Actually physically moving house - advice please

Tahiti

Has anyone got any suggestions about how to go about finding a decent removal company? I've asked for recommendations from friends and colleagues, and haven't received any. Now I don't know where to go.

We're planning to move (fingers crossed it all goes through) about a mile to the new place (we're in Kent if that makes any difference), have enough stuff to fill a proper truck rather than a Luton Transit, and don't know where to look for someone suitable!

I don't know what questions I need to be asking either - insurance is obvious, but what else?

Please be as basic as you like - I've never done this before.

lynzpower

Heres what happened to me. I moved into my gorgoeus pristine brand new flat with laminate flooring. I didnt really have much furniture as a FTB as I was getting it mostly delivered, however, Id got some beautful Gplan furniture off ebay which had been in storage just up the road for when I eventually got my keys.

As it was only a couple of wardrobes & dressing table ( the rest oif the move was done in cars) I hired a "man with van" out of the gumtree. No sooner had they brought the wardrobe into the flat, my laminate flooring had massive grooves adn scratches throughout the halway and bedrooms, literally what a right mess. I said, can I have your insurance details to claim. He said,no tough, you need to claim on your contents.

I never bothered in the end, decided I'll relay laminate in the worst places before selling, but this really peed me off, and I'll be spending the money and going with pickfords next time I think, as Ive heard really good reports about them, very respectful of your stuff and not chucking it all over the place!

Tahiti

Pickfords - parents used them before and they weren't perfect. They did however have proper insurance to replace the items that they damaged (luckily not the flooring though!)

I'm going to have a look round on the net later to see if I can at least get a ballpark of costs via other movers.

Babylonian_2

Pickfords for us too - although we were doing a long distance move though - the price was pretty reasonable too considering they packed for us too.

homersimpson_3

(a) do they have insurance to cover damaged items (b) can they provide proper storage boxes/pack items for you. for local move i used local delivery firm who were fine and nothing was damaged. for longer move i too would probaly use pickfords. you can often tell just by meeting people how good their customer service is- how interested are they?, what questions are they asking etc.

mummytofour

We are using a ppl from the area we are moving to, about 30 miles away as they came up with a quote £150 cheaper than the local guys round here. Thankfully some friends just used teh ppl we are using and by all accounts they are pretty good.

dander

I used Bishops Move (national firm) and found them very good.

JennyW_2

can you not hire a lorry and do it yourself with a couple of strapping men to help you? this is what we did when we moved - at least you'll take more care of your furniture than the removal company will!

Tahiti

We've been thinking about doing it ourselves, but I can't work out what limitation there is on my licence (I'm pretty young and passed on a photo licence).

lynzpower

Are you over 25? thats the usual limit for companies to lend you a van .Ive driven transits and bedfords but left the heavy work to the lads :- )

vicstar_2

Tahiti wrote:

We've been thinking about doing it ourselves, but I can't work out what limitation there is on my licence (I'm pretty young and passed on a photo licence).

I think the biggest van you can drive on a normal car licence is a luton van. I have certainly hired one before on my licence and have never taken anything other than a normal car driving test. I don't think I'd want to drive anything bigger anyway though - a luton van is scary enough