General and Pre-Booking FAQ

We deliver a reliable, cost-effective and efficient service designed to give you peace of mind. Our team are friendly, fit (over 1/3rd of the team have played sport at international and national level) and smart. Over 70% of our staff are educated to degree level. We’re proud of our sensibly priced, no-fuss service.

Just fill in the enquiry form and we’ll get back to you. You can also call us or email to arrange a no-obligation free quotation survey. We’ll visit your home prior to providing a quote. This ensures we give you the most accurate quote possible. It also lets us scope out and mitigate any issues that would prevent us from delivering an efficient service on the day.

This depends on your requirements. We can charge an hourly or a fixed day rate. Hourly rates are applicable for smaller moves, usually 3 bedroom houses and below. We have a minimum 2hr charge and thereafter charge in 15min increments.

For larger moves we normally give you a fixed rate as our crew would be at your property in some cases for at least two to three days (packing one day, moving the next).

Our removal quotes are based on a number of factors including;

  • Location
  • Distance to move
  • Complexity of move (for example, number of flights of stairs or availability of elevator)
  • Parking distance to front door
  • Size and number of the vehicles required
  • Amount of labour required for the move
  • If you require a hoist or have a piano to be moved
  • Sash window removal

Our service includes assembly and dismantling as standard, however any additional packing services, packing materials, storage solutions, end-of-tenancy cleaning, overseas shipping and waste removal are additional and are costed accordingly.

We sure do. Whatever you buy, you only pay for what you actually use*. So if we quote 30 and you use 25, you only pay for 25.

*excludes sale items or house packs.

We can be very flexible with dates and times and, if we have availability, we can move you the very next day or sometimes even on the same day.

We would normally recommend that you contact us sooner rather than later. Two – Four weeks’ notice is advisable especially during peak periods (summer, bank holiday weekends, Easter and Christmas/New Year), we do in some cases book people two to three months in advance for larger household or office moves.

Sure! We offer a wide range of packing materials, these can viewed on our website.

Remember, insurance does not cover items you’ve packed yourself as we can’t be sure of how the boxes have been packed. We recommend you always put the heaviest items and breakables (for example books, wine glasses, crystal ornaments) in the smallest box so that they are easy to carry.

Yes. We’ll happily help you move to anywhere within the EU or further abroad. Normally it takes between 7 and 10 working days for your goods to get to the delivery address in Europe from date of collection (provided all your paperwork and customs information is in order) and 8 to 12 weeks for overseas shipments.

We will go over all the documentation you require for your move to the EU and further abroad, we can even hold your stuff in storage either here in the UK or at your destination city until you require delivery.

We provide high quality crating tailor made to your needs.

We strongly recommend crating any mirrors, high value pictures and paintings or other breakable and fragile items for long distance removals. Each wooden crate lined with thick cushioning and waterproof paper is sustainably sourced and approved for international relocations and customs.

As we don’t know the value of your goods we have to limit our liability to a fixed limit per item which is in line with the industry standard of £40 per any damaged or lost item or a maximum of £60 per box. We will pay £25 for any broken glass covers on pictures.

Normally most individual household and/or business insurance will cover your belongings, however, if you require any additional insurance cover for your removal or storage, this can be arranged at an additional cost. We can offer up to £100,000 cover per truck or more if requested.

As per our T & C’s it is up to the client to inform us and arrange parking for the pack and removal day. If parking is difficult outside your property (for example, if you’re on a red route, single yellow or double yellow with kerbside restrictions) or is residents only, we would normally need to arrange a parking suspension. The reason for arranging a suspension is to ensure that we get a parking place as close as possible outside your front door.

As the majority of the removals are based on an hourly rate, it is in your best interests that we park as close to your property as possible so we can complete your move in good time. If we arrange the suspension on your behalf, we will charge a small administration fee for this. If your parking is pay and display, please have coins ready on the day or advise us in advance so that we can arrange payment, again a small admin will be charged to you for us arranging this on your behalf. Any parking fines received on the removal day by a traffic warden or in the post will be added onto your final bill with a small administration fee.

If you’re based in central London and we need to enter the congestion zone, we’ll just add the cost to your bill (which is £11.50 per vehicle at time of writing, no VAT is added onto this). Depending on the removal day, if you require additional collection and deliveries/drop offs to be made and our vehicle passes through the congestion zone, we will add this cost onto you final bill per vehicle including the admin fee.

We require debit or credit card details to secure your booking onto our system. We cannot reserve days/slots as we book moves on a first come first serve basis once you have given over your card details. If you wish to make payment by BACS transfer, we would still require a credit card as security. A 50% deposit is taken upfront to secure your booking, any fixed day rates are taken in full 5 working days before the removal to allow funds to clear before the move starts. The remaining balance will be finalised once we complete your move and will take into account how long your move took (if on an hourly rate), how many packing materials you used and any upgrades from the original quote (for example extra storage).

N.B. Kiwi Movers Ltd is VAT registered, so this cost will be added to your final bill.

To check out some handy tips on moving, please check out our YouTube Channel.

Your Moving Day FAQ

Normally a 3-4 Bed house will take- 30-40min. A 5+ Bed house can take 45min – 1hr

We certainly do. Normally we do this for 1 – 2 bed houses due to the constraints of video.

We always recommend giving yourself plenty of time. If you have the time, get a quote at least 4 weeks in advance of your proposed move date. Summer is a busy time for moving, so always book early to avoid disappointment of adding to the stress of moving.

We are not authorised to value your goods, some clients will use their contents insurance policy as a guide.

We take payment by visa or mastercard only. To confirm a booking we initially take a security deposit, the remaining balance is taken after the move automatically and an invoice generated.

We operate 3.5t Luton’s for most moves. These vary in size, but are roughly the size of a grocery delivery vehicle that is purpose-built for removals. We can provide up to 18t trucks though.

Our Luton’s need at least 2 parking bays. We recommend reserving or blocking parking bays in front or as close as possible to your collection and delivery address. This makes a huge impact on the speed we can load and unload.

Some clients like to get stuck in and help on the pack or move day and others prefer to sit back and let the Kiwi team do the hard yards, it is entirely up to you. If you have kids you may want to have someone look after them during the move or alternatively pop out with them. We do however recommend that you are present when our team arrives and leaves each address.

Please collect all your sentimental, key essentials (tooth brush, toothpaste, towels, clothes, linen etc) you will need at your new address and and please identify to the team leader any fragile or particularly important items so we can take extra special care of them.

The quote is an estimate of costs only, and the final invoice will reflect time taken and materials used on the day. In other words a ‘pay as you go service’. Removing the items you mentioned will likely decrease the value of the invoice. NB. This does not apply to fixed price jobs.

The quote is an estimate of costs only, and the final invoice will reflect time taken and materials used on the day. In other words a ‘pay as you go service’. If our team finish the job more quickly than quoted, then you shall be charged less. Similarly if the job goes longer.

Please ensure you do a complete walk through when leaving the collection address and check in all cupboards, loft and sheds.

The quote is an estimate of costs only, and the final invoice will reflect time taken and materials used on the day. In other words a ‘pay as you go service’. If our team finish the job more quickly than quoted, then you shall be charged less. Similarly if the job goes longer.

Excess Baggage FAQ

No, but we offer a full range of boxes for sale here. You can ship anything you want, boxes, bags, furniture and these can be sourced elsewhere.

Once you have received a formal quote you will also have all the paperwork required for your shipping. Each shipment requires a completed customs inventory, scanned copy of your passport and the relevant customs documents for the destination.

Collection within the M25, Delivery to export depot, shipment by groupage container to arrival destination port, including destination port service/terminal handling charges and delivery to nominated address. (Please note that any customs charges, quarantine inspection fees, duties/taxes or other incidental fees are not included).

The best and most up to date customs information would be on your destination’s customs website. Please note that our rate excludes any import duties, taxes or any sums due to government departments, such as quarantine inspection fees or customs examination fees or other administrative fees if incurred, fumigation or steam cleaning if ordered. Inspections, duty or fees are entirely at the discretion of the destination country customs. Neither Kiwi Movers or our agents have any control over these.

We will require a full delivery address at destination, you may be able to organise collection once the shipment has cleared customs.

This will be your client ID/quote reference number – found on the top of your formal quote.

Your shipment reference number will be completed by the team collecting the boxes/bags/suitcases.

Most countries require you to be in the country at the time of delivery however you don’t necessarily need to be at the address at the time of delivery someone else can receive on your behalf

For sea freight, 10 cubic feet is the smallest shipment. The best way to work out how many cubic feet your boxes/bags/suitcases are is by measuring the dimensions and putting them into an online calculator. As an example our large boxes are 61cm x 46cm x 46cm which are 4.5 Cu Ft. As an example our lowest bracket of shipping 0 – 10cbft includes up to 2 x large boxes or standard size suitcases/bags

Label them like you would a parcel. Name, Delivery Address, Contact Number and/or Email, Box number eg. 1/3, 2/3, 3/3.

We recommend taping a paper label on and then wrapping the bag in cling wrap so it will stay put.

Each box/bag/suitcase should not exceed 30kg – if it does it becomes a removal rate as it requires more than a 1 man lift at collection and delivery.

Provided your documentation is all in order, the lead time is a minimum 8 to 12 weeks from the time we collect your personal effects to when your shipment enters the port at delivery end (there is normally an additional 2 weeks for customs clearance at delivery).

Insurance is optional and can be taken out at an extra cost.

Yes – We would recommend wrapping this in cling wrap ahead of collection especially if it’s a backpack with a lot of straps hanging off it. We also find this is the best way to attach your labels as well.

We do offer a professional packing service at an additional cost. We would recommend using our packing service if you have furniture that needs to be wrapped for export.