Why do I want the removers to do the packing?

[biser]

Not me, I need advice to give to DC.
What is the benefit in getting the removers to do the packing? If all they do is wrap drawers, complete with contents, in clingfilm then what are you paying for? What else do they do?

It depends if you like being even more stressed and exhausted than by just getting all the legalities/financials sorted on time. If you're happy to take it on then go ahead. Most people agree that it's a good idea to reduce the stress load as much as possible.

Unless your kids want to live with half the house packed up for weeks they would be better paying for it. It takes ages to pack a house. A packer can do it the day before.

I imagine you may want to do a pre -pack to remove an to items you don't want them seeing...

Last time I moved house (admittedly about 16 years ago) I was in two minds about the packing part - it added (from memory) £600 or £800 to the removal bill.
It honestly was the best money I ever spent - they just come and do everything for you. All you have to do is have a quick clean round after and you're done.
Packing always takes loads longer than you think it will. Unless you are really minimalist, or have v few belongings, it's really worth it.

It’s not just about the packing - you can get unpacking!

Number or name all rooms in both houses and they will put everything away whilst you go for lunch. Furniture, kitchen cupboards, wardrobes, drawers, sheds…

You just turn up, everything is away and you can pour the wine they put in the fridge a few hours before 🥂

They place your furniture where you want it in the new house. They dismantle furniture and then rebuild it for you. If something doesn't fit around the bend in the stairs they take the legs off then put them back on again. A full service package is worth every penny.

Packing always takes longer than you think and you have to work out how much bubble wrap . How many boxes etc. you need. Life then gets in the way if you think you will start in the weeks between exchange and completion - so suddenly a couple of invites out / busy with the kids / stress and late nights at work and suddenly you are behind schedule. You then pack stuff and realise you need it so have to unpack a box / go searching for stuff. If they have the money pay for the packing / unpacking service they will do it in a day. I have done both and seriously it was a nightmare doing it ourselves - takes much longer than you realise and getting help from family or friends isn’t helpful as they spend longer asking questions about how you want it packing and in which boxes etc and most people aren’t really quick at packing. Also they will pack it properly and if anything is broken down to them. If you have packed it and it get broken - whose fault is it - did you pack it properly ?

If you have only enough stuff you can hire a small van and bung stuff into a few cars then you are fine to do it yourself. I have moved a few times and the first 3 times we did it ourselves.

on the last occasion we just completely underestimated how much stuff we had and realised we needed at least 2 vans rather than the one we had hired. It took so long to pack everything and we said never again.

so the next move we just told them to crack on and pack it all up. Money absolutely well spent. They know what they are doing and we just sat and watched them do it. Would never ever pack myself again.

It's how they do it. They are more experienced as they do it everyday. They are quick because of this and know how to wrap things so that they are less likely to break.
They will save you time, they are insured if they break anything. They will save you lifting and will be able to judge how much to put in each box so that it's safe to lift.

taking furniture apart and reassembling? That was amazing honestly. Our bed was complicated as well and they had it all set back up quickly.

they don’t pack clothes into suitcases. They have special hanger boxes so they lift them off the rails and into a railed box then they hang them up at the other end. Saves so much time and effort

I am not sure cling-filming drawers is a good idea- they will be extraordinary heavy to take out the property and into new one, particularly up and down stairs. We emptied all our drawers into boxes.

They have lots of practice and the right equipment, they are fit and strong, they have clear heads and are not stressed by the move. DC can do it themselves but it will take ages and be very hard work. Better save their energy for unpacking and sorting things at the other end.

So let them do their own packing!! No idea why you are so invested in making DC do something they don't want to do!!

It’s the experience that’s worth it.

They know how long it’s going to take. Not a rough estimate based on the time you moved one room around or packed for a holiday. They know how long it takes to pack a 3 bed house.

They also have the experience to know how to load and unload the van in the most effective way.

They’ve moved dozens of sofas and fridges in the last months so they know that it will fit into this space, but absolutely won’t fit into that one without needing 45 attempts to get it out.

You don’t get to your new house exhausted and bickering (because actually his 4 hour estimate was way off or her expectation of what would fit in one load was totally out) and then have to build beds and find bedding.

It’s not an absolute necessity, but it makes moving far more pleasant. Especially when someone is child wrangling.

Books and ornaments and paintings/photos on the walls, contents of bedside cabinets, wardrobes, airing cupboards, random piles of shit you haven't moved since last August. Everything. Fridge magnets.

Best money I ever spent.

Toys, school stuff, understairs cupboard, cutlery drawer, random things draw/ers (!), TV+remote, scented candles (unless moving abroad), loo brushes, loo books/magazines, fancy crocheted lady over loo roll... Everything.

They won't clingfilm drawers, they will pack the contents - you don't move furniture with contents in.

In a standard removals contract, you pack and it gets broken, tough

They pack and it gets broken, insured.

Their packing methods are far, far superior to yours, that's why a lot of people, including me, pay for full pack.

Last time it was fantastic, done over 4 days in all, they worked like trojans

Day one, everything in the loft garage and garden, that filled a pantecnican with two containers and a rear stowage.

Day 2 they did most of the house except the beds

Day 3 beds gone giving us time to clean before delivering and setting up the furniture in the house

Day 4 a few weeks later, garage, loft, garden came back.

Was seamless! A lot to fit in a 3 bed house and a garage!

Roughly how much does it cost for a 3 bedroom semi detached ?
This sounds like the greatest idea ever 😸

Given that they have masses of 'free labour' available from their family, they definitely don't need to pay for packers. Lucky them! They also have a starter home, not 20 or 30 years of accumulated 'stuff'.

Most people have to do it themselves, some may have a bit of help with DC. Why didn't you put this information clearly in your initial post @biser? It obviously makes a massive difference. You would probably have had very different responses.

I have never done it but next time I will! 5 years on and we still haven’t unpacked from the last move 🫣

Moving is a lot of effort. We used our energy packing and then life and 2 kids later here we are!

Given that they have masses of 'free labour' available from their family, they definitely don't need to pay for packers.

Free unskilled labour. It's the skill you're paying for.

Are the five available adults as strong and as fast as the blokes who do this all day every day? Can they easily move heavy or odd shaped furniture and appliances up and down stairs and in and out of doorways? Do they know what order the movers will want to load things into the van?

Of course they won't be as efficient and knowledgable as people who do the job every day but that applies to lots of other services too (cleaners, gardeners, professional nannies, etc). That doesn't mean that they won't be perfectly adequate though. If I was fortunate enough to have 4 willing adults to help me with a move from a small house, I wouldn't pay for packers and movers. We never had any family help so always paid for the service once we had DC and a significant amount of stuff.

When we did all but our last two moves we packed ourselves. It’s a chore but doable.

What they might not realise is how exhausting it is, because quite a lot can’t be packed till the last minute and then they’ve got the deep cleaning to do.

None of that is compatible with small children so I hope they have a plan for managing that, it’s a lot of plates to spin.

Thei plan is to have 4 adults to help them with all the tasks, something that the OP should have mentioned in her first post but did say subsequently.