Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

:eek: Nerve wracking time...I remember it far too well, and still need counselling:blink:

Try to enjoy the upside down chaos and take a bit of downtime whenever possible. Very best of luck :thumbup:

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

I have butterflies in my stomach just thinking about your adventures to come!

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

22 Days until departure to Canada.

Britannia International Removals will be shipping 9.7 cu mtrs of our personal possessions to Toronto for £2100. We are only shipping clothes, kitchen utensils, a few computers and small household items. As most of our large items (Beds, sofas) are 10 years old or older it made more sense to sell/give away here and buy new in Canada.

We have decided to get our own marine transport insurance via A Letton Percival & Co Ltd who quote 1.4% compared to the 3% quoted by the removal companies. Total insurance worked out to £188 with £100 excess to insure £12,000 worth of goods

We have vaccinated dogs for rabies and booked the fit to fly appointment for 30th April, 48 hours before we fly.

We emailed DEFRA the Export Health Application form (EXA01) and 3 V5:2923 EHC Export Health Certificate forms on 5th April. DEFRA will contact our vets 7 working days before the fit to fly check - Friday 20th April.

Friday 13th April will be my last day at work.

This gives us just over 2 weeks to empty the house of contents. Facebook closed user group is proving a better option than gumtree at selling household items.

£50 for a sofa
£50 for Fridge Freezer
£25 for plastic container boxes
£10 for a bedside table
£10 for a garden swing
£10 for a sun lounger

Most other small items are going to Charity shops or dog rescue centres. We are finding it beneficial to donate a lot of our bedding items to the homeless, as they appreciate having warm blankets, especially when we had the cold snap in March.

Driving up to Suffolk on 21st April to leave one of our cars with family. We will sell the other car using webuyanycar.com on the day before we leave - Tuesday 1st May.

More updates to follow over the next 2 weeks............

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

I did that exact same thing and it turned into a nightmare. The branch I booked in with was small, but local to my house. Turned out the guy ended up sick, so did not weigh in. They have no central call centre I could get through to so I had to take it to another branch, where I was a little forthright in my analysis of their customer service... I mean, they had my number. But, the guy there took it on the chin and had me sorted within 20 minutes and I was relatively happy with the price I got.

Moral of the story: have a back up branch sussed just in case.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

No harm in trying to sell the same day privately as well, if the car is worth enough. If you can agree a sale and collection day, you can always take it to WBAC later in the day if the sale falls through. Depending on the car, you might end up making enough extra to cover a chunk of your moving costs ...

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

I sold my good car and bought a banger. We drove the banger to the airport, took the plates off, and left it there.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

My hubby was already in Canada. I was left with two cars to sell.
I sold the first one ASAP then about two weeks before the move I listed the second one. Sold it about 5 days before the move and just rented for those last few days.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

My parents bought ours and, 14 years later, they are still driving it.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Oh wow. That was a good investment for them.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

ha ha excellent! :thumbsup:

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

We plan on selling and then borrowing last few days and using temporary car insurance.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

glendem4, my wife is sorting out our dogs transport and she is a little confused, could you clarify if you are only contacting DEFRA for the (EXA01) and 3 V5:2923 EHC Export Health Certificate as you are not getting the pet passport?
Cheers

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Hi this also confused me and sent me into mild panic. We have a pet passport so didn't think you needed a DEFRA cert.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

Em said thank god it wasn’t just her, yeah we thought if you had a pet passport the DEFRA cert wasn’t needed just the health check a couple of days prior to the flight. We don’t plan on coming back to the uk but by getting the pet passport saves having to deal with DEFRA. Well we hope so.

Re: Diary of our move to Canada
 

This is so helpful to read, thank you for your posts I'm really looking forward to more and wish you a very smooth and happy move to Canada.