Generally speaking, a removal is expensive, whether it is carried out by a specialised company or by the private individual himself. The reason for this is either poor planning or a poor choice of specialist company.
Whether it is carried out by the private individual or by a professional mover, a cheap move should respect the following steps:
In the case where it is the private individual who carries out the move:
- Cubage: this operation consists in accurately assessing the volume of the goods to be moved. It allows to optimise the moves and to evaluate the number of rotations to be carried out.
- Purchase, hire or loan of the removal equipment: such as adhesive rolls, bubble wrap (which is preferable for reasons of economy, blankets, towels, clothes...), labels, a marker, but also a devil, a goods lift and straps.
- Packing: the client must first obtain the packing boxes from the shops in his town in order to store his objects. Also, he will have to protect his belongings with blankets, duvets, cushions and newspaper.
- Rental of the commercial vehicle or, failing that, call upon a person close to the client who has a commercial vehicle.
- Contact all the people likely to help on the day, for the dismantling/assembly of furniture, for the transport of goods from the home to the commercial vehicle and vice versa.
If the private individual decides to hire a professional: first of all, he must choose the most economical formula, which consists of loading the goods, transporting them, unloading them and then transporting them to the new home, bearing in mind that it is up to the private individual to take care of packing and protecting his belongings.
- Generating online quotes on the sites of several removal companies. You need to make a good dozen of them, then compare between the different quotes, selecting the cheapest formulas: "entry-level" removals (quoted above), "groupage formula" when the volume is small and finally opt for the "empty return" of the utility truck. Next, choose the professional offering the best quality/price ratio. Quotes are totally free. The validity of a quotation may be limited in time, forcing the customer to make a decision. A signed quotation becomes a removal contract.
- Estimation of volume (cubage): A good estimate of the volume to be moved allows the exact calculation of the number of rotations to be carried out for the move, taking into account the volume of the commercial vehicle used. Professionals use a table to calculate the volume to be moved. This calculation consists of estimating the volume in m3 of furniture, household appliances, boxes and bags.
- Technical visit: the elected company will have to make a free visit to the client's home in order to accurately estimate the volume to be moved, the moving equipment required for the operation and, above all, any technical difficulties that may arise during the move: access to the home, whether or not the truck can be parked, whether or not a lift is available. This step will allow the mover to refine and then finalise the estimate.
- Declaration of value: this is an obligation, knowing that the Commercial Code in its article 133-1 stipulates the full responsibility of the removal company in the event of theft, loss, breakage or deterioration of the client's goods. It contains the total amount of the goods that are the object of the removal as well as their unit value. Despite this declaration, it would be prudent to take out additional insurance in case of damage.
- Presentation of the consignment note on the day: This is a document issued by the Ministry of Equipment and Transport. It serves as an authorisation for the removal company to transport the client's goods. This document accompanies the removal truck during the operation and must be signed by the client after having toured his home to check that there has been no breakage.
- The removal: consists of transporting the goods from the client's home to the removal truck and from the latter to the new home. It also involves dismantling and then assembling the furniture.
In both cases, the private individual is advised to get rid of all the furniture, appliances and objects that are not essential before the move, by selling them or offering them to relatives or charities.
If you choose a removal company that specialises in removals, it is also a question of choosing one. Because, in the case of a bad choice it could cost the customer a lot of money: failure to respect deadlines, bad packing (when this task is entrusted to the company), Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
