Removing the stress of moving by trusting the professionals

Moving house is a fraught and stressful activity, topped only by the process of selling your old home, and buying your new home, all while being caught in a chain involving numerous other people, including solicitors, surveyors and estate agents all desperate to prove they are earning their share of the commission by doing the minimum amount of work possible!

Then suddenly, almost out of the blue, all the different threads seem to come together and you exchange on your property, giving yourself often a matter of days to move all your possessions out of your old home and into your new one.

Booking a reputable removal company can be one of the most stressful aspects of moving house. Not least because the uncertainty of when exactly you are set to move is completely out of your control. You are in the hands of all involved in the bureaucracy and financial transactions, and if they’re not finished doing their job yet, then they can literally hold up an entire string of affected parties.

Not all removal companies are equal, and there are definitely those who earn every single cent of your hard earned money by completely lifting all of the stress and hard work off your shoulders. But money aside, what are the other criteria by which you should choose your removal company. After all, you will be entrusting them with your most treasured possessions, many of which have taken a lifetime to build up.

Do they offer a full range of services?

Packing up an entire home is hard work and exceptionally time consuming. Do you really have time to do it? Are you working full time? Is your partner? A company that supplies its own folding pallet boxes and other packaging paraphernalia, and will come in and securely pack up all your possessions on your behalf are worth their weight in gold.

Not only that, but this particular service also helps to pin down the insurance in case of any breakages.

Is their quote suspiciously low?

This might seem like a disingenuous question, but be wary of quotes that come in on the low side. Yes, it is important to shop around and this will give you a good idea of the ball park figure that it will cost. A significantly cheaper quote could mean that they have removed an essential part of the service without you even realizing it.

There are stories of families who have gone unwittingly into a contract with a company who quoted much less than the competition. When they arrived at the destination it transpired that the service only included transporting the goods and unloading them at the property gate. They could not even cross the threshold to unload the goods into the garden as that would invalidate the company’s workers’ insurance policies. Needless to say, the removal men left with no tip in their pockets.

Check out the third party testimonials

It is always important to check out customer testimonials, and to check the validity of these testimonials as well. Most review sites have tight regulations around leaving genuine, verifiable comments, and false entries are usually detected pretty quickly.

Double check all paperwork

Removal companies must have in place a wealth of insurance, licensing and certification to cover their services. If you are moving overseas, specialization in dealing with port authorities and tax implications is also crucial to ensure that all costs are identified and acknowledged from the outset. Too often people get caught entering a new country not realizing that they have to pay hefty tax or import duties on specific items if not pre-declared and included on certain bits of paperwork.

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