Book earlier than feels necessary

Crews and trucks are finite, and the last two weeks of the month are the busiest part of it. Booking early is not about the price alone; it is about getting the crew and the date you actually want rather than the one left over.

If your dates can move by a few days, say so when you ask for the quote. Flexibility is worth more in this industry than most people realise.

Describe the move honestly

The quote is built from the inventory. Leaving out the contents of a garage or a loft does not make the move cheaper, it makes the estimate wrong, and the crew arrives with the wrong truck.

Mention the things that need thinking about: a piano, a gun safe, a treadmill, a chandelier, anything with glass in it. Those are handled differently and it is better known in advance.

Check the access at both ends

Access is the single most underestimated cost in a move. A long carry from door to truck, stairs without a lift, a narrow street, a permit zone, a lift that has to be booked with a building manager: each adds time, and time is what a move is priced on.

Measure the difficult doorway before the day rather than discovering it with a sofa in your hands.

Keep the things you will need first separate

One box per person with a change of clothes, chargers, medication, basic toiletries and whatever the children will ask for. Load it last so it comes off first.

Passports, deeds, jewellery and anything irreplaceable are better travelling with you than on the truck.

Deal with the utilities before the week of the move

Transfers and final readings take longer than expected and nobody wants to arrange them while a truck is being loaded. Two weeks ahead is comfortable.

Plan for the animals and the children

A moving day is loud, the doors stand open for hours, and a frightened animal will find the one gap in the fence. Somewhere else to be, for the day, is worth arranging.