Advice on using professional movers please

[ByAmberteacher]

I am making a significant move - Midlands to Sussex in the summer. I have always moved myself with a hired van and several trips. I realise this won't be possible due to the distance, how much stuff I have to move and now having children, a dog and guinea pigs! I have no idea how to find a professional removal company - Costs? Do you find a company near where you live now or where you are going? Do they do the packing and provide packaging? or better I do this and they turn up and transport all my stuff? On the day, I will have to make several stops on the journey with the dog and children. Do I give them the key to the new house and they get on with unpacking or do they wait for me to get there? What else do I need to know?

I have moved house 12 times and am 50 and I have no idea what I have to do hahaha ! Thanks for all your advice.

I've only done this once, and it was a while ago so I've no idea on current costs, but I had to get three quotes as I was claiming it on expenses, and the big national companies like Britannia and Pickfords were significantly more expensive than the smaller local ones. I ended up with a firm local to where I was moving from (which makes sense if you also want a packing service). I also couldn't get to the destination before my movers, as I didn't drive, so what they tend to do is store the stuff overnight and deliver it the next day, but this is more expensive, obviously, as it's two days' work rather than one. In the end (and this was a bit dodgy, and not an option with kids and pets anyway) I went with a company who let me hitch a lift in their cab!

Now that I am older and have more money and more stuff, I would definitely hire someone to pack for me and provide all the boxes.

We got packers last time and it was amazing! They were so fast and packed everything really well. I thought the packing was actually pretty good value for how long it would have taken me and would definitely pay packing again.

I would get 3 quotes from recommended places near you, and ask them to quote for packing. Proper removal companies, not man and van.

Packing: they provide all packing materials and boxes. They do the whole lot in a day so you won’t have to live half packed for a couple of weeks, and if they pack their insurance will cover anything broken in a box.

A removal co will also dismantle beds and put them together the other end.

All you need to do is pack your ‘day’ stuff for everyone, take stuff like laptops, iPads, jewellery with you. And a box with kettle , mugs, tea, snacks.

And then write on the boxes what room in the house they go in.

It will be expensive.

Better for you to be at the house. Make short stops, they will also stop, and be restricted to lower speed limits.

It will be a 2 day thing. But they will discuss what they do: probably pack the van the night before and then drive down in the morning.

Thank you so much for your useful replies. I am 'sold' on this now and think it really will be worth every penny. Thank you

We moved 100 miles, it cost £2300, we self packed but they dismantled beds, wrapped tv's, sofas and anything we couldn't box.
They packed the house Thursday and drove to a depot on route, then they were ready to unpack by mid morning on Friday.

I get three quotes from local movers. Get them to do the packing (they will pack EVERYTHING - rubbish, waste paper, absolutely everything, so get rid of stuff you don’t want packed and be sure to label tyd boxes ‘master bedroom’ ‘kitchen’ etc). You need to be at the other end so they know where to put stuff! You will have to tell them what time to meet you and you will have to pay for that extra time. They won’t unpack but they will assemble furniture if you’ve requested that.

Also consider that if they pack and something is damaged, it’s down to the removal company to put it right, but not if you pack.

Pickfords, years ago, had to pay for a dining table to be French polished as they managed to take a chunk out of it.

I've moved long-distance twice using professional movers, although the last time was nearly 10 years ago so I'm not up to date on price. All I will say is that it was 1000000% worth it!

The procedure was roughly like this if I recall correctly:

• Found a local firm, they send someone to look at your house and its contents, make a quote on this basis, you agree the price.
• They pencil you in based on your expected completion date, this is then fully confirmed when you have exchanged contracts.
• They come the day before completion, bringing all packing materials, and go through your house like locusts, packing everything (including your kitchen bin full of rubbish if you forget to empty it) except the bare minimum you have designated that you need for staying that final night✰ - everything goes into their giant lorry. The entire contents of wardrobes go into special wardrobe boxes. Chests of drawers are taped up and moved, still full of contents.
• They drive away for the night, leaving you with a nearly empty house.
• On the morning of completion, they come back and pack the final items. Their aim is to be fully out by 11am.
• They drive off to your new house, you make your way to the new house. If it's very far, there will be additional daily storage charges etc.
• You meet there, they offload everything into the rooms you tell them to, also reassemble any furniture they had disassembled.
• If you had moved locally, they usually want their boxes back and will arrange a later date to collect, but both my long-distance moves they didn't want the boxes returned.

✰Anything you don't want packed, label clearly and put in a designated well-marked DO NOT PACK area, preferably your car! We basically had an overnight bag with toiletries, towels, clothes and kept this hidden away. So the day before completion they packed the entire house except one bed and its bedding.

We got professional movers last time and ‘oh my gos’ doesn’t or just save time and effort. I paid them to pack up everything, and what would have taken me weeks, they did in a day.

I just made sure they had bacon rolls when they arrived and tea and coffee (I took the kettle in my car).

Ir you could pack up yourself (you can buy boxes off them), and pack up yourself and they put in the truck and move. I’d never do it myself again.

as for costs, just shop around, we used a local, but large firm from our old area, they came round, looked at what needs moving etc and quoted on that. For me it was worth every penny

Professional packers are a godsend. That said you must be very clear with anything that is not to be packed (told and labelled!). If it isn't bolted to the wall or floor it gets packed. And you will have a million boxes. The packers diligently and individually packed my kids old shoes from their wardrobes. A box of very carefully, individually paper wrapped old trainers and slippers...

They also packed the end of a loaf of bread that then went into storage for 2 months. That was an interesting find!

It's per truck of stuff usually. They will come, look around your house and quote. Do your runs to the tip/charity shop before they come as far as possible to get an accurate picture of the quantity of stuff.

Having moved without movers a few years ago, I would frankly pay a fair amount to never have to do it again - it was awful! My parents moved with movers around the same time and they were amazing - just the physical labour side to lump the heavy stuff around like it's made of feathers is worth it!

I would never move without professional movers again - they are worth every penny.

One thing to be aware of is that many companies won't book you in until you exchange (and therefore know the completion/moving date) - we had a mad scramble trying to find someone to move us because our move date got booked up between us getting quotes from movers and exchanging.

What amazing advice - thank you !

Another vote for it being some of the best money I’ve ever spent! Would advise going with someone near where you’re moving from not to as they will
usually come and back the day before you move if you use the packing service (and you really should!). On pricing, most places break it down and you pick and choose - basic moving cost and then a cost if you want the packing service, if you want larger items like beds to be broken down and another cost if you want it put back the other end etc. Some even offer an unpacking service (appealing in theory but I don’t need movers deciding where to put things). Some will do a part pack service on a per-box basis - we did that when we were moving a much smaller amount of stuff (moving back from a small flat after renovation work) and just had them do the kitchen but if you’re moving a full house then I’d just do full pack.

With our movers, we had a certain about of waiting time built into the quote they were happy to hang around for before stating the unloading process and a per hour additional cost if they were waiting longer.

I am actually still in love with our moving firm who did our last move. Recommend that you choose a local independent firm with good reviews. Stay away from the big firms like Pickfords.

When we did this the people we bought from would not let the removal company into the house to unpack. Make sure the contract specifies that a sum will be withheld from the sale proceeds if the house you are buying is not empty by the time specified in the contract, otherwise you end up paying your removal company extra. While you can technically sue them their lawyer will not give you an address.

Also in the midst of planning a significant move. I was hoping for packers to do everything, all the dismantling etc however unfortunately it's priced me out. We've had 4 companies come and quote us for 1. moving only, 2. moving and packing the fragile stuff, 3. moving and packing everything. The lowest cost of a reputable company to come and pick up everything and move it is £2k, the lowest cost of having everything packed and moved is £8k, then more if we wanted anything dismantled on top.

I was fully ready to sign up to it but had only budgeted £5k, maybe could have stretched to £6k. I was expecting a price difference but that high 😫

My tip would be to make sure that you are v clear on which room is which and what goes where, so that they label things consistently. Last move we ended up with various boxes labelled things like 'snug' and 'other bedroom' which didn't really correspond to anything.

I am overwhelmed by this response - thanks everyone. Your advice is so valuable and i have taken lots of notes!

We asked our estate agent for a recommendation but also got 2 other quotes. Local large well known companies. I did pack myself as I wanted to declutter whilst packing and packed each room into separate marked boxes so when it was unloaded the other end, things vaguely ended up where they should be room wise. Also by packing myself, I had a vague idea of what was in each box when I peered in. We moved 3 times in 4 years! I’m never moving again now!! Thank goodness we found our forever home now.

Bloody hell.

How much stuff and how far?!

We've got a big old move coming up 2026-27 and the potential cost is daunting.

A 3 bed house, moving about 250 miles. We're still gathering quotes based on feedback that we may have been unlucky with expensive companies. What's alarming me is that I'm actively decluttering, and have also been taking stuff to store with friends close to the new house and yet some of the quotes have increased in cost in spite of boot loads of stuff leaving the premises. It's all a bit baffling.

I moved countries a few years ago and the company I hired did all the packing, paperwork (yay brexit - taxes!) and were amazingly efficient. I was thoroughly stressed out and they made the process much easier. It cost about £8k to move not a lot of stuff as I got rid of most of my belongings. A few things were broken, but they replaced them or fixed them. So professional packers are worth it as they really know how to pack things. Most people I know who’ve tried to do it themselves have ended up regretting it (lots of broken or damaged items).

I am spending the next couple of weeks emptying cupboards, charity shopping and getting the big ones back from uni to sort through their stuff. Ecckk I am so excited. I am so pleased I asked on here. I have 2 quotes from local companies and awaiting one more who said they want to visit the house closer to my move day and after I have done some more house sorting. Having strangers going through all my things to pack has certainly made me think about what I NEED and what I can let go. It is shocking how much you gather over the years.

@ByAmberteacher May I ask how it went and what it cost and what are your tips? Doing something similar in January. Hope your new home is fab , by the way.