Removals

Pickfords will be the most expensive I bet and the local firms the cheapest. Not that you should automatically go for the cheapest. Do they have web sites with feed back from customers on? I put some feedback (very positive) on my small local removal firm's website as they were so good and reasonably priced.

DD has moved a couple of times recently, 4 bed houses, about 5 miles, and a local firm charged £700. They provided boxes but this didn't include packing. They were fantastic taking beds and large furniture apart and re-assembling them etc. Clothing could stay in drawers and wardrobes. I find using local family-run businesses is much better as they have a reputation to keep.
This has all happened quickly, I am so pleased that everything fell into place for you. Have a trouble-free move!

My D and SiL used Pickford's and had a full packing service and storage. I supervised it as they were away but can say it was quick and efficient. His firm were paying all expenses but certainly would have gone for a reasonable quote.
Good luck, it is one more stressful thing to get through.

...or even off the wall!

GB Liners have come in at just under £3,000 which I would see as of the wall for a move of about 7 miles!

So I am arranging 3 more quotes: Pickfords + 2 local firms. I drew the line at Dan The Van though!!

Thanks for all that advice - you are all making it sounds relatively painless.

The word packing is missing somewhere there.

Removal costs must be very cheap here compared to other areas. I have a friend who is considerably downsizing to a place about a quarter size of her present one. She is getting rid of loads of stuff so not much to move by the time removal day comes. She is moving about one and a half miles and has been quoted £495 for just removal and £700 for and removal. I do emphasize it is a small removal ,most of her furniture is too large and she is going from 3 beds to one. It is very sad as it is finance that is forcing the move.

We moved 180 miles in 2012 and had the packing service - well partly as I had done quite a bit of packing whilst de-cluttering. It took 2 days - one to pack and load the van and one to deliver and unpack the stuff. Both were long days. I supplied them with endless tea and biscuits and tipped the three men £20 each as they had been so good and so helpful.

The amount paid to the removal firm - a small local one - was £1200 which we thought was excellent value.

I dont understand the need to tip....you are already paying for the service ...Ive never tipped anyone in my life....

Just to answer the tip question. Our removal men 3 plus the boss, took one and a half days to pack. Drank load of tea and ate 4 packs of biscuits! We tipped them £10 each, but not the boss who tactfully had made himself scarce.

After 6 weeks of storage 2 of the same men, plus the boss unpacked in half a day and once again the boss disappeared before the end. We tipped the 2 chaps £10 again. Hope this helps.

x

We are just unpacking the last half dozen boxes from our move last month. The garage is full to bursting with the things that we had overestimated when downsizing, even though we thought we had got rid of masses.

We had the full packing, removal storage and delivering service for 4 bed, 3 recep. and 2 garages. Without the storage element, moving 7 miles was just over £1000 and worth every penny. The packers are like locust and pack everything in sight. Personal things not being packed were put in the boot of the car.

The fun of unpacking, is finding things that were packed and wrapped, like opened box of tissues and empty plastic pots ( kept for GCs painting water!)
A word of warning, be prepared for a lot of trips to the tip with the empty boxes.
Also, don't try to do too much at once, it is very tiring.
Hope it all goes smoothly.
x

It makes you think, all this talk about moving costs. We have been in the same house,(boring) for 48 years, and when we moved it cost us £46.00. That was from Essex to Berkshire.

Oh - that is good to know absent.

roses - the condition of acceptance of our offer was that we would exchange contracts by the end of this month, so we have been trying to push things on. The only hold up at the moment is SIL's surveyor, who is coming on Thursday to look at this place - I know they sometimes take a long time to report back. But if worst comes to worst SIL will buy us the bungalow temporarily and we will be the proud owners of two houses! (plus two lots of stamp duty! - which you can get a refund on within 3 years). We are hoping that we do not have to go down that road, so fingers crossed. Let us hope the surveyor does not find something awful about this place. Our surveyor was OK with it 20 odd years ago and we have done lots of improvements since then.

Anyone got any ideas as to what an appropriate tip is for the removal men? I will have to buy in some "builders' tea" as we do not have it in the house normally!

Luckygirl That was the company I used to pack and move my worldly goods from a fairly large house in London to a fairly large house in Darlington in the North-east of England. The move included masses of books, although I had already donated over 1,000 to a book charity, quite a lot of art and huge quantities of china and glass, plus, of course, furniture, linens, pans and pots, etc. The quote was lower than I expected and the service was exemplary; they will even come back to collect the empty boxes once you have unpacked.

They were so efficient, helpful, cheerful, fast and polite that I also used them for my move from Darlington to New Zealand. I did a bit more house clearance before we moved, but it was still much the same quantity of stuff as before. Even their overseas charges seemed eminently reasonable to me and, once again, they were so speedy and efficient – as well as charming and polite – that I found myself sitting on the floor of an empty room far too early for the train I had booked for travelling to London.

I would recommend them very highly.

Gosh Luckygirl that was quick work!Usually a house move takes a while.We have used the packing service for the last five moves, as others say, really worth it. Take your valuables yourself, plus kettle mugs and biscuits etc . The tea those removal men get through! coo-ee Mr Shifter.

We used a London firm whose people were cheery fit Antipodeans. It was a very hot day and at lunch break (well deserved!) they sat on their tailboard eating all the ice cream we had given them from the freezer. Very efficient too.

We moved 2.5 years ago and used professional movers. They were definitely worth every penny.....could not have done it without them. They were with us for five days... one to assess the job, two packing and two unpacking. We did have a lot of stuff-still getting rid of things now!!

What do people think might be a reasonable tip?

I hope it will not come out at £3400!!!!!

Ana - it is a sort of a downsize in that our present "cottage" has a huge music room downstairs and a big conservatory. It is downsizing - the bedrooms are nothing like as big as here, and one will be used as a TV room, and another as a music room - a very bijou one!

I know someone moving 200 miles shortly, and it is costing £3400.
But I would imagine moving somewhere 20 minutes away, wouldnt be near that figure.

A four-bedroomed bungalow? I thought you were downsizing... Agree about professional movers, though - worth every penny!

We had a local removal firm that I had used a couple of times for office moves, when I was very impressed with their service. They were excellent, did everything including empty the wardrobes and put the clothes in hanging containers and put them all away at the other end. Even plants out of the garden! No problemo. The only thing that went with me and DD in the car was some very special china figurines. DH did tip them, but they really earned it. I got sick of packing and unpacking for house moves when DH was in the services.

P.S. Make sure that you pack your kettle, teabags, milk,sugar, etc in your car, plus a loo roll

A tip......ah, thanks for the tip!!

Percentage??

Definitely worth it! Takes all the hassle and stress away, and makes moving (almost) enjoyable. Hope you are very happy in your new home.