Packing yourself? Here's what you're taking on.
Packing yourself is the default, and completely fine. When you pack and load, the inventory is yours to get right. This page shows you how to pack for moving house across a border: the four risks to watch, the packing standard your cover relies on, and the one document customs checks the van against.
Four things to watch when you pack for moving house
None of these are reasons not to self-pack. They're the four ways a self-packed move goes wrong, so you can steer around all of them.
The most common cause of damage on self-packed moves, because a box packed past its strength crushes the one below it.
Going past the legal vehicle weight means fines, and they land on the move, so estimate honestly, never optimistically.
More than your booked size holds means an emergency second van, at the worst possible moment to arrange one.
Customs checks the van against your list. Customs can hold a load that doesn't match its declaration at the border.
"We'll just pay the fine" is not how it goes.
Self-packed loads run heavier than people expect, and some destination countries enforce vehicle weight strictly. So an overweight van cannot simply pay a fine and drive on. Here is the honest chain of events, and what happens instead when you tell us early.
The van is over the route's limit. The fine is the small part, and it is only the beginning.
The excess has to come off, so your goods move into a second van, mid-journey.
That van comes at emergency notice. Sometimes it is hard to find; occasionally no van turns up at all.
When no van turns up, your goods go into temporary storage: unplanned, mid-move.
Every extra transfer is where damage happens, particularly with heavy pieces that one driver alone cannot move safely.
The same problem, told to us early
Your booked price locks across every size. Moving up a size before loading day costs the locked difference, nothing more.
Extra capacity arranged in advance travels with your move, planned into it rather than chasing after it.
Not sure what you have? Send photos or a short video and we'll help you get the size right before you book.
Why a van's limit is lower than its size suggests: our logistics team works the sum through, with the driver in the cab.
How much can a 3.5 tonne van carry? The payload sum →How to pack for moving house to the standard your cover relies on
That is how to pack for moving house across a border: fragiles in bubble wrap inside double-walled cardboard boxes, furniture padded with removal blankets and wrapped in plastic film, and what you packed stays covered like everything else on the van. You only lose cover where packing falls materially below that standard, so here is exactly how to meet it.
Wrap every fragile item in bubble wrap, each item its own layer, before it goes in a box.
Use double-walled cardboard boxes for fragiles rather than single-wall supermarket boxes.
Pad furniture and large items with removal blankets, then wrap every side in plastic film.
Don't cram, because a box filled past its strength is the most common cause of damage on self-packed moves.
Seal and label every box, and flag anything high-value on your inventory when you list it.
This standard is part of your cover. See what we cover, and what we don't, in plain numbers.
Insurance & claims →Your inventory: the one document that matters most
Your inventory is what customs checks the van against. On a self-pack move it's fully in your hands, so it's the single document that matters most.
Your finalised inventory is due 3 calendar days before your collection window. Up to that point, updating it is normal: customers refine their lists all the time, and we'd rather have your correction than your guess.
Room by room works: list what's going, flag anything high-value, and then send it early. Ask us about anything you're unsure of, because we'd rather answer a question than see a border delay.
You don't need to weigh every box. List what's moving in plain words; if you're unsure how to describe something, send us photos or a short video of the rooms and we'll help you get the list right.
We tell you this now so nothing is a surprise later.
"Bench, dining table, 4 chairs…"
From a real customer inventory, redacted. Plain words, room by room. That's all a good list is. Full excerpt staged at build from the real list, with redaction signed off.
You pack, or we pack: who holds what
Both are good moves. The difference is who carries which responsibility, so here it is side by side, as facts.
You pack and load, at your pace, with your own materials.
The inventory is yours to get right, finalised 3 calendar days before your window.
Self-packed boxes and furniture stay covered when they meet the packing standard above.
The four risks on this page are yours to manage.
Our crew packs to the standard your cover relies on.
Priced for your actual inventory, from your list or your photos, confirmed in writing.
Arranged in advance for your date and route, by arrangement and subject to availability.
Your last week in the country stays yours.
Rather not pack for moving house yourself? We can take either job off your hands
Either way, you'll know exactly what the price includes before you decide. No surprises on the day.
We pack for you, priced for your actual inventory once we've seen your list or photos. By arrangement and subject to availability for your date and route.
Packing service →Extra hands beyond the driver's van-side help, arranged and priced in advance. Same rule: you'll know what the price includes before you decide.
Additional crew →Not sure about an item on your list?
Ask it before you book. Photos of what you're moving, an address that's hard to reach, a date that might shift: send it over and we'll tell you straight.
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