Removal costs

[bobisbored]

We have just been quoted £5,000 to move our 4 bed house 120 miles. No packing, just moving. That seems a lot to me. Am I being unrealistic? I was expecting about £2,000.

That seems excessive to me & I think you need to get other quotes. We got 3 when moving from London to Berkshire and Pickfords was twice as expensive as the firm we ended up using (both full packing service) so prices do vary enormously

Yes that's a lot!!
I would explore decent man with a van type options. Plenty are good with online reviews and correct insurance etc and would charge less than that!!

That seems a lot.
Moved twice in the past 8-months and got several quotes both times. Neither included packing but we do have a lot of stuff including shed, garage/workshop & garden. Used "proper" removal companies (i.e. not Man With Van).
Pickford's were most expensive quote for 1st move as they wanted to do it with a large lorry over 2-days (£2.5K). I suspect that with your distance it may be necessary to split it (tacho limit).

1st move. 50-Miles, 4-men, 7.5T lorry & large Luton van. £1.2K.
2nd move. 20-miles. 6-Men, 2x7.5T lorry's. £1.1K.

We paid £2000 moving a 4 bed house to another house 3 miles away BUT that was 8 years ago. Think you'd be lucky to get it at that price now.

We went with a professional moving company last month. We did the packing, but they supplied all the boxes and packing materials. We moved from a 3 bedroom property to a 3 bedroom property, from one county to another. It was about 70 miles. £825. I think they do nationwide moves too. Where are you based?

I forgot to add they actually visited our property first to give an accurate quote. I've never known a removal company do that before!

That sounds about right TBH. We moved at the end of last year - 4 bed detached with shed and garage contents. Going 200 miles to a 4 bed townhouse. Remember that costs have gone through the roof for diesel and HGV drivers are getting poached by other companies who can offer higher wages.

We got three quotes, two from regional companies and one national, which ranged between £4400 and £5500, all including packing. We went with the cheapest of those and they were utterly dreadful so now regretting not using the more expensive.

And you can't move 150 miles with a 4 bed house using a man and van service - it took four fully loaded vans to take all of our stuff!

For both our recent moves, anyone who wouldn't visit the property to carry out a physical survey wasn't even considered.
I think we had 4-surveys on our main house and 3 on our temp accommodation.

It's not just down to cost & recommendations, sometimes you are forced to go with someone because they are the only people who can fit you in.
We were in complete control of our moves and able to book them many weeks in advance (8-weeks for the first move and 4-weeks for the second). All companies made it very clear that the closer you got to the actual moving date it can be pot luck as to whether they can fit you in. You pay a deposit of course but the closer you are to the date, should you cancel or try to move the date (sale falls through, delayed etc) I think the more of the deposit you forefit.

That sounds a bit toppy but not massively out of the ballpark. We paid about that last year to move from London to Edinburgh, but that included full pack and unpack. But I know that removals costs have rocketed since then (along with everything else; our handyman has pretty much doubled his hourly rate since the New Year).

Worth getting some other quotes though. Always get three quotes with removals companies. Sometimes they will price you out if they don't want the job.

Thanks everyone. We will get a few quotes and hope for the best.