When it comes to moving home, the process of moving day can be a very stressful experience. And when you add in removal company fees that can range anywhere from £264.00 to £1,680 depending on the amount of belongings you have, the value of your items and additional fees, more and more people decide a DIY house move is the way forward. As experts providing a range of self-drive vans, we’ve put together our top tips to help make your move as stress free as possible.
Choosing a van!
We don’t just mean in terms of checking the availability of vans for hire and how much each specification will cost. You’ll first of all need to work out the size of the van that you require. For instance, for a three bedroom home a low loader Luton Van or Extra Large Van should do the trick. We would recommend that for heavier[LM1] items such as fridges and washing machines etc. you should strongly consider choosing a Luton Van with a tail lift to take the strain, as well as for lowering expensive items to avoid any damage to your beloved furniture. It’s important to note that of these options, the Extra Large Van and Low Loader Luton can take the most weight. For a one bedroom apartment or flat, a large van LWB would be sufficient. Next you would need to work out how many trips you will need to make if it all doesn’t fit in one load, and factor in rest time as well as time for food too. If you don’t want to rush, it may be advisable to book a van for a couple of days rather than trying to cram it all into one day.
Plan ahead
Particularly if you have children at school, the last thing you want to do is disrupt their schooling. Whilst it might be easier to make trips while they are at school, having the extra helping hands for the lighter things is often a bonus too! So, it’s important to consider what you feel will be the easiest option for your circumstances. Irrespective of if you have kids to help muck in, asking loved ones to help is always highly recommended, especially for larger pieces of furniture. Call in all those favours you’ve earned over the years!
Also, when it comes to planning, nothing beats making a list! Make a list of everything you have to do, well in advance. Make another list of all the items you’ll need to pack and in what order you need to pack/unpack them. There’s nothing worse than getting to the new house only to discover the kettle is buried at the back of the van. Cue angry helpers!
Pack efficiently
You can make the process easier by stacking the van with heavy furniture and boxes towards the back and pile it up to the roof. This will leave you with more room to stack. Yet before you get to this stage you actually need to pack! Make sure you get all the materials that you need for the boxes themselves, i.e. bubble wrap, strong packing tape, and the actual boxes of course. We advise you not to skimp too much on the quality here. You can also benefit from using webbing tie to fix the boxes to the floor, so that you minimise the chances of breakages on the way. We’d also highly recommend you organise your boxes by labelling them by room, so you know exactly where they need to go and you don’t have to move them around again later on. Labelling also lets you know what you need to be more careful with rather than slamming everything down as quickly as possible.
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Consider taking out moving insurance
Your home insurance may already cover this but some insurance companies will only cover you if you hire a professional removal company. If you are transporting several expensive or fragile items, this may be advisable.
Declutter
Moving home gives you the perfect opportunity to clear out unused or unwanted household items. When you factor in that you’d essentially just be moving clutter from one place to another, that takes up valuable moving space it really is a no brainer. Charities are always looking for stock to help raise money for their causes, so donating them can benefit others as well.
Keep back your essential items
At the end of the day when you’ve finished moving, you’ll understandably be quite tired. Making sure you have key items out such as your phone and device chargers, kettle, tea, coffee, toilet roll, hygiene products will save you a lot of stress from having to scour your boxes for them if you didn’t label them. If it’s your first night there, then tools for reconstructing your bed are also a must. Plus, don’t forget to have a bottle of bubbly ready to celebrate!
Changing over address
With how long winded the process of actually getting to moving day is, with mortgages and solicitors to contend with, it’s easy to forget to change your address details over. Typically you will need to change this for:
- Your bank
- Your GP
- Any utility suppliers; Gas, Electric, Water
- The dentist
- Any places of employment
- Insurance (including pets, car and travel)
- The DVLA
- HMRC
- The Electoral roll
If you require, your local post office can redirect your mail for a small fee until you have time to change everything over. This can be a real lifesaver so you don’t have to keep making annoying trips to pick up post from your old address!
The last piece of advice we have for you is to have fun! Moving house should be a happy and joyous event, so don’t forget to crack open that bottle of bubbly when you’ve finished!
