Your own money · 1
You are paying
The straightforward arrangement, and still most of what we do. You instruct, you pay, and everything we are told comes from one place. It is worth setting out properly, because the rest of this site is about what happens when that stops being true.
No purchase order, no adjuster, no executor. Just a household and a date.
What the move involves
The London variables that are not about money
Parking first. A great deal of London has no lawful place to leave a removals vehicle without a suspension or a permit, and the borough decides how far in advance that has to be applied for. We do it; you need to give us the dates in time.
Then the building. A converted terrace with a communal staircase belongs to a freeholder, and the bill for marking it lands on the leaseholders. A purpose-built block will have a goods lift, a booking system, and a facilities manager who needs notice.
Completion day, and the hour nobody owns
Where the move depends on a sale, keys are released once money has moved up a chain and the household at the bottom is paid last. Crews wait, and the trade word for that is waiting time.
It is chargeable, it should be written into your quotation, and a quotation silent on it is incomplete rather than cheaper. Tell us how many households are in the chain when you book.
What we will tell you not to buy
Full packing where you have a fortnight and enjoy it. Storage where the gap is a day or two and the goods could stay on the vehicle. A larger vehicle than the volume needs because it sounds safer.
None of that costs us much to say and all of it comes up at surveys every week.
If somebody else ends up paying
It happens more than people expect — an employer agrees to contribute, a landlord covers part of a tenancy change, a claim is settled mid-arrangement. Tell us when it does, because it changes who the contract is with and that is not a detail we can adjust afterwards.
You are paying
Questions about you are paying
- 01
Do I need a survey?
For a whole household, yes — by video is fine where the access is plainly straightforward. A quotation without one is a guess that turns into a conversation on your moving day.
- 02
Who arranges the parking?
We do, including suspensions and permits where the borough requires them. What we need from you is the date early enough for the borough's notice period.
- 03
Will you deal with the building management?
We will book a goods lift and a loading window where one is needed. Permission to move in or out generally has to come from you or your landlord rather than from us.
- 04
What is waiting time?
The period a crew and vehicle are at your disposal but cannot work, most often on completion day. It is chargeable and it belongs on the quotation in writing.
- 05
Can somebody else pay part of it?
Yes, and tell us at the booking rather than afterwards. It changes who the contract is with, and that is not something we can adjust retrospectively.
- 06
Do you move within a single building?
Regularly — flat to flat in the same block is common in London. It is a shorter day and it still needs the lift booked and the frames protected.
Who is paying for yours?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and — the useful part — who is paying and who will be instructing us on the day. That last question saves more trouble than any other on the form.