The list I am putting together for SevenSeas and the MoveCube is at the box level. I enter an ID for each box and then I describe the contents of it.
The TOR list is basically summarizing the items, from multiple boxes. Based on the HMRC TOR Guidance they only care about the "category" level of items you are bringing over. This is how I understand the process. I will learn more once I submit my form.

That is how we are breaking down our boxes, although not distinguishing between male/female clothing as we are mixing them up to evenly distribute weight.

As as a side, I see that you are using a Move Cube. We will be as well (large, from Vancouver). We were advised by Seven Seas that they just require the TOR1 number prior to anding and as we have a 62-76 day estimate I'm confident that we will get it prior to that. We won't be basically submitting until the cube is loaded and we know exactly what it contains bot for the TOR1 and insurance.

Yes, I was given the same instructions by SevenSeas too. I am also shipping a large cube from Phoenix. They also told me I just need to get the TOR number, before the ship reaches the UK.

Do people list out the things you dont put in the MoveCube?
As you can imagine, there will be some items, which we will not pack up. We will bring those items when we fly to the UK with our luggage. Examples: my laptop and tablets. Do I remove these from the TOR1 form or keep them on there, does anyone have clarity on this?

Don't know for sure but I would imagine that when you arrive in the UK you will be going through customs and will have opportunity to declare any items at that time. I'm not putting things like cell phones, tablets etc in the TOR1.

My movers say that box level should be fine, given that they say boxes of what. Their customers have regularly used their packing lists (at the box level) successfully before, so fingers crossed here.

For Seven Seas, do you have to list clothing individually or can I say 3 coats, 10 dresses? Their instructions say to itemize but that seems ridiculous.

Yes just say 3 coats and 10 shirts, 10 trousers.

I used Seven Seas last summer. Only listed "Male Clothing" and "Female Clothing" on the Seven Seas / TOR1 forms. No issues at all. (See post #11 above)
One aspect to keep in mind is regarding insurance. If you possess some very valuable items of clothing, they may need to be itemised for insurance puposes.

I got TOR approval last week, took 2 days!! All I put was “Clothing-approx 400 items”

For those who have shipped via Seven Seas and said you were told you could supply the TOR reference before the shipment arrives (and not needed before it ships), how did you provide them with the TOR into, was it just a phone call or did you update the docs online? We're getting ready to ship and are still waiting for our TOR approval (we're at day 8 right now), we're completing the online box details and were wondering if in one of the later steps completing the docs does it ask you for the TOR reference there? If you don't yet have it did you just leave it blank until later?

I think I did it with just a phone call to customer service and I sent it via email too.

Awesome, thanks!

I shipped most of my stuff with Chess, but used Seven Seas to air freight 2 cases of clothes so I had stuff to wear while waiting for my shipping. I got the TOR and passed the details onto Chess by email.
Seven Seas however told me that I didn't need a TOR for them as it was air freight. After 3 weeks (not the 3 days they had promised) the cases arrived in the UK (this was from Australia) and I received a very rude email from Fedex saying they were going to return the goods on the next plane because there was no TOR with it. Seven Seas said I would need to pay for the goods to be returned. After a rather heated discussion ( ) with three staff at Seven Seas they finally allowed me to speak to a manager who agreed that I could use the existing TOR and admitted that they should have asked me for it in the first place. They did get Fedex to waive the resultant storage charge but I didn't get any kind of apology for what was clearly their stuff-up.

Wouldn't use Seven Seas again, they were appalling from start to finish.

If anyone is interested in current TOR approval times (July/Aug 2023), we submitted our request on July 18th and got the approval letter in email today, Aug 3rd (approx 12 working days).