What to Look for when Hiring a Mover

Ready to get into your new home, but you need to find some professional movers to help you? There are a few items you want to have on your mover's checklist to make sure you not only find the right type of movers but also don't break the bank when you move. 

You also want to make sure that everything comes into one piece into your home and eliminate the hassles that come with moving by yourself. 

Get a Recommendation

Don’t enter the sea of movers without any form of navigation. Ask around. Whether it's friends or family that have recently moved, see if they have anyone that they can recommend. They will help eliminate a lot of the questions on your checklist right away and will help to differentiate between what the mover says and actually does. 

If you cannot use friends and family, check out the reviews and see what they have to say about the movers. You want to have the movers tested first before having them move heavy objects of yours.

Make sure they offer an estimate

Another area you want to have covered is some form of pricing quote upfront. The movers should take stock of every item that needs to be moved and that they have provided a quote based on that. 

Then, see what the restrictions are on that quote and make sure that it's either a non-binding agreement or non-binding to exceed (or guaranteed to exceed). This means there's a cap on the amount that will be spent, which will help avoid surge pricing or additional pricing at the end. 

Ensure they have the right qualifications and coverage

Movers need to usually be part of an organization or some type of union that allows them to have the right qualifications for coverage. This means, without having to pay beyond the existing moving costs, your goods are partially insured. 

It might not be much, but at least there's some form of liability or the ability to obtain full value protection services. If you're just going to use a service like a guy with a truck, you'll probably be liable for any damages and costs. 

Don't ever pay a large deposit upfront 

Moving companies that are reputable, or more importantly, legitimate, will never ask for an up-front deposit. Those that do are basically asking for money to prepay movers on the spot. 

You should only be paying anything to movers after the move is complete and the job is over with. Any type of prepayment could easily disappear or could appear like a scam. 

Consider extra insurance 

Movers offer certain types of basic coverage or even advanced coverage for an extra fee. These will cover pennies on the dollar, as they are usually weight-based or capped if you choose the value-based. 

Although movers want a high reputation and will do their best to keep everything without dents and in one piece, it's a good idea to get additional third-party insurance if you're moving luxury items, especially jewelry. This cover will pay out a significantly higher amount in case of any damage being done. 

Liability insurance only covers 60 cents per pound of the item. So, a dresser that weighs 30 pounds that gets broken during the move will only be covered for $18, which is probably less than the value of that dresser or many other items.

Full value protection (FVP) is a better option, as it can help cover the entire replacement of many items. Yet at the same time, there's limits to this as well. For example, those items that are deemed ultra-high value (think – jewelry and smaller items that are worth a lot) will either not be included or require an additional cost to cover. 

Watch out for hidden fees 

One of the biggest issues that you can face is signing a contract without any concrete figures or without any protection from the price skyrocketing. You might think you're paying one price for the entire move. Still, without the correct type of contract, you could be charged extra for packing supplies, additional weight tiers, additional movers if the weight is deemed too high, and a surcharge on the miles driven (instead of just being charged for the time) and so on. Going with some form of all-inclusive hourly or flat rate will help you budget much better. 

Ask if they can move specialized items

You want your mover to be aware ahead of time if you're going to want to move that southeast Asian stone statue into your new fifth-floor walkup ahead of time. 

Many professional movers will allow for uncommon items to be moved. Sometimes they just tack on additional fees for that specific item, but it's best to be clear and open about these types of things upfront. Otherwise, you may be in the middle of your move, and you will not include these items at the last minute due to not having the available workforce or equipment available. 

Don’t change when you move

If you get everything packed up and ready to go, but you want or need to change the date, those goods will probably cost you storage fees. Imagine what all that furniture looks like combined and you'll see that those storage fees will add on to your overall moving costs. 

It's always better to go that extra day or two knowing you are confirmed to move in and have the keys to the new apartment or home before the moving company gets everything ready to go. Splitting this move can also incur duplicate fees in some cases, as technically, you're moving from one point to another on one day and then from the storage point to the destination another day. 

Get everything in writing 

This factor may be the most important as it covers a few of the items above. You want to be able to get every item that's going to be moved and what the estimated costs will be upfront. 

If there are additional costs that don't make sense, you want to see them beforehand. Everything needs to be put into a moving contract, and it needs to state that whatever the pricing estimate may be, how high or lower it can go. This way, there's complete transparency throughout the whole process.

When your move is made, you can use that contract with the complete inventory list to ensure that all the items are there, down to the last fork or knife, and match your inventory to the list that the contract states. This can be the final step to ensure that nothing was lost, stolen, damaged, or hidden. 

At the end of it all, make sure to take the time when it comes to moving. You have a number of different things to check out beforehand, and every extra step you take, from vetting the mover to seeing if you need additional insurance, will help to reduce the financial burden that comes with moving. 

You also won't be pulling your hair out through this proper planning and research phase of the move. Instead, you’ll have a clean moving journey between homes.