Do removal companies pack for you?

Moving house should be an exciting, fun time - but not when it comes to packing. Packing up your home is one of the most annoying and time-consuming parts of moving, so it’s natural to wonder: do removal companies pack for you?

The short answer is yes - removal companies can and will pack almost everything for you, leaving you with more time to plan your move, arrange your unpacking and focus on the administrative side of things.

However, removal companies won’t be able to pack everything for you, and requesting movers to pack your belongings will incur a larger moving fee than simply transporting them. In this article, I’m going to explain what movers won’t pack, and what they will do to ensure a smooth moving process.

Do movers pack everything?

Mostly. Hiring a removal company is the best way to get your packing done fast and efficiently, and most movers will handle 99% of the process, from providing packing supplies, and dismantling furniture to even unpacking your belongings at your new home. When hiring a removal company, you can expect them to carry out the following tasks:

Supplying cardboard boxes and packaging materials

Most movers will supply all the materials they’ll need to get your home packed up safely and quickly. This includes cardboard boxes, sellotape, tissue paper and bubble wrap for fragile items.

Packing

Movers will also handle the packing if you request them to. Hiring a removal company to pack your belongings, rather than doing it yourself, will save you lots of time, hassle, and will ensure that your belongings are packed safely and stored carefully before transit.

Dismantling and Packing Furniture

You don’t need to disassemble all your furniture for the movers - most removal companies will take care of this for you, and pack all your furniture safely using their supplied materials and boxes.

Loading and Unloading

Don’t worry, you won’t be expected to heave heavy boxes onto the moving truck yourself. The removal company will handle this for you, no matter how heavy your items are. Moving trucks come equipped with machinery for handling heavy objects and boxes.

Transporting your Belongings

Movers will then be responsible for transporting your belongings to your new home, whether it be 10 minutes down the road or 10 miles.

Unpacking

You can even request your movers to unpack for you

Did you know that Goodfellows removal company in Maidstone also offer removal services all over Kent including removals in Sevenoaks, removals in Tonbridge, West malling and beyond.

What will movers not pack?

While most removal companies will be happy to pack up most of your things for you, there are a number of items that most movers won’t pack. These include:

Medicine and medical devices
Money, financial documents, personal documents
Hazardous materials such as varnish, paint thinner, ammonia, anything in an aerosol (to simplify categorising what is and isn’t a hazardous material, imagine that you’re going on an aeroplane and work from there.)
Batteries
Fireworks and pesticides
Food, although this will depend on how far you’re moving. If you’re moving to a building near your previous home, movers might be able to transport perishable food and drink
Certain valuable items - jewellery, currency, and irreplaceable items such as photographs or valuable heirlooms

This list may vary for each removal company, so the best idea is to call around various removal companies and ask for a list of items that they won’t move. Most will have one on-hand.

Why don’t movers pack everything?

Removal companies limit what they can pack due to insurance risks, threat of explosion (for example, hazardous materials) as well as the risk of items perishing in transit (plants, food etc.)

Hire a removal company or do it yourself?

When it comes to moving house, having a removal company pack up your belongings will save time and ensure that your belongings are packed correctly and safely.

While it will incur further costs, the DIY method risks the loss of fragile items or badly-packed furniture becoming damaged in transit. A home removal company simplifies the process and can even unpack for you at your new home.

How much do removal companies cost?

The cost of your flat fee or per hour fee will depend on the size of your home, the number of belongings you’re transporting, as well as the distance between your previous home and new home.

When you hire a removal company, you will find businesses that offer a flat move fee (aka a fixed price for the entirety of the move) or a fee per person per hour. A flat move fee might be advantageous over an hourly fee, as it helps prevent the possibility of any surprise extra costs.