General Terms and Conditions

1. Performance and additional services

A-Trans fulfils its obligations with the customary care of a meticulous Household Goods Forwarding Agent against payment of a consideration. These obligations result from the written contract regarding the respective interests of the contracting parties, viz. the Forwarding Agent and the owner of the goods or his agent. No liability can be accepted for any disagreements or misunderstandings arising from word-of-mouth arrangements.

In particular, any unforeseen or unforeseeable expenditure arising after the signing of the contract, as well as any additional services required by the owner of the goods or his agent, will be charged to the owner in addition to the sum agreed in the contract.

The agents of A-Trans are neither empowered nor permitted to effect any work at all on any electrical or gas or plumbing or dowelled installations.

2. Sub-contracting

A-Trans reserves the right to delegate the fulfilment of its contractual obligations to third parties. In this case, A-Trans is liable for the conscientious selection of sub-contractors and for the orderly completion of the removal.

A-Trans reserves the right to transport the goods as joint consignments.

In the case of work carried out by additional craftsmen co-opted by A-Trans, liability is limited to the care taken in selecting them.

3. Terms of payment

The sum agreed on in the contract is payable before loading or lading begins, either in cash or in equivalent means of payment.

Expenses in foreign currency are payable at the rate of exchange specified in the contract.

Should the contracting party fail to fulfil his or her financial obligations towards A-Trans, A-Trans reserves the right to refuse to transport the goods or to put them into storage. The customer is liable for all costs arising from the storage of the goods. The stipulations of § 419 HGB – German Trade Law – relating to the seizure and collective storage of goods are applicable here.

4. Offsetting of claims (solatium)

The setting-off of contractually agreed monies due to A-Trans against counter-claims by the customer or his agents is permissible only if and when the counter-claims are uncontested or have been determined as final by a court of law.

Gratuities paid to removal men or any others involved in the removal may not be offset against any A-Trans invoice.

5. Security, checking, liability and insurance

A-Trans is not obliged to ensure that, in the course of a removal of goods, objects are taken or left by error.

A-Trans cannot be held responsible for the correct packing for transport of electronic equipment or control elements or electronic data processing units.

A-Trans and its sub-contractors are liable for damages caused during loading, lading and packing in accordance with the stipulations relating to third-party insurance. According to § 415g of German Trading Law (HGB), liability is limited to € 620.00 per m³.

6. Rescission of the contract

Should the contracting party or his agents withdraw from the contract with A-Trans subsequent to concluding it, he or they will be held liable for all expenses arising from the default. According to § 346 of the German Code of Civil Law (BGB) compensation is due in accordance with the value of the goods, inasmuch as their return or repossession are not possible due to their nature. The basis for the calculation of compensation is the remuneration agreed on in the contract.

7. Storage

The storage of removal goods is determined by a separate written codicil annexed to the contract. Its provisions are available on request.

8. Legal provisions and place of fulfilment

German Law is valid for all services and arrangements relating to the removal of household goods.

Legal disputes with natural persons relating to or arising from the removal service are to be heard before a Court of Law at the place at which the branch of A-Trans contracted to carry out the removal has its seat.

The branches of A-Trans in Frankfurt and Berlin are independent legal entities, each of them acting in sole responsibility for its actions and transactions. Their liability is mutually exclusive.

The sole competence of German Courts of Law to hear disputes between the contracting parties is accepted and agreed by the contracting parties, even if one of the parties is resident in a country other than the Federal Republic of Germany and/or has his or her permanent place of residence outside the Federal Republic of Germany and/or if his or her place of residence is not known at the point in time when any legal suit is brought before a German Court of Law.

The German text of these General Terms and Conditions is exclusively valid: the English translation merely serves as a guideline.

Version Date: February 4th, 2007