Long-distance removals across the UK

With a dedicated vehicle, the lorry and crew are yours for the move. It loads at your old home and drives straight to the new one, so you know when it will arrive. This is the usual choice for a full house and a fixed completion date.

A shared load, sometimes called a part load or groupage, puts your belongings on a vehicle with other customers' goods travelling in the same direction. It can cost noticeably less, particularly for a smaller household, but you give up control of the timing. Delivery is usually given as a window of several days rather than a date. It suits people moving into a furnished let or staying with family for a while; it does not suit someone arriving at an empty house with children.

Some firms offer a return load at a lower price when a lorry would otherwise drive home empty. That can work well if your dates are flexible, but ask what happens if the original booking falls through.

If the drive is long, the removal company may load on day one and deliver on day two. Your belongings stay on the locked vehicle overnight or in the firm's store. This takes pressure off completion day: the lorry can be at the new address in the morning, ready as soon as the keys are released.

Ask where the loaded vehicle is kept overnight and whether the insurance cover continues during that time. If there is a gap of more than a day or two between your move-out and move-in dates, storage in containers at the firm's depot may be cheaper than holding a full lorry. Storage usually means an extra handling charge for loading into and out of the containers.

The legal side can differ between the two ends of the move. If you are selling in England and buying in Scotland, the English sale completes when the money arrives, while the Scottish purchase has a date of entry agreed in the missives. The two processes do not automatically line up. Your solicitors should confirm both dates before you tie the removal to them.

Travel time also affects who needs to be where. You may want to be at the old house while it is loaded and at the new one when the lorry arrives, which can mean driving ahead overnight. Some people send a trusted relative to one end. Give the removal company a single contact number for the day and agree how the crew will get the keys at the new address.

• whether the vehicle is dedicated to your move or shared
• the planned loading and delivery dates, or the delivery window for a shared load
• where goods are kept overnight and whether they are covered there
• storage costs per week and handling charges in and out of store
• access at both ends, including parking suspensions if either street needs one
• the insurance limit, the excess and any items the cover excludes
• the charge if delivery has to wait because keys are late

Moves to the Scottish islands, the Isle of Wight, the Isles of Scilly or Northern Ireland involve a ferry. Ferry space for large vehicles is booked in advance and can be limited at busy times, so the removal date may depend on sailings as much as on completion. The quote should say whether ferry fares are included and what happens if a sailing is cancelled.

Remote rural addresses can have narrow single-track roads, weak bridges or farm tracks that a large lorry cannot use. The firm may need to transfer your belongings to a smaller vehicle, called a shuttle, for the last stretch. Tell the surveyor about the road to the new house, with photographs if you have them.

On a local move, a van that turns out to be too small can come back for a second load. Over three hundred miles it cannot. That makes an accurate volume assessment more important than on any other type of move. A removal company that quotes a long-distance job without seeing your belongings, in person or by video, is guessing.

Before the survey, decide what will not come. Selling or clearing furniture before a long move saves money twice: less to load and less to unload. If rooms at the new house are smaller, measure them and leave behind what will not fit.

Your request describes both addresses and the dates you know. We verify your phone and email and then show the request, anonymised, to removal firms that take long-distance work. Only one firm can buy it, and that firm is the only one that gets it, and you receive its name, address and phone number from us before your own details go across. The service is free. We cannot promise that a firm will take on every route, and a request that nobody buys is withdrawn after 21 days.