How to Hire a Man with a Van for your House Removal

Posted on 20/10/2020

Tips for Hiring a Man with a Van for Your House Removal

Moving house is a huge life changing situation for a lot of people and rates in usually as the third most stressful thing that people experience after bereavement or a terminal illness. A lot of the time moving house isn’t as bad as we imagine it to be, however the lingering thought on how to move all your belongings and goods safely and secure, becomes a little challenging. Small removals can be undertaken by you however for large home movements, a man with a van is the idea to-go-to person for this type of job. Below are some great tips on how to hire a removal company, for your home movement:


•    Find out what areas they cover. A lot of London removal companies will only cover the M25 areas, which means that if you ask for any removals outside of the London area, there might be a surcharge. Area covers with man with a van is one of the most crucial pieces of information that you will require, because that will lead into how much it will cost you to hire them.


•    Does the removal company charge a daily, half day or full day flat rate or do they charge hourly? Whilst an hourly charge might be cheaper for a local area, say if you lived within West London and your new place was 20 mins down the road, an hourly rate would help. However, if you were moving from West London to South London, half a day flat rate would help because it would take a few hours in traffic to try and get everything in for the day. Also figure out that if booking a flat rate is cheaper than hourly, because it normally is. Do your proper maths before you phone up any company for a complimentary quote.


•    Figure out what size the van is prior to reserving your slot with the removals company. This cannot be insisted enough because you may think that everything would fit into the van and yet It can go either way. Sometimes the van is too big and you realised you have paid FAR too much than what it would have costed and sometimes, even worse; you realise the van is too small and not everything will fit. And when everything doesn’t fit, it will cost you more money because the company will be taking a round trip, trying to get everything done for the day. Lesson here is to always do your research beforehand.


•    The best men with van companies are ones that have both removal and storage. Sometimes you may need to vacate your property mid-month that you currently live in, however you cannot gain access to the new property until the end of the month. These types of companies will hold all your belongings, be it large or small until you are able to. This can be a huge relief and pressure that is taken off your mind as most professional storage companies often charge a sizable amount of this service.


•    Lastly, always inquire about the VAT on their quote. Many companies have the decency to have included VAT when they quote you an amount, however because not all companies do that, not all of them do. The last thing you want to be caught out with is an added charge on your tab because the person on the other end of the line didn’t quite share with you that it was a charge minus VAT.