The complete removals guide: booking, packing and moving day
Moving home has a rhythm to it. Most of the stress comes from not knowing what happens next, or leaving a job until the week it becomes urgent. This guide runs through the whole thing in order: getting quotes and booking, packing and preparing, and moving day itself.
When to start
Start looking for a removals firm as soon as you have a realistic moving date, even a provisional one. Good firms get booked up, and the busiest slots go first: Fridays, month-ends, and the summer. If your date is one of those, four to six weeks of notice is sensible. For a quiet midweek date in winter you can often book far later.
If your date might move, say so when you get quotes. Most firms would rather pencil you in and adjust than lose the job, and some will hold a provisional slot.
Getting quotes
Removals firms price mainly on three things:
- Volume — how much there is to move. Usually estimated from the number of bedrooms, but a three-bed house that has been lived in for twenty years holds far more than one that has not.
- Access — stairs, lifts, how close a lorry can park, and whether a parking suspension or permit is needed at either end. Access is the factor people forget, and the one most likely to change a price on the day.
- Distance — and whether the job can be done in one trip or needs an overnight.
Extras sit on top: packing, dismantling and reassembling furniture, storage if your dates do not line up, and specialist handling for pianos, large appliances or anything fragile.
To compare quotes fairly, give every firm the same information. A quote based on a two-minute phone call is a guess; one based on a proper survey is a price.
Surveys: video or in person
Most firms will want to see what they are moving. A video survey over a phone call is now common and takes twenty minutes. For larger homes, or anything unusual, an in-person survey is more accurate. Either way, open the cupboards and show the loft, the garage and the shed — the things people forget are exactly the things that make a lorry too small on the day.
Reading a quote properly
Check what the price actually includes:
- Is it fixed or an estimate that can change on the day?
- How many movers and what size vehicle?
- Does it include insurance, and to what value? Ask what the limit is per item, not just in total.
- Are materials (boxes, tape, blankets) included, or charged separately?
- What happens if completion is delayed — is there a waiting-time charge?
Get it in writing, with the price, the date and the scope. A firm that will not put it in writing is telling you something.
Booking and the paperwork
Once you have chosen a firm, confirm in writing and check the cancellation and postponement terms before you pay anything. Moving dates slip — most commonly when a chain completes late — so knowing the cost of moving your booking by a week matters more than it seems when you book.
Some firms ask for a deposit, particularly for larger moves, long distances or bookings made well in advance. Check what it covers and whether it is refundable.
Tell your removals firm about anything unusual as early as you can: a narrow lane, a permit-only street, a flat above a shop, a piano, a pond full of koi. The surprises that cost money on moving day are almost always the ones nobody mentioned.
Four weeks out: preparing
This is when the work is actually done, and doing it now is what makes moving day short.
Declutter first. Every box you do not move is money saved and time saved. The rule of thumb: if you would not pay to move it, do not move it. Charity shops, selling apps and the tip will all take longer than you expect, so start early.
Sort out the admin. Set up a redirect with Royal Mail, and make a list of everyone who needs the new address: bank, insurers, employer, GP and dentist, DVLA, TV licence, subscriptions, the vet. Book utility meter readings for the day you leave and the day you arrive.
Book the extras. Parking suspensions, lift bookings in a block of flats, and any storage all need lead time. Your removals firm can usually advise on what is needed where.
Two weeks out: packing
If you have paid for a packing service, your job is to declutter and be out of the way — the firm will do the rest, usually the day before.
If you are packing yourself:
- Start with what you do not use. Books, out-of-season clothes, spare bedding, the loft, the garage.
- Heavy things in small boxes, light things in big ones. A box of books in a large box cannot be lifted safely and will burst.
- Label the room it is going to, not the room it came from, and add a word about the contents. Movers can only put boxes where the label tells them.
- Fill every box to the top with soft padding so nothing shifts, and do not overfill past the fold.
- Photograph the back of your TV and anything else you will have to re-plug.
- Keep screws and fittings in a labelled bag taped to the item they belong to.
- Wind cables and keep remotes with their devices.
Some things removals firms will not take: petrol, gas bottles, paint, aerosols, fireworks and other flammables. Plants and frozen food are often declined too. Ask early, and plan to move them yourself or dispose of them.
The essentials box
Pack one box — or a suitcase — that travels with you, not on the lorry:
kettle, mugs, tea and coffee, phone chargers, a change of clothes, medication, toilet roll, hand soap, a towel, basic tools, scissors, bin bags, the kids’ and the pets’ things, and all your documents. It is the difference between a tolerable first night and a miserable one.
The week of the move
Defrost the freezer a couple of days before — it needs longer than people think, and a wet freezer on a lorry is nobody’s friend. Run down the fridge. Confirm timings with your removals firm and check they have your mobile number and the new address written down.
Plan for pets and small children to be somewhere else on the day if you possibly can. An open front door and a lorry are not a good combination.
Moving day
In the morning, the crew will walk through the house with you. Point out anything fragile, anything going in the van last because it is needed first, and anything that is not going. Then get out of the way — a good crew works fast and is slowed down more than anything by being asked questions.
Take your meter readings and photograph them. Do a last check of every cupboard, the loft, the shed and the garden. Leave keys where you have agreed, and leave the instruction manuals and any warranties for the new owners.
At the new house, stand at the door and direct boxes by room — the labels do the work, but someone has to say which room is which. Get the beds assembled first: at the end of a long day nobody wants to be building a bed frame. Check your inventory if you have one, and note any damage before the crew leaves, while it can still be dealt with sensibly.
After the move
Report any damage or loss to the firm promptly — claim windows are usually short and stated in the terms you signed. Send your meter readings to the new supplier, check the Royal Mail redirect is running, and update the addresses you did not get to.
Then leave the boxes. They will still be there tomorrow.
Comparing firms without the legwork
The single biggest thing that makes a quote competitive is firms competing for it. Rather than calling round and repeating your details each time, you can compare quotes from removals firms on one set of details, and choose on price and service.