The first thing anyone who needs to move their stuff should do is get removals quotes. You can do this easily online. Going off recommendations is great but you can’t be sure you’re getting the right deal on your move until you’ve run through a few quotes.

Certain factors can make a company unsuitable for your needs and this can result in a higher than normal quote. For example, some firms specialise in small, local jobs and don’t have the resource or capacity to efficiently complete a large, long-distance move, so they’ll quote you higher to cover this. Certain firms don’t like to do certain areas so again, may quote higher than normal to cover this.

At Kiwi Movers we specialise in moving people in and out of London. We know the city, the buildings, the roads, the parking situation and how to get around all of the unique challenges that come with working and living here. That’s why we’re confident in our quotes for London removals, but we still advise any customer to ensure they have a good understanding of the following factors before settling on a removals firm.

Removal Price: Per Hour or Per Job?

There are two ways to price up a move; either you will receive an end to end price for the entire move, or you’ll be quoted an hourly rate. With hourly rate quotes, it’s important that the firm provides an estimate of how long they’ll take to do the job.

Professional movers will be able to give a fairly accurate estimate on a job, but to do so it’s important that the client provides as much information as possible when getting the quote. This is especially handy for smaller moves, such as man and van jobs, where there isn’t a whole lot to shift. Although regardless of how much stuff you own, your removals team need to take into account a number of key factors, such as;

  • Distance to move – This is one of the biggest factors in determining the cost of your move.
  • Day of the move – We need to anticipate flow of traffic and factor that into our time estimates, for example it’s good to know whether we’ll    be hitting London traffic on a Friday afternoon.
  • Stairs – If you’ve got them, we need to know about them.
  • Complexity of move – Features such as sash windows and spiral stairs can influence the quote.

 

Kiwi Movers can price per job or per hour, depending on the nature of the move. But no matter how we quote, we always aim to ensure it represents the best value and lowest possible price for our customers.

The importance of removal quote surveys

At Kiwi Movers we will conduct a free quotation survey so we can give the most accurate (and best) quote we can. Without visiting your property and seeing how much, or how little, stuff you’ve got, we can’t accurately spec the job.

Visiting to do an in-person survey also gives you a chance to meet your removals team and gives the team a chance to spot any snags that you may not have noticed. For example, an awkwardly placed radiator or a tight turn at the top of the stairs may be invisible until you come to shift a sofa out of the building. When we conduct our free quotation survey, we typically look at the following.

  • Stairs – moving things safely down stairs (or up if you live in a basement flat) can be a big factor on how long the job will take.
  • Width of doors – Nice wide doors can make a huge difference to how quickly we can get your stuff onto the van. We can pretty much move anything, but a narrow doorway can be the difference between dismantling something or moving it in one piece.
  • Parking availability – We understand that sometimes people just don’t have parking, so it’s important we come and have a look to how we can work around this.
  • Volume and type of items to be moved – If you’ve ever moved house yourself, you’ll no doubt understand how easy it is to underestimate the amount of stuff you have. Until your belongings are packed and stacked, it’s actually quite hard to estimate. That’s why we do surveys.

 

Make sure you’re comparing like-for-like when reviewing removal quotes.

We’d always encourage you to compare quotes to ensure you get the best deal. But it’s super important to make sure you’re comparing like for like. For example, if you’re paying a lower per hour rate, but you’ve got a smaller team on the job, it’s going to take them longer to do it. This could result in you paying more and having your move take longer.

Double check whether the following are included in the quote.

Insurance – Extremely important no matter how much stuff and how far you’re moving.

Packing – Having professional packing can influence your insurance, so always check who is doing it. We recommend letting the professionals do it. FInd out why here.

Packing supplies – Again, good quality boxes and packing materials can make a move easier than you’d probably imagine.

Dismantling and assembly – This is included as standard in our quotes and we’ll advise you of any items that require special treatment when we’ve done our survey. Make sure you double check that this is included in any other quotes you get as some firms may charge extra.

Removal quotes online – Add-ons

Services that are typically not included in a removal quote include;

Storage – We offer both long term and short term self storage for an extra cost.

Shipping – Many of our clients find it useful to arrange shipping along with removals for convenience.

Cleaning – Some removals can unsettle dust and there’s always a bit of mess once your stuff is out of the way. We can take care of cleaning for you but it isn’t included in our standard quote.

Waste removal – We’re happy to handle this too, but again, it’s not included in the standard quote.

Packing and packaging materials – We recommend these services for insurance and expediency reasons, but they’re not included in typical removals quotes.

The key thing to remember is that you’ll never fully know whether you’re getting a good unless you completely understand the nature of the quote.