I am looking for comments/views about moving home -

Q1. do you do the move yourself? or do you hire a removal company?

Q2. how often do you move from one house to the next? and for what reasons?

Any advice will be great!


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quote:

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Originally posted by danjohnson:
My girlfriend and I moved into a flat on the 4th (top) floor of a building with no lift. I will not move house again without using a removals company !

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Thanks! I like to hear from anyone else who is surfing through this website what they think about moving their belongings from one house to another. The reason(s) for asking because my husband and I DIY our move from Sheffield to Leeds over three days ... it was alot of hard work with minor injuries suffered consequently. We will definitely call the professionals ... but are they worth the kind of money we pay for their services?


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I am currently setting up my own company to recommend removal companies to the public. My company is called Moving etc... and I have worked for many years in the removal industry.

We will be an Independant and FREE advice service to consumers moving house. We will be recommending only regulated companies so that if anything goes wrong and you do not get any satisfaction from the company themselves, they will be a member of a trade association that will be able to arbitrate between you and the removal company so that you get a satisfactory result from your complaint.

My advise on whether you should do a DIY move is based on several different factors.

Firstly consider how much you have to move. Anymore than a transit van load and you are looking at a lot of hard work. Don't forget that the professionals do this everyday, so what seems like hard work to you, may not be a problem for them.

Secondly, consider the access and layout of the properties you are moving from and to. Some larger items of furniture may not be easy to manoeuvre through doors and up stairs. Professional removal men may struggle themselves, but they have the experience and knowledge to get something out of a tight spot when needed.

Unless you have a very small amount of items to pack and move, always get two or three different removal companies to quote for your move. If you decide to do it yourself after that, then Good luck. What will only take a removal company a day to pack, move and deliver will take you at least two to three times longer if not more.

Even if you do decide to DIY it, usually removal companies give a free quotation and advise, so you can always see how hard they think it is before deciding to hire a van yourself.

Speak to your home insurers to see if they will insure your household contents during your move. Professional removal companies offer insurance in case anything gets broken, damaged or stolen. Check that your insurers will insure against damage if you are moving everything yourself.

If you do decide to move yourself, Be prepared! Make sure you have enough boxes, paper and tape for packing and plenty of friends willing to help. Your household contents can be deceiving in size. Never leave packing to the last minute. If you do, you run the risk of damages that could have been avoided.

Make sure the van that you hire will take the full contents of your property. If you need to go back and collect the last items on your moving day, you could face costly penalties for delaying the buyers from moving into your old house.

Most removal companies have "waiting time" clauses. This means that if you no longer own the property from say 12 noon on the completion day, but you are still moving out at 2 or 3 pm, you could get charged for the delay!

Always consider and way up your options before entertaining a DIY move. Although the bottom line on a removal quote may look steep, you may find that it saves you a lot of time and hassle later.

Sometimes you may be able to get the removal company to lower their price. This will depend on how busy they are and how complicated your move is. However, if you are moving during school holidays, at Christmas or at the end of the month, then don't expect a large discount, if at all. This is the busiest time for moving and if possible should be avoided if you want a successful move.

Always choose a removal company that is a member of the British Association of Removers or the Guild of Removers. Trade associations are there to help. So if you find that you have a problem with the company that you have used, speak to them. They can offer you advise and may be able to take control of the situation if it gets out of hand.

Lastly, go with your gut instinct. If you really like the services offered by a particular company, but they are too expensive, talk to them! They may be able to help.

If you think that moving everything yourself will be too much work, then it probably is! Don't forget that if you are not used to a lot of physical work, moving yourself will NOT be easy. Therefore be careful not to hurt yourself, and/or strain a muscle. Even the best removal men still do it sometimes.

If you need any more assistance, please reply and hopefully I can point you in the right direction.

Good Luck!


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It is our ultimate goal to have some kind of influence over the way that a house sale is processed. At the moment there are various problems with the legal process of a house sale.

The removal industry is the last in the chain of the house sale and therefore we are privy to all the delays that happen along the way. Many of these greatly affect our industry and the way that we are able to work.

As an industry, we are fed up with having to "put up" with these problems and are trying to do something about it.

I am not saying that all problems on a house move is caused before the removal company goes in, but many times, we are affected because there is a lack of time in order for us to schedule the move correctly.

On many occasions we are contacted only a week or so before the completion date. This is mainly due to the fact that the completion date is not set, in good time and the solicitors are pressurised to complete extremely quickly after exchange of contracts.

If there was a law that states that there has to be 14-28 days between exchange and completion then everyone all round would have much more notice in order to plan for the move.

At the moment there is nothing stopping solicitors from exchanging and completing on the same day. Surely this is not very practical at all? The stress that this causes to all parties concerned is too much.

Your thoughts on this subject would be appreciated.

[ December 28, 2003: Message edited by: finchy ]


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In terms of, if a removal company meets your standards / regs, you ask them to pay to carry a kind of trade mark or logo to indicate these companies are ok to use?

[ December 30, 2003: Message edited by: Ian Spencer ]


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Have you ever wondered which Plumber or Electrician to use?
I get asked all the time to recommend companies for moving home, by people that are not associated with the industry. Our aim is to put proceedures in place from the feedback that we get to make moving easier.


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