.g. by letter, fax or email) and within the prescribed deadlines. In addition, the sender of the damage notification must be named, and the end of the declaration must be indicated by reproducing the signature or in some other recognisable way.
Sending the notification in good time is sufficient to meet the deadlines.
30. Dangerous removal goods
If the removal goods include dangerous goods (e.g. petrol or oils), the consignor is obliged to inform the remover in good time, in text form, of the nature of the danger posed by the goods (e.g. flammability, corrosive liquid, explosive substances, etc.).
