Removal and Storage

[Loopy Lou]

Hi,

Can you recommend a good removal and storage company? South Bucks to South West France.

Please, no horror stories - moving house is stressful enough!

Thanks.

Lou

[Ju]

We used knightingales from NW London to SW France three years ago. Very competitive quote and no problems at all. Sorry don't know the number but I'm sure I found them in Yellow Pages.

Ju

[paolo]

I got a couple of very expensive quotes from big nationwide companies. I also got a much lower quote from a small outfit with two lorries and it all went very well. They are called French Moves, website is frenchmoves.co.uk

[Alan Knighting]

Lou,

We had a short discussion about this a while ago.

I did a big house move from England to France six years ago and it all went perfectly. So much so that one of the removal company's managers came over for a holiday with his family. Trouble is that other people on the Forum said the same company was a disaster for them.

If you want to know what the company is called ask me through the PM system.

Alan

[aillis]

We used a frieght company ie commercial lorry looking for a load and we had a lorry with trailer moved 3 households and cost £800. It was several years ago and you have to be well organised with a team each end to load it and unload.

[Loopy Lou]

Hi Aillis,

I don't think that solution would work for me as there is only one of me. Although I like to think I am Superwoman manque, I don't think I can be in more than one place at once!

Loopy

[Hells Bells]

Loopy, some friends have done just that recently, and there were bad tales and some good. I'll have to contact them to find out who they were though. As you won't be moving into a high altitude mountain chalet in a snowstorm, the tales are probably all good.

[Alan Knighting]

We used a frieght company ie commercial lorry looking for a load and we had a lorry with trailer moved 3 households and cost £800. It was several years ago and you have to be well organised with a team each end to load it and unload.

That's all very well but who individually packs every single plate and cup and saucer? In the DIY world you do it, you take the time and you take the responsibility if it all goes wrong. If money is the only motivation and you are prepared to accept the consequence, that’s fine.

If you want to have it done properly and professionally and you want a guarantee, you don’t take the DIY route.

For some people DIY means “Do It Yourself�, for others it means “Don’t Involve Yourself�.

Alan

[Hells Bells]

http://www.removers.org.uk/moving/europe.html

You can search for companies here.

[A-two]

Insurance proved the biggest issue for us. I know you don't want the horror stories, but I hope the following knowledge is empowering. We took a 40ft container across the Atlantic, strapped to the deck of the ship. That's how they do it across the Atlantic, although I appreciate the risks will be different for you as I guess they drive it through the tunnel these days to France. The ship was a couple of days late in arriving in New Jersey, having sat out a storm at sea. In those circumstances, quite often they cut the ropes and the whole thing goes overboard never to be seen again. I didn't know this until we were told to count ourselves lucky that didn't happen. There was not a glass broken, but salt water got inside the container on one corner which resulted in an insurance claim in 5 figures. Having been told that the containers were watertight, I didn't realize this could happen either. Thank goodness we had used a company to pack everything professionally, or more would have been lost. Thank goodness we had packers who went through the tedious process of listing every item in every box. Thank goodness that they insisted we put a monetary value against everything. Thank goodness we paid through the nose for marine insurance. They sent a loss adjuster to the new house within 24 hours and could not have been nicer. He helped to unpack the boxes and list the damage and did not leave until the last box had been unpacked. He spent days finding specialist furniture restorers for me, to make sure they were the best. They paid up in full on every item within 30 days in cash and accepted every estimate I gave them. The moving company was Abels. They are not the cheapest, but they deserve this recommendation because they were there for me when it went wrong.