What people ask before they book

Fill in the quote form with the two addresses, roughly what is going and whether anything needs holding in between. We read it, come back with the questions it raises, and then arrange a survey. The written quote follows the survey — we do not put a figure in front of you before we know what we are moving.

The survey is free either way. We can do it in person or over video, and video is genuinely fine for flats and smaller houses — you walk us round on a phone and we measure off that. Larger houses, lofts and anything with awkward access are better seen properly.

Four things: volume, access at both ends, how much packing you want done, and whether anything is going into store. If you are comparing us with another firm, check they have measured the same volume and assumed the same packing depth. Most of the gap between two quotes lives in those two lines rather than in the hourly rate.

Not if the survey was accurate and nothing has been added. The written quote is for the inventory we measured. Where it does move is when a garage, a loft or a shed appears that nobody mentioned — so it is worth opening every door while we are there.

Your goods are loaded into timber containers at your address, sealed there, and stored closed. With self storage you drive your own things to a unit and keep a key. Containerised means we handle it once, it travels inside the container, and it is never repacked. You do not have casual access to a container the way you do to a unit — that is the trade for the goods being handled less.

With notice, yes. A container has to be brought out and opened with someone present, so it is arranged rather than walked into. If you know in advance that you will need regular access to particular items, say so at the survey and we will keep those separate instead of burying them.

Each container is numbered and sealed in front of you, and the seal number is written on your copy of the paperwork next to the container number. Those numbers get checked again before redelivery. If a seal does not match its line, it is dealt with before anything moves.

Yes — stock, records and office furniture during a refit or a move between premises. It runs on the same inventory and the same sealed chain as household goods, which matters more for records than most people expect.

We handle held loads rather than left luggage. If you need a few bags kept for an afternoon, a station locker is the better answer. If you need a flat emptied and held while you are between places, that is exactly what the ladder is for.

All of SW19 and SW20, so the Village, the town centre, Wimbledon Park, South Wimbledon, Merton Park, Raynes Park and West Wimbledon. Colliers Wood and Southfields are on the edges — we work across them regularly, but both have their own local firms and a move that begins and ends inside either is usually better with them.

Often, yes. Most of SW19 sits in a controlled parking zone and a Luton cannot legally sit on a residents bay without one. We apply through Merton Council, and it needs arranging in advance rather than on the morning. On the Broadway and around the station it is the loading bay and the building that decide things instead.

Roads around Church Road, Somerset Road and the Park get restricted while the tennis is on, and bays are suspended at short notice. Moves in that window are entirely doable — they just need the standing and the route planned in advance, so tell us early and it stops being a problem.

Yes. Say so before the survey so we crew it properly — a fourth-floor walk-up with a turn on the stairs is a different job from a lift building, and pretending otherwise just means an under-crewed van and a long day for everyone.

Beds, wardrobes and tables as standard. Flat-pack that has already been moved once is the honest exception — chipboard fixings do not always survive a second pass, and we will tell you when we think a piece will not make it rather than discovering it at the other end.

You can, and plenty of people do the books and the clothes themselves. We would rather do the kitchen and anything glass either way. Those are the two categories that generate nearly all breakage claims, and they take longer than people plan for.

Yes, materials only if that is all you want — cartons, paper, tape and covers, dropped off before the move. If you are packing yourself, ask for more paper than feels sensible. Under-filled boxes crush; over-packed ones split.

Goods in transit and in store are covered, and the cover level is set out in the booking contract along with what is excluded. Read that section rather than taking a summary from a web page — if something you own is unusually valuable, tell us at survey so it is handled and declared properly.

Yes — France, Spain, Italy and Portugal as dedicated routes, and the rest of western Europe on enquiry. A European move loads in SW19 on the same inventory as a local one, then carries a customs file on top. We deal with that side; you deal with choosing what goes.

That depends on the route, the crossing, whether your load is going on its own vehicle or consolidated with others, and how customs clearance runs at the time. Your written quote includes an estimated window for your specific route rather than a general figure, because a general figure would be guesswork.

Frequently how it goes. Goods are collected, held under inventory in the usual way, and the export paperwork is prepared against that same inventory when your date at the other end firms up. It saves packing twice and it means the customs list is already accurate.