The True Cost of Removal with Professional Moving Companies

It has often been said that moving house is one of the most stressful experiences you can go through, after the death of a loved one and a divorce. In fact, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry notes that moving house and trying to slot into a new community is “...one of the most stress-producing events a family faces”. The problem with moving house is that, at the end of a fraught and busy day, you wave goodbye to the moving company whose efficient and friendly operatives have finished unloading all your cherished belongings, then turn around to face an avalanche of boxes all waiting to be unpacked. Fortunately, the sharp edges of memory tend to dim over time, leaving us fool enough to attempt the whole moving business again.

The summer months tend to bring out the birds and the bees, the flowers and the moving companies in droves: as much as 55% of moving companies’ work takes place during the summer months. Moving house is not a cheap business; neither is it something to consider lightly, fraught as it is with potential problems – or, if you are an eternal optimist, you might consider that the impossible is just a question of answers!

The Beginning
Professional moving companies are not cheap but, apart from budgeting for that, you will also need to consider the cost of actual packaging. You may be lucky in having a certain number of boxes supplied as an integral part of your moving company’s goodwill; you may even be able to acquire a few from friends, relatives and the odd supermarket. However, the majority of boxes will have to be sourced by yourself, along with market pens, bubble wrap, multipurpose cloth tape, duct tape and, probably newspapers. Bearing in mind that a 25 metre reel of multipurpose cloth tape will cost you around $4.40USD, and an average house move takes approximately 30 boxes, you can see where it all begins to add up.

Of course, there are always ways to reduce the cost of moving, such as scoring Freecycle and Craiglist for removal boxes. However, invariably you are going to end up with some costs on top of paying the actual moving company. The Realty Times, in the USA, reports that it is customary to tip professional operatives $25USD each, although I am not aware of this practice being expected in the UK. I daresay other countries differ in their customs as well. However, tea and coffee throughout the day is always welcome, regardless of where you are; so is the odd slice of pizza or a sharing bucket of KFC: moving is tiring and hungry work!

Insurance Liability
Professional moving companies are legally bound to be covered by insurance but cover does vary according to the company you are moving with, so check their levels of liability. My advice from my own history of many moves over the years is to take out extra cover yourself since most moving companies are never likely to fully compensate you for new-for-old in the event of you needing to make a claim.



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