Removals options

keith969

I've just started asking around to get an estimate of removal costs - I have a 4 bed house and am moving to a similar property about 30 miles away.

The first quote I have is £1800-2000, this is for all packing etc done by them. Its a bit more than I expected, does it sound right? And what other options are there, like packing yourself etc.?

casper_g

Recently paid £650 to move 2-bed house 50 miles. Full packing service was not included, and would have been £180 extra for total of £830.

This was with a well-known national firm. I'd have thought a smaller local company would have been cheaper (look for ad in Yellow Pages/local paper rather than a shiny website) but we weren't too concerned as we're claiming relocation expenses from my partner's employer.

ETA: Not sure how much regional variation there'll be. Our move was in central southern England (Ox/Berks).

keith969

Casper, I'm in a similar area, could you PM me the name of the company you used?

hazelrichardson

We just moved out of a 4 bed house in Bucks and are moving to Cornwall (260 miles). I used a Cornish company and they charged me £1500 not including any packing. Another local company wanted £3500 for the same job so it is worth getting a few in to quote.

Gwhiz

I moved from a 4 bed in Berks to a 4 bed in Dorset (80 miles) - £700 no packing. (2005 prices)

I moved from there to another 4 bed (about 3 miles) but had all packing done £700 again. (2008 prices)

Yours seems rather expensive!!!

DKLS

I moved house 2 weekends ago, and did the cheap option, weekend Luton van hire @ £90 and hired muscle (mates) was paid in two crates of beer and £20 each.
All done in one day, sunday used van to buy some new furniture and take a load of stuff to the tip, after persuading the dozy council workman, that I wasnt a trader.

jonnyboy77

We are due to move house next month and have started to get quotes. We are moving from a small 2 bed flat to a 3 bed house. So far the quotes have ranged from £800 to £1500 for a full pack service, the cheaper is a local firm the more expensive is a well known (inter)national firm.

I'm currently 'discussing' with my wife whether we should hire our own van or consider the professional options - I have to say that I baulked at the prices. We aren't moving much and we are moving <10 miles!

Arguments in favour of the pro-movers include:

- £50,000 insurance cover
- dis-assembly and re-assembly of furniture
- use of trolleys and blankets to protect building and contents
- I get to stand back and drink a cup of tea while they do all the hard work ...

The cons:

- the price
- the £800 option it doesn't include packing material costs in the price, which is a variable.

In the grand scheme of things I am leaning towards the pro movers, I wasn't sure if I can name the firms (I am new to the MSE forums) or not, but it would be interesting to know other people's experiences and opinions too.

We're based in SW London too, which probably added a good 10% to prices anyway!

Thanks

Jon