Arranging shipping for your move - where to get started
 

Hi Everyone,

For those who haven’t moved overseas before I thought I’d start a discussion on where to get started..please feel free to share your own experiences if you have done it before!

Whilst everyone is different and have varying circumstances, on average most people contact us to start to talk about their household goods shipping around 3 months before they are aiming to move. It can be earlier or later than this but this gives a good amount of time for planning and preparation without too much risk of things changing after you’ve got your quote.

The process for arranging moving services usually goes something like this:

• Have a think about what you want to take with you and what your budget is - are you taking all of your furniture and effects or are there just selected important items you want to take?
• Shortlist moving companies to ask to quote based on the type of service you are looking for (for example if you’re only taking a few items you’ll focus on companies who offer part load services) and the things that are important to you (price vs. quality or perhaps the level of assistance you need)
• Arrange Move Consultation appointments with those companies you want to give you a quote, they will send a representative to your home to discuss your individual requirements and take an estimate of the volume of your goods to provide you an accurate quote (all visits and quotes should be free and non-obligatory)
• Once you’ve received your quotes make sure they are all like for like in terms of service and volume and then use your priorities and assessment of the company’s fit with your needs to select your mover.
• Work with your chosen moving company to make sure you’re ready for move day including ensuring all documentation is complete and that anything your responsible for preparing to move (maybe you’ve chosen to dismantle some furniture items yourself) are complete

Check out this BE article giving advice on how to get a quote for shipping your belongings http://britishexpats.com/articles/mo...als-quotation/ and this one on how to compare the quotes you receive http://britishexpats.com/articles/mo...ng-quotations/

Please feel free to share your own tips, advice or things to watch out for in arranging your shipping here in this thread or to ask any questions about how it works, I’ll be happy to try and answer or point you in the right direction.

Good luck!

Kirsty