When you’re moving to London, hiring a professional moving company is often the way to go, especially when you’re looking to have an efficient, cost-effective moving experience. It is, however, crucial to find a reliable and reputable removals company in London. After all, they may well be working on your property and handling all of your belongings.
Moreover, you will want proficient and experienced movers, as you will be counting on them to make your move into London as easy and as hassle-free as possible. Although packing up and moving your goods might not seem like a difficult task, it in fact takes a lot of skill and experience to make sure that boxes are correctly packed, fragile items are protected, and that everything is loaded into the moving van securely and efficiently.
That is why to ensure that you only get the best possible removals service for your big move, we’ve come up with a list of tips you may find useful in choosing the London removals company that is right for you. Here they are:
Understand how removals costs are calculated and have more than one removals company in the running
Several factors can influence the cost of your removals service:
- the number of items transported
- the distance travelled between locations
- the number of crew members
- how long the job takes
- the removal company’s hourly rate
The fact that you’re moving to London could play a part in your removals costs as well. Moving companies may take into consideration the traffic and difficulty of navigating the streets in the city. It’s possible each removal company may charge with a different rate for their services.
Make sure that you have more than one removals company provide you with a quotation for their services. Once you’ve compared them you’ll quickly identify which company will best suit your needs, based on their costs and services provided.
Having a backup won’t hurt, just in case something happens to your first choice. You don’t want to be stuck close to moving day scrambling for a removals company at the last minute because the company you booked cancelled or couldn’t meet your requirements.
Carefully examine service quotes provided to you
Do not settle for the cost given to you at face value. Ask each removal company to break down their service quote and find out what the quotation includes.
You can find out what services you are paying for by looking at the breakdown. You may have been given a relatively cheap quotation, but does the price include every service you need? Perhaps you’ll have to pay an additional amount for insurance, packing services, and extra crew members?
You should also find out if your prospective removals company charges for overtime and when it begins. If you need to store some of your belongings at a local storage unit, make sure that they can do a drop-off at the storage facility along the way.
If you’re still looking for a storage facility in London, Henfield Storage has stores all over London. We have storage units in the South, North, West, East and Central London.
Knowing these things will allow you to determine if you are getting the best value, or if the service quotations sent to you are simply the base amount. It also wouldn’t hurt to ask for a discount. Moving can be costly, especially when you’re moving to a city like London, so getting even a 10% discount from your removals company would be a huge help.
Have your potential moving companies assess your property and your belongings
To get accurate quotes, and to make sure your move goes off without a hitch, it’s advisable to have a moving company representative come over to assess the volume of items you will need to move. They can also check for any narrow hallways, steep staircases, and access issues within your property.
If possible, it would also be wise to give them a preview of what your new place in London is like, so they can anticipate any difficulties they may encounter during the unloading, and possibly unpacking of your items.
By doing this, you are not only making sure that you are being provided with accurate and realistic quotations but also that your selected moving company will be well prepared on moving day.
If a house visit is out of the question, you may provide your potential movers with:
- An inventory of all the items you plan on taking with you
- Items that require special packing (antiques, fine art, pictures, etc.)
- Furniture items that are bulky, oddly-shaped, difficult to move
- A list of any access issues you think may cause some problems
- Floor plans of your current and new properties
Enquire about removals insurance
Check if your prospective removals company offers insurance cover for your belongings, for how long your stuff is insured, and if you will need extra insurance coverage. If you have any high-value items, check if the removals company will cover them, or how much of its cost will be covered by the moving company’s insurance.
Steer clear of packing fragile items, as anything you pack yourself may be void of the removal company’s insurance coverage.
Lastly, ask about what would happen if the moving company causes delays that would set you back more than a couple of hours or days.
Look for recommendations, reviews and feedback from former clients
Hear what others have to say about your prospect removal companies. Visit their official website and third-party reviews website to have an idea of the quality of their service, as shared by their previous clients.
You may also ask for client recommendations to find out how reliable a company is. Be on the lookout for reviews regarding their service, pricing and customer satisfaction.
If you have people in your network who have recently moved and have used a removals company, ask them for their removals company’s name and get their honest feedback.
Whether you are moving across the country or somewhere close by, there is no denying that hiring a reliable removals company can make or break your moving experience. So, make sure to include the tips above on your moving house checklist to ensure your move goes smoothly!
