How to Verify a Moving Company Is Legit

You found a moving company. Maybe they had good reviews. Maybe the price looked right. But before you hand over your house keys and life's belongings to strangers, you need to verify they're actually legit. Every year, thousands of people get ripped off by unregistered movers, hostage-load scams, and companies that vanish after cashing your deposit. The good news? It takes about 10 minutes to check if a mover is the real deal. Here's exactly how.

Why Verification Matters (And Why Reviews Aren't Enough)

Let's be real: most people pick a moving company based on Google reviews and the quote they got. And most of the time, that works out fine. But when it doesn't work out, it goes really, really wrong.

The FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) logs thousands of complaints against moving companies every year. The most common problems? Hostage loads, where a mover holds your stuff until you pay way more than the estimate. Damaged or missing belongings. Companies that take a deposit and ghost. And outright fraud from carriers operating without a license.

Online reviews are useful, but they have limits. Moving companies are one of the most review-manipulated industries around. Some companies buy fake 5-star reviews. Others create shell companies after racking up bad reviews under a different name. A company with a 4.8 rating on Google could still have an expired license, no insurance, and a trail of FMCSA complaints.

Verification means checking the actual federal records. It means looking at the data the company can't fake: their DOT number, operating authority, insurance filings, complaint count, and safety inspection history. This is the stuff that tells you whether a mover is legally allowed to operate, financially protected if something goes wrong, and safe enough to trust with your stuff.

Think of it this way: you wouldn't buy a used car without checking the VIN. Don't hire a moving company without checking the DOT number.

Step 1: Check Their DOT Number

Every moving company that operates across state lines is required by federal law to have a USDOT number. This is their unique identifier with the FMCSA, basically a federal license plate for the moving industry. It's the single most important thing to verify.

Start by asking the moving company for their USDOT number. Any legitimate mover will give it to you immediately. It should also be printed on their trucks and listed on their website. If they can't provide it, that's an instant disqualifier.

Once you have the number, look it up. You can search it directly on the FMCSA's SAFER system at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov, or you can use MoverCheck's free lookup tool which pulls the same data and makes it way easier to read.

Here's what to look for:

• Entity Type: Should say "CARRIER" (not just "Broker" — more on that later).
• Operating Status: Must say "AUTHORIZED FOR HHG" (household goods). If it says "NOT AUTHORIZED" or "OUT OF SERVICE," stop right there.
• Legal Name vs DBA: Make sure the company you're talking to matches the name on file. Scammers sometimes use a legit company's DOT number without being that company.
• Physical Address: Does the address look like a real business location? A P.O. box or residential address isn't necessarily a red flag for small movers, but it's worth noting.

One thing people miss: check that the DOT number status is active. Companies can have a DOT number that's been revoked or is inactive. An inactive DOT number means the company is not currently authorized to operate. If you see that, do not hire them.

Step 2: Verify Operating Authority (MC Number)

The DOT number tells you the company is registered. The MC (Motor Carrier) number tells you they're actually authorized to transport household goods for hire. These are two different things, and a mover needs both.

When you look up a carrier on FMCSA, you'll see their operating authority status. There are a few types:

• Common Authority: Authorized to haul household goods for the public. This is what you want to see.
• Contract Authority: Authorized to move goods under contract. Also valid for movers.
• Broker Authority: Licensed to arrange moves but not to actually carry your stuff. If the company only has broker authority, they'll subcontract your move to another carrier. That's not necessarily bad, but you should know about it. (Read more in our broker vs. carrier guide.)

The key thing: the operating authority status must say "AUTHORIZED". Not "Pending," not "Revoked," not "Inactive." Authorized. Anything else means they can't legally move your stuff across state lines.

Watch out for new authorities too. If a company just got their MC number in the last few months, they might be a brand-new operation. That's not automatically a red flag, but combined with no reviews and a super-low quote, it could mean they're a fly-by-night operation. Check the application date on their authority record.

Also worth noting: local-only movers (within the same state) don't need an MC number. They're regulated by state agencies instead. If you're moving within one state, check your state's moving regulations for what licenses are required.

Step 3: Check Their Insurance Filings

Insurance is non-negotiable. The FMCSA requires all interstate movers to carry minimum levels of insurance, and those filings are public record. This is one of the most important verification steps because if something goes wrong — damaged furniture, a lost box, a truck accident — insurance is what protects you.

Here's what to look for:

• BMC-91 (Bodily Injury & Property Damage): General liability insurance. Interstate movers must carry at least $750,000 in coverage. You'll see this listed as "BIPD Insurance" on the carrier's FMCSA record. Make sure the status is "Active" with an "On File" designation.
• BMC-32 (Cargo Insurance): A $75,000 surety bond or trust fund agreement that ensures the carrier can pay cargo claims. This protects your belongings during transit. Must also show as active and on file.

If either of these filings is missing, expired, or shows as "None on File," that's a dealbreaker. It means the company is operating without the insurance they're legally required to carry. Your belongings would have zero federal protection if something happened during the move. For a deeper dive on what these insurance types actually cover, check our moving company insurance guide.

Some carriers will also have BMC-84 and BMC-85 filings, which are additional forms of financial responsibility. These are good to see but not always required for every type of carrier.

Pro tip: insurance filings can lapse and be reinstated. If you see a gap in the filing history, it could mean the company went through a period of operating without insurance. That's a yellow flag. A well-run operation keeps their filings current without interruption.

Step 4: Look Up Complaints

Federal complaint records are gold. Unlike online reviews, FMCSA complaints are filed through an official government process. They're harder to fake, harder to remove, and they give you a real picture of a carrier's track record.

The FMCSA's National Consumer Complaint Database (NCCDB) tracks every complaint filed against registered movers. These include:

• Pickup/delivery complaints: Late pickups, missed delivery windows, delays that stretched days into weeks.
• Estimate disputes: The final bill came in way higher than the estimate (this is the #1 complaint category).
• Loss and damage: Broken furniture, missing boxes, items that "disappeared" during transit.
• Hostage situations: Company refuses to deliver your stuff until you pay more than the agreed price.
• Deceptive practices: Fake estimates, hidden fees, misrepresenting their identity or authority.

When checking complaints, don't just look at the total number. Context matters. A company that's been operating for 20 years with 15 complaints has a very different track record than a 2-year-old company with 15 complaints. Look at complaints relative to the carrier's size and age.

Also pay attention to the types of complaints. A few complaints about delivery timing is normal in the moving industry (delays happen). But complaints about hostage loads, bait-and-switch pricing, or lost belongings are much more serious. That's the pattern you want to watch for.

On MoverCheck, we pull complaint data directly from the NCCDB and break it down by category so you can see exactly what people complained about, not just how many complaints there are.

Step 5: Review the Safety Rating

The FMCSA assigns safety ratings to carriers based on on-site audits called Compliance Reviews. There are three possible ratings:

• Satisfactory: The carrier meets FMCSA safety standards. This is what you want to see.
• Conditional: The carrier has safety deficiencies. They're still allowed to operate, but they have problems that need fixing. Treat this as a yellow flag.
• Unsatisfactory: The carrier has critical safety violations. An unsatisfactory rating can lead to an out-of-service order. Do not hire a carrier with this rating.

Here's the catch: not every carrier has a safety rating. The FMCSA can only audit so many companies, and smaller carriers may never have been reviewed. If you see "None" for the safety rating, it doesn't automatically mean the company is unsafe. It just means they haven't been audited yet.

That said, the absence of a rating means you should rely more heavily on the other steps in this guide. Check their insurance filings, complaints, and BASIC scores more carefully when there's no safety rating on file.

When a carrier does have a rating, check the date. Safety ratings don't expire, but a "Satisfactory" rating from 2014 tells you less about today's operation than one from last year. Some companies receive a satisfactory rating and then let their standards slip over time.

Step 6: Check BASIC Scores

BASIC scores are probably the most overlooked piece of the verification puzzle, and they're incredibly useful. BASIC stands for Behavior Analysis and Safety Improvement Categories. It's part of FMCSA's Safety Measurement System (SMS), and it ranks carriers against their peers based on roadside inspection and crash data.

There are seven BASIC categories:

• Unsafe Driving: Speeding, reckless driving, seatbelt violations, distracted driving.
• Hours-of-Service (HOS) Compliance: Are drivers following mandated rest periods? Fatigued driving is a major accident cause.
• Driver Fitness: Proper licensing, medical certificates, qualifications.
• Controlled Substances/Alcohol: Drug and alcohol violations.
• Vehicle Maintenance: Brake problems, tire issues, lighting violations, overall truck condition.
• Hazardous Materials: Not typically relevant for household goods movers, but flagged if applicable.
• Crash Indicator: History and patterns of crashes involving the carrier's vehicles.

Scores range from 0 to 100. Higher is worse. A score of 75 or above in any category means the carrier is in the bottom quartile for safety in that area compared to peers. That's a serious red flag.

Not every carrier will have BASIC scores. The system requires a minimum number of inspections to generate data, and many smaller movers don't have enough inspection records. When scores aren't available, you're flying a bit blind on the safety front, so weigh the other factors more heavily.

When scores are available, pay special attention to Unsafe Driving, Vehicle Maintenance, and Crash Indicator. These directly affect whether your belongings (and you) are safe during the move. A mover with high scores in these categories has trucks getting flagged during roadside inspections and drivers getting cited for unsafe behavior.

Using MoverCheck to Do This All at Once

We built MoverCheck because doing all six steps above manually is a pain. You have to bounce between the SAFER system, the SMS website, the NCCDB complaint portal, and try to make sense of government-formatted data that wasn't designed for consumers.

MoverCheck pulls all of the same federal data — DOT number status, operating authority, insurance filings, complaints, safety ratings, and BASIC scores — into a single trust report. You search by company name or DOT number, and you get everything in one page.

We also calculate a trust score that weighs all of these factors together. It's not a magic number — we show exactly how it's calculated — but it gives you a quick snapshot of how a mover stacks up. Think of it as a credit score for moving companies.

The tool is free. No account required. We source everything from public FMCSA data and update it monthly. You can also browse movers by state (like Texas or Florida) to see how carriers in your area compare.

If you just want the quick version of this entire guide: go to the MoverCheck lookup tool, type in the company name, and review the trust report. It covers everything we've talked about here.

Red Flags That a Mover Isn't Legit

Sometimes you don't even need to finish the full verification process. These are the red flags that should make you walk away immediately:

• No DOT number. If they can't provide one or it doesn't come up in FMCSA records, they're operating illegally for interstate moves. Full stop.
• DOT number comes back as inactive, revoked, or "Not Authorized." They had a license and lost it. That's worse than never having one.
• No insurance on file. Missing BMC-91 or BMC-32 filings mean your stuff has zero federal protection during the move.
• They demand a large cash deposit upfront. Legit movers typically collect payment at delivery. A demand for 30-50% upfront in cash or wire transfer is a classic scam pattern.
• The estimate is way below everyone else's. If three movers quote $4,000-$5,000 and one says $1,800, that lowball estimate will magically grow after your stuff is on the truck.
• They won't do an in-person or video survey. A binding estimate based on your verbal description is almost guaranteed to be wrong — and not in your favor.
• The company has a different name than what's on the DOT record. Scammers sometimes use a legitimate carrier's DOT number without being that carrier. Cross-reference the company name, address, and phone number.
• Lots of complaints about hostage loads. One complaint could be a misunderstanding. Multiple complaints about holding shipments hostage is a pattern.
• No physical address or the address is a UPS Store/mailbox. Where do they park their trucks? Where's their warehouse? A mover without a real physical location is suspicious.
• They answer the phone with a generic name like "Moving Services." Professional movers answer with their company name. Generic names often indicate a lead-generation scam or a broker posing as a carrier.
• Blank or brand-new trucks. Legitimate interstate movers are required to display their company name and DOT number on their trucks. Unmarked vehicles are a red flag.

For a deeper dive on scam tactics, read our guide on warning signs of a moving scam.

What to Do If You Find Problems

So you ran the checks and found issues. Maybe the insurance is lapsed. Maybe you spotted a cluster of complaints. Maybe the operating authority is inactive. Here's what to do depending on the situation.

If you haven't booked yet: Walk away. There are roughly 5,000 active interstate moving carriers in the US. You have plenty of options. Don't try to negotiate or rationalize problems with a carrier's federal record. Find a mover that passes all six verification steps cleanly.

If you've already booked but the move hasn't happened: Cancel immediately. Check your contract for cancellation terms. Most carriers require written notice. If you paid a deposit, you may be able to dispute the charge with your credit card company if the carrier's authority was inactive at the time of booking (they couldn't legally perform the service they sold).

If your move is in progress or already happened: This is trickier. If the carrier is currently holding your belongings and you've discovered they're unlicensed or uninsured, file a complaint with the FMCSA immediately at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov. Also contact your state attorney general's office. If there's an immediate safety concern, you can call the FMCSA hotline at 1-888-368-7238.

If you've been scammed: File complaints with the FMCSA, the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), the BBB, and your state attorney general. If you paid by credit card, initiate a chargeback. Document everything: emails, contracts, photos, text messages. The more evidence you have, the stronger your case.

In any scenario, don't wait. The sooner you act on problems, the more options you have. Moving scams rely on the fact that people feel stuck once their stuff is on a truck. Verify before you book, and you'll almost never end up in this situation.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related Guides

• 7 Warning Signs of a Moving Scam — Red flags to watch for before, during, and after your move.
• Moving Company Insurance Explained — Full-value vs released-value protection and when to buy extra coverage.
• Moving Broker vs Carrier: What You Need to Know — Why your "moving company" might not actually move your stuff.