How on earth does it work with removal companies when you don't have a definite date, but it is soon...!

[ThisMustBeMyDream]

I've had quotes for moving, and obviously want to choose one particular firm as they had a good price, but also were professional and responsive. But we don't have a date yet, other than it's supposed to be between 1st and 8th Sept. The movers are booked on 1st, 4th, 5th and 8th. So I've now only got 6th and 7th as options. But it looks like exchange and completion will be close together. Still waiting on an indemnity policy which should be sorted before the end of the week. Then I can sign contracts. My buyer and my seller all ready, and it's just the 3 in the chain. I'm the only one using movers though so it is really stressing me out!
What happens if we agree dates then the movers can't do it?!

Book the date with the movers, tell the rest of the chain this is the date the move has to happen because nothing else is available.

We had a few quotes then went with a company, told them it would be roughly end May, kept in touch with them and actually only exchanged 5pm Thursday with completion the next day.. they were fine, we rang them as soon as we knew and they were at ours 6am the friday! - stressful for us though!!

once dates started being discussed we found out their availability and offered those dates for completion, because we needed a packing service.
It ended up being two weeks after our buyers wanted to move in, but that’s all we could do, so all parties agreed.

We got screwed by this - none of the removal companies would reserve a date until we’d exchanged, and by the time we had exchanged they had no availability! We had to throw money at a large nationwide chain as they were the only ones with availability.

All you can do is tell the firm the date you hope to move and get a quote on that basis. In my experience though, thy don’t keep the date free for you. They warn you that if someone comes along who is willing to pay a big non refundable deposit because they know they have a confirmed removal date, they will go with that person instead of you.

We've just done this - the firm we chose had a small retainer type fee for cancellation or change of date. We lost them and had to go with another firm thanks to completion date change, but we only paid the retainer rather than 50% of the whole moving quote (a sort of insurance). You could look for a company that offers this.

This is what we had to do. We exchanged and completed very close together and had the same issue as you with movers not wanting to take a booking until exchange.

We got the solicitors to ask whether they wanted the 18th or 21st of Aug to complete, they picked the 21st, we booked movers.

When did you all know when it was time to get the dates booked in? My solicitor really isn't helping guide me on the timelines. The indemnity policy and boiler paperwork I am told are the last remaining enquiries. They were sent over today. So once that is done... what next? The other two parties are ready, they have signed contracts. So it is just mine holding things up.

It’s too early for you to book dates. All you can do at this stage is get quotes I’m afraid.
Removal firms tell you not to book a definite date until you have Exchanged contracts. I haven’t always kept to that but it’s risky to book a date until you have exchanged contracts.

We moved in 2021 & 2022 (the mad times!) but got several quotes beforehand and our preferred dates for the actual moves so it does happen.

Although it didn't happen in our case, I think that just as E&C occurs at the last minute, there are also ones that collapse so the removers get an unexpected vacancy which they would be eager to fill so don't write them off.

It's one of the reasons why it's worth having a bigger gap between exchange and completion, to give you time to book a removal firm!

If you book them and it doesn't happen you'll still have to pay so it isn't worth the risk booking until you've exchanged.

We exchanged and completed within 48 hours. We had to use a particular removal company as part of a relocation package from my employers. We got them to take everything non essential into storage on exchnge day and they packed up the remainder on completion day.