Moving Deposits: What Is Normal, and What Is a Warning Sign
There is no federal rule setting how much an interstate mover can ask as a deposit. What federal regulators do say is that a demand for cash or a large deposit before the move is one of the clearest warning signs of a rogue mover. A modest booking deposit, paid by card, to a company you have verified, is normal. Most of the bill paid up front to a company you found yesterday is not.
What a normal deposit looks like
Practice varies. Some established van lines take no deposit at all and collect at delivery. Others take a booking deposit to hold a date, especially in summer. A reasonable deposit is small relative to the move, is paid by a traceable method, comes with a written cancellation and refund policy, and is credited against your final bill.
Our price ranges exclude deposits for exactly this reason: a large up-front payment is a warning sign, not a normal line item. See our method page.
The warning signs
- Cash only, or payment by wire transfer, payment app, gift card or cryptocurrency. All are hard or impossible to recover.
- A deposit that is a large share of the total, particularly before anyone has surveyed your belongings.
- Pressure to pay today to “lock in” a price or date.
- No written refund policy, or a refund policy that only appears after you pay.
- A deposit to a broker before you know which carrier will move you. Our guide to movers and brokers explains why that is risky.
Brokers and deposits
Household goods brokers must disclose their cancellation, deposit and refund policies prominently on their website and in their agreement with you, and must keep records of refunds. Read that policy before you pay. Many disputes come from customers who cancelled after the carrier changed the price and then discovered the broker’s deposit was non-refundable.
Pay in a way you can reverse
A credit card gives you the strongest position. Under federal billing rules you can dispute a charge for services not delivered as agreed, usually within 60 days of the statement on which it appears. Debit cards offer weaker protection, and cash, wires and payment apps offer almost none. Keep the receipt, the estimate and the written refund policy together.
Before you pay any deposit
- Look up the company’s USDOT number and confirm it has active authority and insurance on file.
- Confirm it is the carrier that will move you, or get the carrier’s name if it is a broker.
- Make sure the estimate is in writing and based on a survey of your belongings.
- Get the deposit amount, what it is credited against and the refund terms in writing.
Check a mover against the federal record
Every legitimate interstate moving company holds a USDOT number. Enter it below to read the public FMCSA Company Snapshot for that carrier: operating status, safety rating, fleet size and recorded crashes. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere else.
A mover that will not give you a USDOT number in writing is the answer to your question.
Source: FMCSA Company Snapshot, the public record maintained by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Read the official record at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. MoverChecked is not affiliated with FMCSA and does not rate or recommend any company.
Then work through the rest of the six verification checks. If something feels wrong, our page on moving scams covers the pattern and your rights.
Sources: FMCSA Protect Your Move red flags; 49 CFR 371.117 (broker deposit and refund disclosure); Fair Credit Billing Act. This page is general information, not legal or financial advice. Last reviewed October 2026.