The customer's right to cancel a removal in Ireland
A removal agreed online, by email or over the phone is a distance contract. Irish law gives consumers a right to cancel most distance contracts — and takes out a removal booked for a date.
The general rule: 14 days
The Consumer Rights Act 2022 gives a consumer who makes a distance or off-premises service contract the right to cancel it without giving a reason (section 112). The cancellation period is 14 days (section 113).
If the trader does not give the consumer the required information about that right, the period is extended by up to twelve months (section 114). Saying nothing is therefore not the safe option.
The 2022 Act replaced the European Union (Consumer Information, Cancellation and Other Rights) Regulations 2013 (S.I. No. 484 of 2013), which it revoked from 29 November 2022. The 2013 Regulations still govern contracts made before that date.
The exemption: transport of goods on a specific date
Section 111(q) takes out of the cancellation rules a contract for the transport of goods where the contract provides for a specific date or period of performance. A removal booked for a date is that kind of contract, so the 14-day right does not apply to it.
A quote with no date yet is not a contract for a specific date. Until a date is agreed, the general rule is the careful reading.
A firm may still offer its own cancellation policy. If it does, the customer should be told plainly that the policy is the firm's own and not a legal right.
How Cerrax handles it
When a customer accepts a quote, the acceptance page states the position that applies: the 14-day right where there is no fixed date, or — for a move booked for a date — that the right does not apply, naming section 111(q). A firm can switch on its own goodwill cancellation window; it is off by default, and the page then calls it the firm's policy. The customer's yes records which of the three they were shown.
Sources
- Consumer Rights Act 2022 (irishstatutebook.ie)
- Competition and Consumer Protection Commission — consumer rights
Facts checked against their sources on 27 September 2026.
General information, not legal or tax advice. The law and the rates change; check the source, and ask your solicitor or accountant about your own business.