Mid-year edition

The Moovi Regulatory Review

What changed in 2026, what it costs, in English, and what you can do about it.

Sam ClarkFounder, Moovi

No opinion. Nothing for sale. Information, not advice.

Foreword

We read the regulations so you do not have to

This is the first of a series of free resources Moovi is committed to providing to the moving and storage industry. Twice a year, in January and July, we will read the regulations so you do not have to, and put what matters into plain English, with worked numbers on a firm shaped like most of this trade. No opinion, nothing for sale. The highlights first; the full detail, with sources and what you can do about every item, follows below.

What you are being asked to pay, and what you are supposedly getting for it

The pay side: wages rose in April (the National Living Wage is now £12.71), sick pay now starts from day one of absence, employer National Insurance stays at 15%, and fuel duty rises around 3p a litre from January 2027. The get side: road tax on most HGVs is £1 for the year, the mileage rate rose for the first time since 2011 (45p to 55p), the standard business-rates multiplier fell from 55.5p to 48p so most depots' rates bills went down, and there are smaller wins on leased assets, small business rates relief and live fuel pricing. Broadly: the government is propping up the standing cost of the fleet while the cost of the people underneath it rises.

The rules you now have to follow, and the cost of not following them

Every company director must verify their identity at Companies House by November, or filings stop and it becomes a criminal offence. Sole traders over £50,000 now file tax quarterly. Cyber Essentials got stricter in April, and without it you will struggle on corporate and public-sector tenders. From January 2027, staff gain unfair-dismissal protection at six months instead of two years, with the compensation cap removed entirely. And the big one for European work: since the 1st of July, vans over 2.5 tonnes doing EU jobs need smart tachographs, lorry drivers' hours and posted-worker declarations. The fines run to four figures per roadside stop, and much of the trade has not noticed.

The main changes at a glance

The main changes at a glance

  • £1 HGV road tax from July.
  • Companies House identity checks by November.
  • Fuel duty frozen to December, up around 3p in January.
  • Making Tax Digital for sole traders.
  • Wages up from April; sick pay from day one.
  • Cyber Essentials tightened.
  • Business rates down for most, up for the biggest sheds.
  • EU lorry rules on vans from July.
  • Biometric borders adding queue time.
  • New per-consignment EU customs declarations.
  • Employment law cliff edge on 1 January 2027.

The shift underneath it all

2026 is the year the cost of employing people rose, the cost of running vehicles was propped up short term, and compliance went digital on both sides of the Channel. For a residential mover, that means your crew cost more, your depot costs less, and your paperwork is moving online whether you like it or not. For a commercial mover, add that the security badge your corporate clients ask about just got harder to hold, and the employment rules around your workforce tighten hard in January. For an international mover, this is the most consequential six months in years: the van rules alone can stop your European work at the border, and the borders themselves now take longer to cross. The detail on all of it is below, and every item ends with what you can actually do.

Sam ClarkFounder, Moovi

This is a plain, practical summary of the regulatory and cost changes hitting removals, storage and haulage operators in 2026. It carries no opinion and sells nothing. Every item follows the same four steps: the facts, a worked example on a real-shaped business, what it actually means in English, and what you can positively do about it - including, where you cannot change it yourself, exactly who to contact and what to say.

Our model operator (used in every worked example below)

Our model operator

A typical independent: 10 vans, 20 crew, 3 surveyors, an accountant and office staff, one warehouse, and some European work. We hold this business constant so you can see every change land on the same firm.

A note for genuinely international operators: if you run real cross-border volume rather than the occasional European job, the split matters. The UK fleet and wage items below hit you the same as everyone else - a van is a van, a wage is a wage. But the cross-border items (EES, ICS2) scale up sharply with the number of border crossings and consignments you run, so those sections are where your exposure is materially higher than the model operator's. We flag it at each one.

Part one

UK: fleet, fuel and vehicle costs

Affects your moves

HGV road tax cut to £1 (the 12-month VED holiday)

The facts

From 1 July 2026, most HGVs renewing their Vehicle Excise Duty pay a nominal £1 annual rate until 30 June 2027, applied automatically on renewal with no paperwork. The Treasury puts the saving at around £600 per truck, up to £912 for the heaviest. The HGV Levy still applies on top (roughly £161-£804 a year by weight and Euro standard).

The Exchequer Secretary, Dan Tomlinson MP, said the £1 rate would save some hauliers over £900 for each eligible vehicle, with no extra paperwork, forms or bureaucracy involved.

Worked example - our model operator

Of our operator's 10 vans, say 6 are HGVs over 3.5t that qualify. Previously each paid full VED (for a mid-weight rigid, roughly £600-£650 a year). This year, on renewal, each drops to £1. That is roughly £3,600 back across the six vehicles over the 12 months - real money on a thin margin. The catch: it is temporary, and the HGV Levy on those same trucks (say £350 each, £2,100 total) does not go away.

In plain English, what this means for you

Your road tax bill on the big vehicles is essentially zero this year, but do not bank it as permanent - it reverts after June 2027, and the levy underneath is still there and still creeping up. Treat it as a one-year reprieve, not a new normal.

What you can do that's positive

  • Nothing to file - the DVLA applies it automatically on renewal. Just check each vehicle's tax class is eligible.
  • Update your per-vehicle cost model to reflect the lower standing cost this year, and diarise the June 2027 reversion so it does not surprise you.
  • Want it extended? The bodies lobbying on this are the RHA and Logistics UK. Backing their campaigns (or telling your MP the holiday should be made permanent and the levy reviewed) is the route - this was won by industry lobbying in the first place.

Source: HM Treasury / DVLA; Taxation (Energy and Vehicles) Bill.

Affects your moves

Fuel duty: frozen to December, then a 3p rise in January

The facts

The 5p cut and wider freeze have been extended again. On 20 May 2026 the government cancelled the staged rises announced at the Autumn Budget 2025 and froze duty at 52.95p per litre until 31 December 2026, citing fuel-price pressure from the conflict in the Middle East. The current schedule: duty stays at 52.95p to the end of 2026; a rise of around 3p per litre follows from 1 January 2027; and from April 2027 duty is set to rise with RPI inflation each year - unless a future Budget cancels again, as Budgets have every year since 2011. The government's framing is that decisions taken since July 2024 will save the average HGV more than £2,000 in fuel costs compared with its previous plans - a saving against what was scheduled, not a cut against what you pay today.

We acknowledge the extension of the fuel duty freeze from September to December … but they should go much further. We urge the Chancellor to introduce an immediate essential user rebate that would help haulage, coach and van operators substantially reduce their bills.

Richard Smith, Managing Director, Road Haulage Association

Worked example - our model operator

Say each of our operator's 10 vehicles burns 10,000 litres of diesel a year (100,000 litres across the fleet). Every 1p per litre of duty is £1,000 a year to this business. So January's rise of around 3p adds roughly £3,000 a year in additional duty - the first duty rise in over a decade - before VAT and before any pump-price movement on top, with small RPI-linked rises expected each April after that.

In plain English, what this means for you

Nothing changes at the pump this year. From January 2027, budget roughly 3p a litre more, and assume small annual rises after that. If your day rates were last costed before 2026, the January rise is the moment they need re-running - price it as a planning exercise now rather than a margin loss later.

What you can do that's positive

  • Re-cost your day rates for January 2027 now, while it is a planning exercise. If you buy on fuel cards, ask about fixing arrangements for Q1 2027.
  • Know what does not exist: there is no fuel-duty rebate for operators to claim - you pay the full 52.95p on road diesel, and the only genuine reliefs (buses, remote rural filling stations, red diesel off-road) do not apply to a removals vehicle on the public road. If anyone offers to “process” a fuel rebate for a fee, walk away.
  • The rebate is a campaign, not a claim: the road-freight APPG and the RHA are campaigning for an essential user rebate of at least 15p per litre for haulage, coach and van operators. To add this industry's weight: a one-paragraph email to your MP supporting an essential user rebate for commercial operators takes ten minutes. The more operators do it, the harder it is to ignore. This review will report if the position changes.

Source: HM Treasury; PMQs 20 May 2026; RHA.

Background

Red diesel cut and the mileage rate rise

The facts

Duty on red diesel was cut by more than a third from 15 June until end-2026 - but red diesel is for approved off-road/agricultural use, so it does not apply to road haulage. Separately, the tax-free mileage rate rose from 45p to 55p per mile, backdated to 6 April 2026. The 55p rate applies to an employee's own car or van, on the first 10,000 business miles in the tax year (25p a mile after that); company-owned vehicles are unaffected.

In plain English, what this means for you

Red diesel: ignore it, it is not for you. Mileage: this one does touch you - if your 3 surveyors or office staff use their own cars for work and claim mileage, they can now claim 55p, backdated to April, so some may be owed a top-up.

What you can do that's positive

  • Update your mileage-claim policy to 55p and check whether anyone is owed a backdated top-up from 6 April 2026.

Source: HM Treasury Spring 2026 measures; HMRC mileage allowance.

Part two

UK: wages, crew and depot costs

Affects your moves

National Living Wage and Minimum Wage rises

The facts

From 1 April 2026, the statutory floors rose: National Living Wage (21+) £12.21 → £12.71 (+4.1%); 18-20s £10.00 → £10.85 (+8.5%); 16-17s and apprentices £7.55 → £8.00 (+6%). The government estimates around 2.7 million workers were affected.

The National Living Wage rises by 4.1 per cent in April 2026 to £12.71. We expect this rate to stay ahead of changes in the cost of living up to March 2027 and therefore provide an increase in real terms for minimum wage workers.

Low Pay Commission, official report (GOV.UK)

Worked example - our model operator

Our operator's 20 crew are the exposed group. Say 15 of them sit at or near the adult minimum, full-time (~2,080 hours a year). The 50p-an-hour rise is about £1,040 more per person per year, so across those 15 that is roughly £15,600 a year in extra gross wage cost - and more once you add employer NI and pension on top, plus knock-on pressure to lift the crew just above minimum so differentials hold. For younger crew the jump is steeper: an 18-20 year old rose 8.5%.

In plain English, what this means for you

This is probably your single biggest cost increase of the year, and it is not optional - it is the law, enforced with penalties up to £20,000 per underpaid worker. If your day rates were built on last year's wage floor, your margin on every job just got thinner and you may not have noticed yet. The youth discount you may have leaned on is also shrinking fast as the government moves toward a single adult rate.

What you can do that's positive

  • Re-run your crew labour cost on the new floors and re-price your day rates accordingly - this is the number most likely to be quietly eating your margin right now.
  • Check age-band transitions in payroll (workers move up a band on their birthday) - getting this wrong is a common trigger for an HMRC underpayment investigation.
  • Eligible small businesses can claim the Employment Allowance (up to £10,500 off your employer NI bill) - make sure you are.
  • Set the allowance against the wider bill: employer NI remains at 15% with a £5,000 threshold into 2026-27 - on the model firm's 20 crew, that is roughly £70,000+ of employer NI a year before the allowance. It softens the bill; it does not remove it.
  • This one you cannot lobby away - it is set by the independent Low Pay Commission. The positive move is operational: recover the crew time that leaks between and within jobs so each paid hour does more, which is the only lever you fully control on labour cost.

Source: The National Minimum Wage in 2026, GOV.UK; National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Regulations 2026.

Affects your moves

Statutory Sick Pay: day-one right, no lower earnings limit

The facts

From 6 April 2026, SSP rose to £123.25 per week (or 80% of average weekly earnings, whichever is lower) and became payable from day one of absence, with the Lower Earnings Limit removed - so lower-paid and variable-hours staff who previously fell outside SSP now qualify.

Worked example - our model operator

Previously, if a crew member was off sick for three days, our operator often paid nothing in SSP (the old waiting days). Now day one is payable, and staff who earned too little to qualify before are now in scope. Across 20 crew with normal sickness levels, that is a new, recurring cost that simply did not exist before - modest per instance, but it is now never zero.

In plain English, what this means for you

Sickness absence used to be partly free to you. It is not any more. Every sick day from day one now carries a cost, for more of your people than before. It is not huge per case, but it is a new line that is always on.

What you can do that's positive

  • Update your absence policy and payroll to remove waiting days and apply day-one SSP.
  • Budget a realistic annual SSP figure into your labour cost rather than treating sickness as free.

Source: Employment Rights Act 2025; HMRC statutory payment rates.

Background

Employment Rights Act 2025: day-one rights and the Fair Work Agency

The facts

From April 2026, paternity and unpaid parental leave became day-one rights, and the Fair Work Agency launched (7 April 2026) as a body becoming the single enforcer, with powers transferring through 2027, for minimum wage, holiday pay and SSP - able to open proactive investigations without a worker complaint. Bigger changes follow in 2027 (unfair dismissal from six months' service, removal of the award cap, tighter fire-and-rehire, zero-hours protections). From October 2026, employers become liable for third-party harassment of staff by clients or customers.

In plain English, what this means for you

Your obligations as an employer of crews have gone up, and the referee is now more active - they can come and check you without anyone complaining first. Nothing here changes the price of a move, but it raises the cost of getting your employment paperwork wrong.

What you can do that's positive

  • Do a quick compliance review: minimum-wage records, holiday pay, contracts, absence and family-leave policies.
  • Note the October 2026 third-party harassment liability - relevant when your crews are in customers' homes and workplaces. Brief your people.

Source: Employment Rights Act 2025; government implementation roadmap.

Background

Business rates: higher multiplier on large sites

The facts

From April 2026, properties with a rateable value of £500,000 or more fall under a new higher business-rates multiplier (2.8p above the standard rate).

In plain English, what this means for you

Our model operator's single warehouse is very unlikely to be rated at £500,000 or more, so this probably does not touch them - and the other half of the story is good news: the standard multiplier fell from 55.5p to 48p at the same time, so a typical removals warehouse under the threshold sees its rates bill go down, not up. The higher rate is aimed at around 21,000 very large sites nationally - big distribution sheds, not the average depot. If you do run a large storage facility, factor the higher multiplier into those sites' costs.

What you can do that's positive

  • Check the rateable value of each site. If any is over £500,000, factor the higher multiplier into that site's running cost, and check whether any rates relief applies.

Source: HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2025.

Part three

UK: company, tax and cyber

Affects your business · Deadline 18 November 2026

Companies House: every director must now prove who they are

The facts

Under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act, identity verification at Companies House is now mandatory. New directors and Persons with Significant Control have had to verify since 18 November 2025; every existing director and PSC must verify by the company's next confirmation statement, with the transition window closing on 18 November 2026. Verification is free and takes minutes via GOV.UK One Login (or through an authorised agent). Failing to verify is a criminal offence, blocks the company's filings, and carries fines and potential disqualification. A second date for the diary: from 1 April 2027, company accounts can only be filed through commercial software - the free WebFiling route for accounts closes.

Worked example - our model operator

This catches essentially every incorporated removals firm in the country - every director and every PSC, including family members who hold shares but never touch the business day to day. Our model operator has, say, two directors and one family shareholder over 25%: three verifications, fifteen minutes each, done once. Note the deadline may be earlier than November - it is tied to the firm's own confirmation-statement date.

In plain English, what this means for you

Fifteen minutes online with a passport or driving licence, per person, once. Do it now rather than discovering a blocked filing in November.

What you can do that's positive

  • Look up your confirmation-statement date today and verify every director and PSC well ahead of it.
  • If you self-file your accounts, talk to your accountant about software-based filing before April 2027.

Source: Companies House / GOV.UK, ECCTA transition guidance.

Affects your business · Sole traders

Making Tax Digital: quarterly filing has started for sole traders

The facts

From 6 April 2026, sole traders and landlords with qualifying gross income over £50,000 must keep digital records and file quarterly updates to HMRC through MTD-compatible software, plus a final year-end declaration. The threshold falls to £30,000 from April 2027 and £20,000 from April 2028. For 2026-27 there is a soft landing on penalty points for late quarterly updates - but not for late payment. Limited companies are not affected.

In plain English, what this means for you

If you trade as a sole trader and turn over more than £50,000, the shoebox era ended in April - four small filings a year instead of one big one. This is for the unincorporated end of the trade: owner-drivers, sole-trader operators, and anyone drawing rent from a yard or unit held personally.

What you can do that's positive

  • If this is you and you have not moved yet, get onto MTD-compatible software this quarter - the first quarterly deadlines have already arrived.

Source: GOV.UK, Making Tax Digital for Income Tax; Income Tax (Digital Obligations) Regulations 2026.

Affects your business · Tender requirement

Cyber Essentials grew teeth: the Danzell question set

The facts

Cyber Essentials - the government-backed security certification increasingly required on corporate and public-sector removals tenders - moved to a new question set, Danzell (requirements v3.3), for all assessments started on or after 27 April 2026. Two changes have teeth: multi-factor authentication is now required on every cloud service where it is available - no MFA is an automatic fail - and high or critical security updates must be installed within 14 days, also an automatic fail. Cloud services can no longer be scoped out of the assessment, and directors now sign a declaration to maintain compliance through the year, not just on assessment day. Certification costs £330-£500 + VAT by company size (a 10-49 person firm pays £400 + VAT), including twelve months of unlimited attempts and, for most smaller firms, bundled £25,000 cyber-liability insurance.

Worked example - our model operator

A removals firm holds exactly the data a criminal wants: home addresses, full household inventories, and the dates properties will stand empty - usually sitting in cloud email and a cloud CRM. Under Danzell those services are squarely in scope, and every phone that receives work email counts.

In plain English, what this means for you

Turn on MFA everywhere and patch within a fortnight, and the certificate is very achievable. Ignore either and you now fail automatically.

What you can do that's positive

  • If your certificate renews after 27 April 2026, run the gap check now: MFA on email, CRM and file storage, and a patching routine you can evidence.
  • Never certified? At £400 + VAT it is one of the cheaper tender qualifications in existence - and increasingly the badge corporate work demands.

Source: IASME / NCSC, Cyber Essentials requirements v3.3 (Danzell), April 2026.

Background · Three small wins

Three smaller changes in your favour

The facts

Three quieter 2026 measures work for you rather than against you. First, a new 40% first-year capital allowance applies from January 2026 to plant and machinery that falls outside full expensing, including assets bought for leasing - worth a conversation with your accountant if you lease out equipment or trailers. Second, the grace period for keeping Small Business Rates Relief when you take on an additional property was extended from one year to three from April 2026 - directly useful if you are opening a second depot or storage site. Third, the Fuel Finder scheme now requires filling stations to publish live pump prices, so routing to cheaper diesel is finally something your planning can do with data rather than habit.

In plain English, what this means for you

Free money is rare in a document like this. These three are as close as 2026 gets: a tax break on kit, breathing room on rates when you expand, and visibility on the single most volatile cost you buy.

What you can do that's positive

  • Ask your accountant about the 40% first-year allowance before your next equipment purchase, and factor the three-year SBRR grace period into any second-site plans.
  • Put a live fuel-price app into the routing routine and make the cheapest reliable pump part of the plan, not the exception.

Source: HM Treasury, Autumn Budget 2025 measures; GOV.UK.

Part four

Cross-border: EU customs and borders

International operators, read this part twice. For our model operator with only some European work, these are occasional frictions. For a genuinely international firm running regular cross-border volume, the exposure below scales up with every crossing and every consignment - so where the model operator feels a nuisance, you feel a recurring operational cost. We flag the difference at each item.

Affects your moves · In force since 1 July 2026

European work in vans: lorry rules now apply

The facts

From 1 July 2026, the EU Mobility Package extended to light commercial vehicles. Any van - or van-and-trailer combination - over 2.5 tonnes and up to 3.5 tonnes used for international carriage of goods for hire or reward within the EU now needs: a second-generation smart tachograph fitted by a certified workshop; full EU drivers'-hours rules (maximum 9 hours' daily driving, a 45-minute break after 4.5 hours, 11 hours' daily rest, and a 45-hour weekly rest that may not be taken in the vehicle); driver cards with regular data downloads; and a posting-of-drivers declaration filed through the EU portal before the job, with host-country minimum pay applying. There is no grace period. Enforcement is national and serious: Belgium issues a fixed €2,640 fine for a missing tachograph; Germany fines up to €1,500 per inspection and can immobilise the vehicle. Purely domestic UK work is unaffected.

Worked example - our model operator

This is aimed squarely at the classic European removals run: the 3.5-tonne Luton to Spain, France or Portugal. If our model operator's occasional European jobs go out on that van, it is now regulated like a 44-tonne artic the moment it crosses into the EU. The craft and own-account exemptions are narrow and will not cover a commercial removal. Certified tachograph workshops are quoting six-to-eight-week lead times for retrofits.

In plain English, what this means for you

If your European work runs on 3.5-tonne vans and you have not fitted smart tachographs, every EU job you do right now is exposed to four-figure roadside fines and a van stuck on the wrong side of the Channel. This came in on the 1st of July, and much of the trade has not noticed.

What you can do that's positive

  • This week: list every van between 2.5 and 3.5 tonnes that touches European work, and book tachograph retrofits immediately - the lead time is the trap.
  • Register for posting declarations on the EU portal, get drivers carded, and brief them on the hours rules.
  • Until the kit is fitted, weigh the risk on every EU job case by case - or sub the work to a compliant partner rather than run bare.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2020/1054; European Labour Authority guidance 2026; IRU.

Affects your moves · Much more so if international

EES - the EU Entry/Exit System (border delays for drivers)

The facts

The EU's Entry/Exit System became fully operational across Schengen borders on 10 April 2026, replacing passport stamps with biometric registration (fingerprints and facial image) for every non-EU national crossing - which post-Brexit means every UK driver. Crucially, EES registers people, not goods - it does not clear cargo; customs runs separately. It has added real dwell time: minutes when quiet, but waits of up to around two hours at Dover at the worst points (French border police temporarily suspended extra checks in May 2026 to clear the queues) and up to three hours at the busiest European airports.

Worked example - our model operator

Our model operator sends a van to France a handful of times a year. Each trip now risks a longer, less predictable border wait - a scheduling nuisance, occasional overtime, the odd missed slot. Annoying, containable. Now scale it: a Moovi customer running genuinely international volume - dozens of crossings a month - multiplies that delay across every single crossing. At that volume, EES dwell time becomes a standing cost in driver hours, missed delivery windows and knock-on rescheduling. This is the clearest example of a change that is a nuisance for the domestic-leaning operator and a material operational cost for the truly international one.

In plain English, what this means for you

Crossing the EU border now takes longer and is less predictable for your drivers, because they get biometrically checked every time. It does not touch your paperwork or your cargo - but it eats time, and time is money on a schedule. The more you cross, the more it costs you.

What you can do that's positive

  • Build a border-time buffer into European job scheduling so an EES delay does not collapse the rest of the day's plan.
  • Keep driver documentation flawless - the system flags any prior overstay or data mismatch instantly and will not allow on-the-spot corrections, which turns a small admin error into a refused entry.
  • Do not confuse EES with customs - keep your ENS/ICS2 and transit paperwork separate and ready (see next item).
  • Frustrated by the delays? The voice on UK-EU border friction is Logistics UK, which has been pressing the government to reduce post-Brexit trade barriers in talks with Brussels. Supporting that, and telling your MP that biometric border delays are costing your business driver hours, is the constructive route.

Source: European Commission, Migration and Home Affairs; eu-LISA.

Affects your moves · Much more so if international

ICS2 for road freight - pre-arrival security declarations

The facts

From 1 January 2026, several EU countries decommissioned the old ICS1 system, so Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) for goods entering or transiting the EU by road must now go through ICS2. First wave: Ireland, Spain, France, Italy, Lithuania, Hungary, Finland, Greece, Bulgaria. Second wave from 1 June 2026: Croatia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia. Each consignment needs its own ENS, filed before the border. A multiple-filing option is expected in H2 2026; until then, single filing is mandatory.

Worked example - our model operator

For our operator's occasional European job, this is one more declaration to get right per trip. For an international Moovi customer moving many consignments across many of these countries every week, it is a filing per consignment, per crossing, every time - a real, recurring administrative load where a missed or late ENS can hold cargo at the border. Again: light for the domestic-leaning firm, heavy and continuous for the international one.

In plain English, what this means for you

If you move goods into or through the EU by road, you now have to file a security declaration for each shipment before it arrives, through a new system. Get it wrong or late and your load waits at the border. The more consignments you run, the more filings you carry.

What you can do that's positive

  • Make sure your ENS filing is in place per consignment and your partner/agent data is accurate and submitted in time.
  • If you file at volume, this is exactly the kind of per-shipment compliance that should be captured by your operating system as the job is built, not re-keyed by hand at the border - the manual approach is where errors and delays come from.

Source: IRU; European Commission ICS2 programme.

Background · From late 2026

Two new border passes - for people, not goods

The facts

Visiting EU nationals already need a UK Electronic Travel Authorisation to enter Britain - relevant if overseas agents, partners or seasonal staff visit you. In the other direction, the EU's ETIAS is confirmed for the last quarter of 2026: UK travellers to the Schengen area will need a €20 authorisation, valid three years (free for under-18s and over-70s), with a transition period expected to make it strictly mandatory around April 2027.

In plain English, what this means for you

Surveyors flying out for pre-move surveys, crews accompanying European jobs, anyone attending a trade event on the continent - from late this year they need ETIAS. Apply only through the official EU portal; copycat websites charge multiples of the real fee.

What you can do that's positive

  • Put ETIAS on the checklist for travelling staff, and warn them off unofficial sites now.

Source: European Commission, DG Migration and Home Affairs; official ETIAS portal (travel-europe.europa.eu).

Background · Not your moves

The €3 low-value parcel duty (e-commerce, not household moves)

The facts

From 1 July 2026, the EU introduced a temporary €3 customs duty on low-value parcels (goods under €150), charged per item category by tariff heading rather than per parcel, imported from outside the EU, charged per item classification, running to July 2028. A separate €2 handling fee is under negotiation for late 2026, and some member states have added national parcel fees.

As global e-commerce booms, EU customs rules must keep pace. Abolishing the out-of-date exemption for small parcels will help support EU business and shut down avenues for unscrupulous sellers.

Council of the EU

In plain English, what this means for you

You will see this everywhere and it is easy to panic about. Don't. It targets low-value e-commerce parcels - the Shein/Temu/AliExpress flows (91% of these come from China). A household move of someone's belongings is not a sub-€150 e-commerce parcel and runs under entirely different customs rules. It does not add €3 an item to a container of furniture. It is here only because it is prominent and constantly confused with removals customs.

What you can do that's positive

  • If a client or customer raises it worried, reassure them: it does not apply to household or personal-effects moves. That clarity is a small trust win.
  • Do keep an eye on the direction - the wider signal is that EU customs is getting heavier and more fragmented, which is the backdrop to the two items above that do affect you.

Source: European Commission; Council of the EU.

Background · Mostly not your moves

Packaging into Europe: what is real and what to ignore

The facts

The EU's Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation applies from 12 August 2026, with obligations phasing in to 2030: design and minimisation requirements, a maximum 40% empty-space ratio for e-commerce packaging (transport packaging follows, with a 50% cap, from 2030), and registration duties for firms placing packaging on the EU market. Separately, the EU Deforestation Regulation - which many suppliers have been emailing about - was delayed again, to 30 December 2026, and wooden pallets and crates used purely to carry or protect goods are out of its scope in any case. ISPM15 (heat-treated, stamped wood packaging for international shipments) is a separate regime and still applies as always.

In plain English, what this means for you

The packaging rules bite EU-based suppliers and any EU establishment you run more than your UK packing bench. And you can stop worrying about the deforestation rules for your export crates: carried packaging is exempt; ISPM15 is what still matters.

What you can do that's positive

  • If you have an EU entity or sell packing materials into the EU, take advice on your role under the packaging regulation before August.
  • Everyone else: keep your ISPM15 stamps current and file the deforestation emails under “not us”.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2025/40 (PPWR); Regulation (EU) 2025/2650 (EUDR postponement); European Commission FAQ.

Background · If you carry accreditations

Standards corner: the certification landscape in brief

The facts

FIDI's FAIM standard - the global quality mark for international movers - moves to version 3.4 in 2026, with changes to the audit approach that affiliates should confirm with FIDI directly; the anti-bribery, supply-chain and annual internal-audit pillars remain. FIDI's separate DSP Quality Certification for destination services, launched October 2025 and audited by EY, covers orientation, home search, school search, settling-in and departure services. Closer to home, the CTSI Consumer Codes Approval Scheme was not closed, as some reports suggested - it was renamed the Approved Code Scheme in June 2024, and existing approved codes and their members continue unchanged; the only action for code members is updating the logo and name in marketing. On the fleet side: FORS Standard v7.1 has applied to all audits since January 2025; the Driver CPC split into a UK-only National CPC (flexible 3.5-hour modules) and an International CPC for EU driving; and London's Direct Vision Standard now enforces its Progressive Safe System on lorries over 12 tonnes, with penalties up to £550.

In plain English, what this means for you

Nothing here removes an accreditation - but two housekeeping jobs exist: the Approved Code logo swap, and checking which CPC your drivers hold if they drive in Europe. If you chase London or corporate contract work, FORS v7.1 and DVS are the current bars.

What you can do that's positive

  • International movers: diarise the FAIM 3.4 changes with whoever owns compliance. Everyone: ten minutes of logo and wallet-card housekeeping.

Source: FIDI (FAIM 3.4; DSP Certification); CTSI Approved Code Scheme; FORS; DVSA; TfL.

In closing

The direction of travel

Step back and one pattern is unmistakable across 2026. Domestically, the standing cost of running a fleet is being propped up short-term - the £1 VED holiday, the fuel-duty freeze now running to December - while the structural costs underneath all rise: wages, sick pay, and a fuel-duty rise pencilled in for January. Across borders, the compliance load is getting heavier, more digital and more fragmented - biometric checks that cost you time, per-consignment declarations, lorry rules arriving on vans, a patchwork of new duties by country.

Margin pressure is arriving from more directions simultaneously, and the defence is the same as it has always been: know your true cost on every job, and recover the time that leaks in the running.

For the model operator, it is a squeeze from several sides at once. For the genuinely international operator, it is that same squeeze plus a materially heavier cross-border load. The takeaway is not any single rule. It is that margin pressure is arriving from more directions simultaneously, and the defence is the same as it has always been: know your true cost on every job, recover the time that leaks in the running, and let your system capture compliance as the work happens rather than a person re-keying it at the border. The rules will keep moving. Operating tightly against them is the part you control.

On the radar

On the radar for January 2027

Three dates already matter. 1 January 2027 is the employment cliff edge: the unfair-dismissal qualifying period falls from two years to six months - employees hired by early July 2026 will have six months' service on 1 January 2027 and gain protection that day, and every later hire follows as they reach six months - the cap on compensatory awards is removed entirely, and dismissing staff to force through contract changes (“fire and rehire”) becomes automatically unfair in almost all cases. If your probation and performance processes are informal, the second half of 2026 is the time to fix them: for new hires, the window to part ways cleanly is now under six months.

Then 1 April 2027: all company accounts must be filed through commercial software. 6 April 2027: Making Tax Digital extends to sole traders over £30,000. And the Autumn Budget 2026 date is not yet announced - fuel duty's January rise, business rates and employer costs are the items to watch. The January edition will cover all of it, in this format, in plain English.

Source: Employment Rights Act 2025 implementation timetable (updated 3 February 2026); Companies House; HMRC.

Sources & disclaimer

Sources & disclaimer

Compiled by Sam Clark, Moovi. Sources: HM Treasury; DVLA; HMRC; GOV.UK; Companies House; the Low Pay Commission; the Employment Rights Act 2025; IASME and the NCSC; the European Commission; the Council of the EU; eu-LISA; the IRU; FIDI; and trade reporting.

Correct to the best of our knowledge as at July 2026; verify any load-bearing figure against the primary source before acting. Worked examples are illustrative, built on a typical operator profile, and are not a substitute for your own figures. This document is information, not legal, tax or financial advice.

Sam ClarkFounder, Moovi · The Moovi Regulatory Review is published twice a year. Next edition: January 2027.