Terms and Conditions

These terms

These terms govern your use of this website, any enquiry or booking you make through it, and the freight services we provide. Freight services themselves are supplied subject to our trading conditions, which are provided with every quotation and prevail over anything on this website if the two conflict.

First Base Freight Ltd is registered in England with its principal place of business at 4 Four Acre Drive, Bedford MK45 3GT.

We may change these terms. The version that applies to a shipment is the one published when you booked it, and the date this page was last updated is shown above.

Standard trading conditions

We contract as a freight forwarder under the British International Freight Association (BIFA) Standard Trading Conditions, current edition. Those conditions limit our liability and include time bars for bringing claims.

A copy is supplied with each quotation and is available on request before you book. Please read them — in particular the clauses covering liability limits, the duty to declare the nature and value of goods, and the time limits for notifying loss or damage.

Quotations and rates

Rates shown on this website, including the indicative country base rates published on country pages, are estimates for guidance only. They are not offers capable of acceptance and do not form a contract.

Freight rates move with carrier pricing, fuel costs, currency and available space. A binding rate is the one stated in a written quotation issued by us, valid for the period stated in that quotation and subject to space and equipment being available when you book.

Quotations assume cargo is as described. If the actual weight, volume, dimensions or nature of the goods differs from what you declared, the rate will be recalculated.

Bookings

Submitting the booking form is an instruction to us, not a confirmed booking. It is an offer which we may accept or decline.

A booking exists once we confirm it to you in writing, naming the vessel or flight, the cut-off and the charges that apply. Until then no space has been reserved with a carrier on your behalf, however complete your instruction was.

We may decline a booking — for example where the cargo is restricted, where the declared value or description cannot be reconciled with the goods, where space is unavailable for your cargo-ready date, or where sums are outstanding on a previous shipment.

The details you give on the booking form are used to raise transport documents. A bill of lading drawn up from an inaccurate shipper or consignee name is corrected at your cost, and in some jurisdictions cannot be corrected once filed.

Changes and cancellation

Tell us as early as possible if a shipment changes or is no longer going. An amendment before documents are filed and before the carrier cut-off usually costs nothing.

After that point, charges already incurred on your behalf remain payable. Depending on how far the shipment has progressed those can include documentation and amendment fees charged by the carrier, haulage despatched to collect, terminal handling, and — where a container has already been loaded or shipped — cancellation or deadfreight charged by the line.

We do not levy a cancellation fee of our own on a booking cancelled before it is confirmed.

Your obligations

When you instruct us, you confirm that:

• You are authorised to contract on behalf of the owner of the goods.
• The description, weight, volume and value you provide are accurate and complete.
• The goods are not dangerous, prohibited or restricted unless you have declared this in writing and we have accepted it in writing.
• The goods are packed and labelled adequately for the journey and the handling it involves.
• You will provide all documentation needed for export and import clearance, accurately and on time.

Insurance

Carrier liability is limited by international convention and by our trading conditions, and is generally far less than the value of your goods. It is not insurance.

We can arrange marine cargo insurance on your behalf if you ask us to in writing before the shipment moves. Ticking the insurance box on the booking form is such a request; cover begins only once we confirm it, and the premium is quoted to you first.

Unless you arrange cover, your goods travel protected only by those limited liability amounts.

Payment

Unless we have agreed credit terms in writing, charges are payable before cargo is released. We may exercise a lien over goods and documents in our possession for sums owed to us.

Charges arising after booking — including demurrage, detention, storage, customs inspection and duty — are payable by you as they are incurred, whether or not they were foreseeable at the time of quotation.

Customs duty and taxes in the destination country are payable there, by the importer of record, and are not included in a freight quotation from us.

Website use

You may use this website for your own business purposes. You may not copy, scrape or republish its content commercially, attempt to gain unauthorised access to it, or use it in a way that interferes with anyone else's use.

Content on this website is provided for general information. Our guides are not legal, customs or tax advice, and you should take professional advice on your specific circumstances before acting on them.

Liability

Our liability for freight services is governed by the BIFA Standard Trading Conditions referred to above.

As to this website, we do not exclude liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud. Otherwise, and to the extent the law allows, we are not liable for loss of profit, loss of business or any indirect loss arising from your use of the site or from reliance on indicative rates published on it.

Your information

What we do with the details you submit through a quotation or booking form — including the shipper and consignee details you provide about third parties — is set out in our Privacy Policy, linked in the footer of every page.

In short: we use them to arrange and document your shipment, we share them with the carriers, agents and customs authorities that the shipment requires, and we do not sell them.

Governing law

These terms and any dispute arising from them are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.