Can someone explain to me how the removals process works when you are moving a long way please?

[NoahAndTheWhale]

We are moving 160 miles away and having had someone round to quote for removal costs, I am a little confused about how the moving process works.

The man was talking about 3 days or something like that - I can see that it takes time to load up the lorry and then drive there and so it is unlikely you can be in one house at the beginning of the day and the other house at the end, so where do you go in the middle?

Would it be best to stay with a friend near where we are now and how many nights would that be for? And when does everything get loaded up - surely that can't happen before the day of completion or something might go wrong and your things would be sitting around.

At least we are moving into a rented house so can move in whenever we want.

Can you tell this is the first time I have moved a long way (only moved about 20 miles and then about 5 miles before!)

You definitely won't do it in a day. So yes - would agree that staying with someone is your best option. I have done country to country so much different but have always stayed somewhere either end of move.

In your case I would get as much packed up as possible except bedrooms (although you can get most contents done and just leave the beds) and kitchen. Then you can live in your old house till day of completion, have final bits packed and vacate house and then go and stay with a friend for a night or two. Then head off to new house.

Thank you .

So where does the stuff go in between? Say if we completed on Friday and went to stay with sister down here and then moved in on Monday. Does it sit somewhere else?

We've moved over nearly 300 miles 5 years ago .. iirc the movers packed up the lorry in the morning, drove up the road - slept overnight in the lorry (somewhere secure) and we met them at the new house following morning to unpack.

We stayed in a B&B overnight, but guess we could have camped out in new home

Thank you .

So one night sounds more like it - I was getting confused with the man I spoke to today going on about 3 days.

It might be that the packers come and take most of your stuff before completion, and on the day of completion take the rest of it - like beds and kitchen stuff.

When we moved 250 miles north, this was what happened.

Monday - movers took most of our stuff

Tuesday - completed on house, removal men took rest of stuff in morning and started driving north. I packed up dogs and baby early on, and took one car north, camped out at new house. DH supervised cleaning and packed up cats and drove north later on

Wednesday - removal men due to arrive in the north but called to say they'd broken down on A1, blocked it for 2 hours and were waiting for a new bit of van.

Thursday - removal men arrived in bad mood having slept in van again and arriving 37 hours later than planned. Unpacked truck at lightning speed and headed south pronto

Camping out in your new house is possible, though friends or hotel would be easier. As we had cats and dogs we didn't really have that option