Mitzyboy

I know what you mean, but thats not strictly true. A removal company may have basic insurance, but its only what they actually need to be able to operate. Its probably increased a bit, but cover used to be £800 a ton on a CMR for instance. Now for personal effects, including TV's etc thats wholly inadequate. So you have to pay extra for full insurance. There may be some exceptions where carriers provide full insurance in the price, but you will have paid for it.

Chiclanagir

We paid for insurance for the valuable items, i.e. tv, settees etc but when you can´t insure against everything far too much money, so when they lost all our winter clothes, broke my mother´s crystal vase and various other items we got nothing back. When I complained about the unpacking I was told they had a report that we were on a main road and they would be blocking the highway. I sent a photo of our road which is a tiny dirt cul de sac of which we were at the top. Didn´t even get a reply.

toyboy23

Our worry with our upcoming removals is the amount of handling some companies seem to want to do.

We had a local company advertising ‘containerised removals and storage’. When it got down to detail they wanted to load the lorry at home, take to their local base and then containerise. When it came to shipping they would de-containerise everything and load the lorry.

If done on a part load basis (almost certain for our amount of stuff) they reckoned they’d carry out the same process once or maybe twice en route Surrey to Almeria.

To me every handling of an item or carton is a risk of damage. Also, we wouldn’t be around to see how our goods were handled.

They ended by telling me that every removal company would do this, and they were just being honest enough to tell me, whereas the others wouldn’t.

I still haven’t found a company that actually seems to care, and most of them when queried fall back on the ‘you’ve got insurance’ ploy.

Sharon B

In our circumstances we went back to our removal company after a week of unpacking the house contents to be told that the insurance only applied if we had got back to them within a week!!

Has anyone actually unpacked the whole house contents within a couple of days, contents which took me a couple of months to pack!!

jdr

If you packed it yourself then breakages were probably not covered anyway.
Best way is to count the boxes out and in and see if any are damaged or been opened.

paintermujer

Can somebody tell me a good story about their move.

You lot are really freaking me out with your horror stories.

Chiclanagir

Nope, but remember my removal company was based in Exeter.

paintermujer

Could you pm me their name.

Ours isnt in Exeter but I would like to know all the same if that is OK.

Considering sending my bears now by some other method - but that dosent help the rest of it.

Like everyone else we just want our stuff to arrive safely to us.

Mitzyboy

Yer it is again, the thing wot I wrote for some forum or another a while back

One of the most difficult experiences in re locating is the actual shipping of your worldly goods and chattels. Not only are there a huge number of companies offering you the opportunity to use their services, but they all tell you that it will be trouble free and that all will arrive at destination in good order. In reality this is often far from the truth. We’ve all read posts from people arriving at destination only to find that their furniture is elsewhere. Whats that old saying? ….. breakfast in London, dinner in New York, luggage in Bombay!

Here are a few hints from someone who spent his life in the ever so stressful shipping industry and is glad to be out of it!

There are so many different destinations worldwide that it’s difficult to be specific so I will generalise as much as possible. If you want specific help then I have contacts in the industry and can point you in the right direction.

Get three quotes from different removal companies. Prices can vary enormously. Many carriers will not honour insurance claims unless they have packed the goods themselves. When you get their quote ask about full marine insurance cover (get a separate quote from them) and check their conditions of carriage carefully. Check to see if they are members of the British Intl Freight Association (http://www.bifa.org/Content/Home.asp )
It doesn’t mean they are perfect but at least they will be an established company.

Gain separate quotes for insurance. Again be careful about the conditions of cover, i.e. do the goods have to be packed by you, do they have to be packed professionally. How extensive is the cover. Check the exclusions and look for clauses about “atmospheric conditions”. If your goods arrive damp (usually deep sea long voyages) you don’t want the insurance company copping out.

If you pack your goods yourself, always make up a detailed packing list in triplicate of what is in each box with a nominal value (I’m assuming the effects are all used and not new). DON’T attach this to the box but number the boxes (and the packing lists) and keep the list separately as it will be required for (a) the shipping line (b) the Revenue & Customs and (c) you. Mark each box with your destination name, destination address and a destination telephone number.

If you are shipping to sea voyage destinations then your effects will probably ship in a steel shipping container. Although these are checked regularly it is not unusual for holes to appear. When you receive your goods you must check them carefully for wet damage as they come off the container. Once you have signed for them it will be more difficult to make a claim.

If you are shipping to Europe then it is more likely that your goods will travel in a box van / truck. The same rules apply when receiving the goods although quite often the effects will have been transhipped at least twice (unless you’ve commissioned a full load) before they get to you. Also remember that if your new home is in a difficult location then the effects may have to be transhipped to a smaller vehicle. Again, count the number of cartons and check for impact / wet damage.

If (in the case of international removals) the cartons have been examined by customs then there will normally be evidence of this. In the UK they are re sealed with security tape. If any cartons look as if they have been tampered with then call it to the attention of the delivery driver and then open to investigate.

Buy decent tri wall boxes to pack your effects in. Most removal specialists will supply them. Try to avoid cardboard boxes that you bought your last supply of baked beans in. They will collapse in transit.



Complaints: http://www.removalsombudsman.org.uk/yourqas.htm


Google: http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en...sociation&meta=

Marine insurance: http://www.marine-insurance-uk.net/i...=google&kw=all

toyboy23

I suppose the issue in discussion is attempting to find a removals company that cares enough not to damage it in the first place.

Ooo er! Sorry! I’m sure there must be loads of people who’ve had no trouble at all.

I just know that if our minimum wage lads at Lyon or Puerto Lumbreras are going to drop a carton ten feet, it’s gonna be the one that contains the irreplaceable family heirlooms and not the one that contains the bedclothes…

I’m not helping, am I?

paintermujer

NO

Patrick2976

We made the move in a LWB Luton packed to the rafters. Great fun and I was in control of our stuff all the way. Allot cheaper than a removal company too!
Re 7.5 tonners.....From my experience the rental companies are now no longer allowed to hire them to anyone without a haulage licence. At least that's what I heard from 2 or 3 of them when I tried.

paintermujer

Thankyou.

Very helpful.

All your hard work is not in vain.

Mitzyboy

A lifetime in the freight industry .... and I still couldnt recommend a european removals company to you!