The useful moving work starts about eight weeks before completion — and almost all of it is booking, notifying and reading meters rather than packing. Most moving checklists are organised around moving day, which is why people arrive at the final week with the removal firm unbooked and the utilities unnotified. This timeline is anchored to your completion date instead, because that is the date everything else depends on.
One important caveat before the timeline: in England, Wales and Northern Ireland you have no legal certainty of your moving date until contracts are exchanged, which is often only one to two weeks before completion. In Scotland the process differs — once missives are concluded the date is binding much earlier, which makes booking considerably easier. The timeline below assumes the English and Welsh position, and notes where you can commit with confidence and where you should hold back.
Eight weeks before completion
Get survey quotes from three removal firms. This is the single highest-value task and the one most often left too late. Firms quote on volume, distance, access and date, so a quote given without a survey is a guess that can be revised upward on the day.
- Insist on a survey — video or in person. Both are common; in-person surveys tend to catch loft, garage and outbuilding contents that video surveys miss.
- Ask each firm to quote on the same written specification so the quotes are comparable. Differences in what is included are where quotes diverge most.
- Check whether the firm subcontracts. The company you book is not always the company that arrives, and that affects who is liable if something is damaged.
Decide what is not moving. Volume drives price, so this decision belongs before the survey, not after it. Anything you are disposing of, selling or donating should be gone or clearly separated before a surveyor measures.
Six weeks before completion
Provisionally book your firm. Most firms will hold a provisional date without a confirmed completion, usually against a deposit. Ask specifically what happens to that deposit if the chain moves the date — this is the question that matters, and the answer varies enormously between firms.
Decide on packing. Packing is the largest optional cost and has a consequence beyond price: goods packed by the owner are commonly excluded from cover for damage to contents. If you self-pack, you are usually accepting that risk. Full or fragile-only packing services exist partly to preserve that cover.
Establish whether you need storage. If there is any gap between moving out and moving in, or any chance of a failed completion, resolve storage arrangements now rather than on the day.
Four weeks before completion
Start notifications. Work through these in order of consequence:
- Statutory and financial — HMRC, DVLA, your bank, your insurers, your pension provider, the electoral roll.
- Utilities — energy supplier, water, broadband. Broadband has the longest lead time of anything on this list and is the most frequent cause of arriving at a new home without a connection.
- Local authority — council tax at both addresses. Overlapping liability is common and is easier to prevent than to reclaim.
- Health and education — GP, dentist, schools. School admission timing can constrain a move independently of the property chain.
- Subscriptions and deliveries — anything with a recurring physical delivery.
Set up mail redirection. This is worth doing for fraud prevention as much as convenience: an old address receiving your financial post is a documented route to identity fraud.
Two weeks before completion
Confirm the booking once contracts are exchanged. In England and Wales this is the first point at which the date is legally certain. Convert your provisional booking to a confirmed one immediately — removal capacity on Fridays and at month end disappears quickly.
Check your insurance position. Two separate things need confirming: what the removal firm’s goods-in-transit cover actually includes, and how your own contents policy treats the transition between addresses. Standard removal liability is often limited per item, so high-value items usually need declaring separately in advance.
Start the essentials box. Not packing generally — one clearly marked box covering the first eighteen hours: kettle, mugs, tea, chargers, medication, toilet roll, basic tools, bedding, a change of clothes.
One week before completion
- Photograph everything of value before it is packed, with the date visible. This is the evidence base for any damage claim, and it is impossible to create after the event.
- Confirm access arrangements at both ends — parking, lift bookings, permit requirements. In controlled parking areas a bay suspension usually needs applying for in advance.
- Run down the freezer and plan appliance disconnection. Fridges and freezers need standing time after transport before being switched back on.
- Confirm what the firm will not carry. Paint, fuel, aerosols, plants and some chemicals are commonly refused. Discovering this on the day leaves you with a car full of them.
Completion day
- Take meter readings at the old property — gas, electricity, water — and photograph each meter with the reading visible. Disputed final bills almost always trace back to a missing reading.
- Walk the property with the crew before they start, and again before they leave.
- Take meter readings at the new property immediately on arrival, before anything is switched on.
- Check the inventory against what arrives and note any damage in writing before the crew leaves. Notification deadlines for damage claims are short and start running from delivery.
What to do if the chain breaks on the day
This is more common than people expect and almost nobody plans for it. If completion fails while your possessions are loaded:
- Your goods stay on the vehicle or go into the firm’s storage overnight — at a cost, and one that is rarely in the original quote.
- Your insurance position may change once goods are in overnight storage rather than in transit. Confirm this in advance, not on the night.
- Ask, before you book, what your firm’s specific procedure and charge is for a failed completion. A firm that has a clear written answer has dealt with it before.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should I book a removal firm?
Get quotes eight weeks out and book provisionally at around six weeks. Confirm as soon as contracts are exchanged. Fridays and the last working days of the month are the busiest slots and the first to go.
Is it cheaper to move mid-week?
Generally yes. Demand concentrates on Fridays and month end because that is when completions are typically set. If you have any influence over the date, a mid-week, mid-month completion is usually both cheaper and easier to staff.
Does my home insurance cover the move?
Not automatically, and cover for goods in transit is usually a separate matter from your contents policy. Check both the removal firm’s liability limits and your own insurer’s position on the transition between addresses before moving day.
What happens if I pack the boxes myself?
Self-packed boxes are commonly excluded from cover for damage to the contents, on the basis that the firm cannot verify how items were packed. The box itself may be covered while the contents are not. Read the specific wording rather than assuming.
Do I need to be there on the day?
Someone with authority to make decisions should be present at both properties. Crews encounter access problems, ambiguous items and placement questions constantly, and a nominated contact who is not on site slows everything down.
Next step
Once you know your approximate date and volume, compare firms on a like-for-like basis rather than on headline price. Our removal options comparison sets out the differences between local man-and-van services, long-distance removals and international moves, including where liability and insurance differ between them.
This timeline describes typical UK practice for England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland follow different conveyancing processes, and dates become certain at different stages. Confirm your own timings with your solicitor or conveyancer.
