If your removal company has not arrived, first establish whether it is late, at the wrong address or unable to attend. Check your written arrival window, contact the office and ask for a specific update. Keep a timeline while you make a practical backup plan. A missing van is not the same problem as a delayed release of keys.

Check what was actually booked

Read the confirmation rather than relying on an earlier enquiry. Check the date, collection address, arrival window, payment requirements and named contracting business. Look for an office number as well as a crew contact. If the crew say they are nearby, confirm the entrance, parking location and any building-access instructions.

An arrival window ending at 10am is different from a provisional estimate of 10am. Record the wording accurately; do not turn an approximate time into a guarantee after the event.

Ask for a useful update

Send a short message: “Our confirmed collection is today at [address]. The agreed arrival window was [time]. Please confirm whether the crew can attend and give an updated arrival time.” Ask when the office will update you again if it cannot provide a reliable time yet.

Write down calls, responses and promises. Keep the confirmation, quote, payment receipts and messages together. Our booking-red-flags guide explains why the business identity and written terms matter before money changes hands.

Tell the people affected

Contact whoever controls your property handover, such as the estate agent, solicitor, landlord or building manager. Explain the situation without promising a revised departure time you cannot meet. For a purchase, ask your solicitor about contractual implications; the mover cannot decide when a property transaction completes.

Keep medicines, documents, keys, chargers and first-night essentials with you. Do not put them in a replacement van before you know its arrangements.

Check a replacement carefully

A rushed booking still needs a written scope: collection and delivery addresses, inventory, access, crew, price basis, payment recipient and cancellation terms. Establish whether the original firm has cancelled or is still planning to attend before making conflicting commitments. Replacement and original charges may need separate advice; do not assume every extra cost will automatically be recovered.

Read our last-minute removals guide and quote-comparison checklist before accepting a replacement.

Follow up after the immediate problem

Send the original firm a dated account of what happened and the resolution you are seeking. Include relevant records, not speculation. Ask for its complaint procedure. Citizens Advice suggests trying complaint or dispute-resolution routes before court action; an adviser can help identify the appropriate next step for your circumstances.

Keep the move record accessible

Keep the confirmation, inventory, messages and receipts together, with a copy you can open without a signal and a printed note of the key phone numbers. Compare House Movers is building Move Planner, an app that keeps the inventory and move messages in one record; contact us for pricing and availability. It will not supply a replacement crew or guarantee that a firm attends.

Should I book another company immediately?

First establish whether the original booking is still active and whether a replacement can genuinely do the job. Avoid two crews arriving for the same move with two disputed bills.

Sources

Checked on 1 October 2026:

• Citizens Advice, “Deciding whether to make a small claim”

Related guides

Compare House Movers is an independent guide. We may earn a fee from some links; this never affects what we write. This is general information, not legal advice.