Check us on the register

Why risk is the organising idea

Because it is the question every removals website avoids. Who is liable for what, which document says so, and what a promise is actually worth when the company that made it has been dissolved. All of that is knowable before you book, and almost none of it is published anywhere a customer would find it.

It is not published because it is uncomfortable. A firm setting out where its responsibility ends is drawing attention to the fact that it ends somewhere — which is true of every removals firm in the country and reads badly next to a competitor promising total peace of mind.

What we publish, and where

The risk ledger on the home page lists ten things that go wrong on a move, whose risk each one is, why, and which document governs it. Two of those rows say plainly that the answer is you.

The section beneath it explains limited liability, what a phoenix company is, and how to check any removals firm on the free public Companies House register — then tells you to do exactly that with us.

The five insurance questions

“Fully insured” is an adjective, not a fact. The questions that produce facts are: what is the goods-in-transit limit, what is the limit per individual item, what is the excess, are self-packed cartons covered, and does the cover extend to goods in store.

Ask us for the policy summary and we will send it. We ask people to demand it of every firm they approach, so being awkward about our own would be a peculiar position to hold.

The two honest exceptions

Self-packed cartons are covered for loss or damage arising from our handling and not for damage attributable to the packing itself. That is the standard position across the trade and we would rather set out where the line falls than let somebody discover it from a claim.

And flat-pack furniture that has already been assembled once frequently does not survive a second dismantling. Where we think a piece will not, we say so before starting and write down your decision. Saying nothing and hoping is the easy option and the dishonest one.

What we will not promise

A goods lift that belongs to a building. A freeholder’s permission. That a suspended bay will be empty. That a chain will complete. Nobody in your contract has authority over any of those, and a firm guaranteeing around them is promising you something it does not own.

What we do instead is survey a second standing point, book lifts in writing, ask for permissions early, and tell you at once when something goes wrong. It is a smaller promise and it is one we can keep.

What we are not

Not solicitors, not insurance brokers, not loss assessors. This site explains how removals contracts and removals cover generally work, which is a different thing from advising you on your own position. For that, a solicitor, Citizens Advice, your own insurer or the Financial Ombudsman Service is the right place.

Where we work

Across the UK, throughout Europe by road, and worldwide by sea and air. The coverage page describes each of those by what changes about the risk rather than by a list of towns.

The names on this site

Companies House, the Financial Ombudsman Service, insurers, shipping lines, freight forwarders and port operators appear here as operating context. No relationship with any of them is claimed and none endorses this firm.