Verbal Quote, Borrowed Van: A House-Mover's Checklist Before the Removal Men Arrive

Moving day has a nasty habit of being the one date you can't shift. The buyer's solicitor has exchanged, the landlord wants the keys back, and the only thing standing between you and a stress headache is a bloke called Dave with a Luton van and a cheerfully vague quote sent by text.

Man-and-van services are one of the last genuinely word-of-mouth corners of the UK economy. That's part of the charm — and part of the problem. A smart logo and forty glowing Facebook recommendations don't tell you whether the load is insured, whether the crew are employees or mates drafted in that morning, or whether the hourly clock started when the van left a depot two counties away.

So before you pay a deposit, run this check. It takes about as long as a decent cup of tea and it will save you a far worse afternoon.

First, work out who you're actually hiring

There's a meaningful difference between three things that all advertise as "man and van":

• A driver with a van. One person, one vehicle, usually paid by the hour. Fine for a flat's worth of boxes. Not fine for a three-bed with a piano.
• A removal company. A crew, a fleet, a yard address, staff on payroll. More expensive, more accountable.
• A broker or platform. Takes your booking, subcontracts it out. Not necessarily bad, but you should know that's what's happening, because the firm that answers the phone may not be the firm that turns up.

Ask directly: who employs the people carrying my sofa? If the answer is "whoever's free that day", that's a fact worth knowing before you've handed over a grand's worth of furniture.

A legitimate business will have a company number you can look up on Companies House, a trading address that isn't a PO box, and a name that matches the one on the insurance paperwork.

The insurance question, asked properly

This is where most people nod along and get it wrong. "We're insured" is not an answer. Three different policies get muddled together:

1. Goods in transit insurance — covers your belongings while they're in the van. This is the one that matters to you.
2. Public liability — covers damage to property, like a scrape down a shared hallway.
3. Employer's liability — legally required if they have staff. If they don't have it, that's a red flag about how the business is run.

Ask for the goods-in-transit cover limit per load. Standard policies often sit somewhere between £10,000 and £25,000, and plenty of household contents exceed that. Ask what happens if your load is worth more. Ask whether there's an excess, and who pays it.

Also check your own home contents policy. Many UK policies include a limited amount of cover for goods in transit or in storage — usually a percentage of your total sum insured, capped. Between the two policies you may be comfortably covered, or you may find a gap exactly the size of your sofa. Better to find out now.

When the clock actually starts

Hourly rates are quoted with the confidence of a pub quiz answer and the precision of a weather forecast. Pin down:

• Start point. From the depot, from the yard, or from the moment they pull up outside your door? A firm two hours away can add a chunk of billable time before anyone's lifted a box.
• Minimum charge. A two-hour minimum on a job that takes ninety minutes is normal; a four-hour minimum on the same job is not.
• Breaks. Are they paid time? Most crews take them, few quotes mention them.
• Delays you didn't cause. If the seller's solicitor holds up completion and you're sitting in a car park with a loaded van, who's paying for that hour?

Get all of this in writing. A text message saying "about £45 an hour mate" is not a quote, it's a mood.

The extras that appear on the day

Almost every awkward moving-day conversation is about something that wasn't in the original price. Ask about each of these in advance:

• Stairs and floors. Third floor, no lift, narrow Victorian staircase — many firms charge per flight above ground level.
• Long carry. If the van can't park within roughly 20–30 metres of the door, some companies add a charge.
• Parking. Bay suspensions from the council need booking weeks ahead and cost real money, and some London boroughs are stricter than others. Ask who arranges it and who pays.
• Congestion Charge and ULEZ. If you're moving into or out of a charging zone, confirm whether that's folded into the quote.
• Dismantling and reassembly. Beds, wardrobes, the kitchen table that's been glued together since 2014.
• Heavy or awkward items. Pianos, safes, American fridge-freezers and anything requiring a tail lift.

Agree the breakage process before, not after

Photograph everything. Every room, inside cupboards, the backs of furniture. Note existing scratches and dents on the inventory the firm provides — and if they don't provide one, ask why.

Then ask the question that separates the professionals: what's the claims process, and how long do I have to report damage? Many firms specify a window — seven days is common. Miss it and your leverage evaporates.

Pack your own valuables. Passports, jewellery, documents, medication, laptops, the contents of the drawer everyone has. No removals policy in the country will make you whole for a lost passport on moving day.

The five-minute phone check

Before committing, ask, in roughly this order:

1. Are you a limited company, and what's your company number?
2. What's your goods-in-transit limit per load?
3. Does the hourly rate start from my door or from your yard?
4. Who books and pays for the parking suspension?
5. Are the crew your employees?
6. What's the cancellation policy if completion slips?
7. Can you send the quote and terms in writing?

Vague, breezy answers to two or three of those aren't necessarily fatal. Vague answers to all seven usually are.

On the day itself

Keep the kettle on and the biscuits out. Offer the crew a brew and a parking space and they'll treat your grandmother's dresser with more care than any contract can compel. Walk the flat with them before anything moves. Confirm what's going in last, because that's what comes out first. Take meter readings. And keep your phone charged, because the one photo you'll wish you had is always of the corner of the hallway before the wardrobe went through it.

A good removals firm is worth every penny and then some. The trick is finding out which one you've hired before the van doors close, not after.