Removals - want to be paid in advance

MadelinesMum

Hi all,

I'm moving just under 200 miles away and have got a few removals quotes of approx £1300.

The company I would like to use wants 30% deposit and the remainder paid on or before the day.

I'm now in a quandary, as my money is tied up in the house. Can I ask the conveyancer to pay the removals on completion or, I suppose my only other option is to ask my bank?

Thanks in advance.

G_M

I haven't moved for years now so don't know what's normal, but on principle I don't pay contractors up front. A deposit's fair enough, but I'd expect to pay the balance at the end of the day's work.

agrinnall

When I moved last year I didn't even pay a deposit, I just paid the full amount by card over the phone to the removal company's office once they had loaded the van - the load was going into storage for a few days, had I done the whole move in one go I'd probably have paid once the van was unloaded at the other end.

Chanes

I didn't pay anything up front. Though maybe a small deposit I migHt not have been concerned. We settled on the day after the move.

roje

£1300?!! Do you have a very large house to move? I'm moving 180 miles away and I've been quoted between £600 and £900 with no deposit up front.

MadelinesMum

Thanks everyone. I might try and get another couple of quotes. TBH I don't have loads of furniture, the house is quite bare after a massive de-clutter. It's a 4 bed, move from Kent to Lincolnshire.

DaftyDuck

East Kent to North Norfolk cost £2500 ish, but that was two lorryloads - full to bursting! Five bed house, wife doesn't understand the concept of declutter...

Joskat

We moved 50 miles earlier this year, didn't pay a deposit and paid whole amount after everything was unloaded. The men were brilliant, I stayed back at the house to do a final tidy while they left to go to the new house. When I turned up (in heavy snow) they had built a snowman on the front garden. Lovely crew, hard workers and lifted furniture as though they were feathers.

missmilly

I'm moving from Lincolnshire to Wiltshire in the next couple of weeks (hopefully!) and I have had 3 quotes for removals, £1750 (inc £200 for packing) £2200 (inc £400 for packing) and £2476 (inc £400 for packing) all boxes are extra on these quotes too

We have a 3 bed house and I have seriously decluttered, I didn't think we had THAT much furniture, but there will probably be a lot of boxes!

So, £1300 sounds like an extremely good price to me.

DaftyDuck

missmilly... for boxes, ask on Freecycle. I got offers of "one large box" {well, it was huge }, "lots of boxes" {a mix of various sizes, shapes and collapsed grot, which mainly went to the tip} and, finally, a sweet little old lady offered "a few of her packing boxes" {which turned out to be two hundred immaculate BAR removals boxes, several boxes full of bubble wrap, several more of tissue paper, spare reams of barely-used wrapping paper, wardrobe boxes... the lot}

Took two trailer loads to collect the lot, and we were packed up in perfect style.

missmilly

Thanks DaffyDuck, I did manage to get a good deal on eBay for a lot of boxes and have done quite a lot of packing myself. It's all a bit difficult as my husband is unable to help due to poor health, so I will need help especially with the heavier things, unfortunately.

I've tried Freecycle which used to be very good in my area, but not so now. It seems to have mostly migrated to FB now and the responses are not so forthcoming.

Hopefully I'll just have to pay out for wardrobe boxes