Removals Limited · UK and worldwide
Whose risk is it, actually?
Every removals firm has an answer to that written down somewhere. Almost none of them publish it, and the ones that do bury it in a clause near the end of a document nobody reads until something has already gone wrong.
So this site is built the other way round. What sits with us, what sits with you, what sits with neither of us, and which document says so — on the pages rather than in the small print.
And since the domain invites the question: yes, we are a limited company, like nearly every removals firm in the country. What that means for you is set out in full further down, including how to check us and anybody else on the Companies House register.
Eight things that go wrong
- A carton we packed, broken inside Ours
- A carton you packed, broken inside Yours
- A mark on a door frame Ours
- A missing carton Ours
- The goods lift out of service Neither
- Somebody in your suspended bay Neither
- An undeclared item above the cap Yours
- The chain not completing Neither
Ten rows in the full ledger below, each with the reason and the document that governs it. The last row is the one this domain is named after.
Six positions
Sorted by whose risk it is
Not by property type, not by load size and not by price tier. Each page sets out what the work involves, where responsibility sits, and — on two of them — the single honest exception that most firms would rather not print.
Our risk
Every link is ours. No argument to have about whose fault it was.
- 1 We packed it and we carried it Full packing and transport, one firm end to end The only arrangement in which every link is ours. We chose the materials, we filled the carton, we built the load and we carried it. If something inside breaks there is no argument to have about whose fault it was.
- 2 We are holding it Storage, under a separate agreement to the move Goods in store sit under a different document from the move, with a different cover position and a much longer exposure. Most people never read it, and it is the one that matters if a hold turns into a year.
Split between us
The line falls somewhere specific. This is where.
- 3 You packed it, we carried it Where the line actually falls on self-packed cartons Our handling is covered. Your packing is not. That is the standard position across the trade and it is rarely explained, so this page sets out exactly where the line falls and how to end up on the right side of it.
- 4 We took it apart Dismantling, and the one thing we will not stand behind Dismantling and rebuilding is our work and our risk — with one honest exception. Flat-pack furniture that has already been assembled once frequently does not survive a second time, and nobody can insure that away.
Neither of us
Things nobody in the contract actually controls.
Shared with others
Third parties, and where our cover stops.
Not sure which describes your job? Say so in the notes on the quote form. Most moves touch three or four of these at once, which is exactly why the boundaries are worth knowing before the day.
The risk ledger
Ten things that go wrong, and who carries each one
Every one of these is decided in advance by a document you can read before you book. The last column names which document, because “it’s in the terms” is not an answer when somebody is standing in your hallway.
- 01 Ours
A carton we packed arrives with something broken inside
We chose the materials, filled the carton and built the load. There is no intermediate step anybody can point at, which is the whole argument for having a remover pack.
Governed by The written quotation and our goods-in-transit cover.
- 02 Mostly yours
A carton you packed arrives with something broken inside
Cover responds to loss or damage arising from our handling, not to damage attributable to the packing itself. It is the standard position across the trade and it is very rarely explained at the point of sale.
Governed by The written quotation, which states it in terms.
- 03 Ours
A table leg is marked going through a doorway
A handling event on our watch. Frames are padded before anything moves precisely so this does not happen, and when it does it is ours.
Governed by The written quotation and our cover.
- 04 Told in advance
A previously assembled flat-pack wardrobe will not go back together
Chipboard and cam fixings frequently do not survive a second dismantling. Where we think that is likely we say so before starting, and if you ask us to proceed we do so at your risk. Saying nothing and hoping would be the dishonest option.
Governed by Noted on the job sheet before the work, in writing.
- 05 Neither of us
The goods lift in the destination block is out of service
It belongs to the building. Nobody in your contract has authority over it, and a firm that guarantees around it is promising something it does not own.
Governed by Named in the terms as outside our control.
- 06 Neither of us
A suspended parking bay is occupied on the morning
We apply for the suspension, and we cannot make it be respected. That is why a second standing point is surveyed — the job becomes a longer carry rather than a cancelled day.
Governed by The quotation states the standing point and the fallback.
- 07 Neither of us
The chain does not complete and keys are not released
Money moving up a chain is not something a removals firm influences. The load stays secured on the vehicle while the best remaining option is worked out with you.
Governed by Waiting time, stated on the quotation in advance.
- 08 Shared
A container is held at the destination port for missing paperwork
We prepare everything that comes from the inventory. The documents attached to you as a person — a permit, a registration, a tax number — cannot be obtained for you, and a container arriving ahead of them waits.
Governed by The country page names which documents are whose.
- 09 Ours, within the storage terms
Something is missing after a year in store
Held goods are ours to account for against the inventory taken at your door. What the cover pays is governed by the storage agreement rather than the move quotation, which is the part worth reading before you sign.
Governed by The storage agreement, which is a separate document.
- 10 Yours, unfortunately
A cheap firm folds before your claim is settled
A claim against a dissolved limited company is generally worth nothing. This is the single most important thing the word "limited" means for a customer, and it is why the next section exists.
Governed by Nothing. That is exactly the problem.
Nothing here is legal or insurance advice. It describes how removals contracts and removals cover generally work; your own quotation, storage agreement and policy are what actually govern your job, and they are worth reading before you sign rather than afterwards.
The word in the domain
What “limited” actually means for you
We bought a domain with a company suffix in it, so it would be odd not to explain the word. This is the part of a removals decision nobody covers, and it is worth more to you than any amount of copy about care and attention.
- 01
What the word does
A limited company is a legal person separate from the people who own it. Its debts are its own, and if it fails, the owners generally lose what they put in and no more.
That is a reasonable and ordinary arrangement — almost every removals firm in the country is one, including this one. It is also the reason a claim against a removals company is worth exactly as much as the company is.
- 02
Why that matters on a removals job
Because the gap between the work and the claim can be long. Damage is noticed on delivery, reported in writing, assessed, disputed perhaps, and settled weeks or months later.
A company with no assets and no insurance can accept liability in full and pay you nothing at all. The acceptance is meaningless without something behind it.
- 03
Phoenix companies, plainly
A firm trades, accumulates claims and debts, is dissolved, and reappears the following month under a similar name with the same vehicles and the same people. It is not always unlawful and it is always bad news for whoever was owed something.
The signal is an incorporation date that does not match how long the business claims to have been trading, and it takes two minutes to check.
- 04
How to check any removals firm
Search the company name on the Companies House register, which is free and public. Look at the incorporation date, whether accounts and confirmation statements have been filed on time, whether the registered office is a real trading address, and whether the directors have a string of dissolved companies behind them.
None of that is proof of anything on its own. A new company is not a dishonest one, and a long-established company is not automatically careful. What it gives you is context for a figure that looks too good.
- 05
The insurance question, properly asked
"Fully insured" tells you nothing. The questions that do are: what is the goods-in-transit limit, what is the limit per individual item, what is the excess, are self-packed cartons covered, and does the cover extend to goods while they are in store.
Ask for the policy summary rather than an adjective. Any firm carrying real cover will send it without hesitating, and the hesitation is itself an answer.
- 06
And apply all of it to us
We are a limited company too, and everything on this page applies to us exactly as it applies to anybody else. Check us on the register, ask us for the policy summary, and read the storage agreement before you sign it.
A firm that tells you to do this and then flinches when you do would be a strange thing. We would rather compete on a level where the question gets asked.
Companies House and the Financial Ombudsman Service are named here as public bodies whose registers and processes are open to anybody. No relationship with either is claimed. Nothing in this section is legal or insurance advice — it describes publicly available checks that any customer can carry out.
Ask us for the policy summary and look us up on the register. We would think less of a customer who simply took our word for it.
Ask us for the policy summaryAcross a border
Where our cover stops and somebody else’s starts
A domestic move has two parties. An international one has five or six, most of whom you will never speak to: a consolidator, a carrier, port operators at both ends, a destination agent, and whoever carries the inland leg at the far side.
So the question worth asking before anything is booked is where goods-in-transit cover ends and marine cover begins, and what the limits are under each. Almost nobody asks it, and on a cheap international quotation it is frequently the reason the figure is cheap.
These four routes each move that handover to a different place. We collect from anywhere on the UK mainland, including London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol.
International removals- UK to Oman Muscat and Salalah. Where residency, not shipping, sets the timetable.
- UK to Thailand Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the coasts. Long chain, many hands.
- UK to Mexico Mexico City and the Bajío. A sea leg plus a substantial inland one.
- UK to Mauritius An island with one realistic route in, and no road alternative.
Asked most often
Questions about liability and cover
01 Why organise a removals site around risk?
Because it is the question every other page on every other removals site avoids. Who is liable for what, which document says so, and what a promise is worth when the firm that made it has been dissolved. All of that is knowable in advance and almost none of it is published.
02 What does "limited" actually mean for me as a customer?
That a claim against a removals company is worth exactly as much as the company is. A firm with no assets and no insurance can accept liability in full and pay you nothing. The word describes where the owners' risk stops, which is also where yours begins.
03 Are self-packed cartons covered?
For loss or damage arising from our handling, yes. Not for damage attributable to the packing itself. That is the standard position across the trade and the reason we would rather pack anything fragile ourselves than argue about it afterwards.
04 What is "fully insured" worth?
Nothing on its own. The useful questions are the goods-in-transit limit, the limit per individual item, the excess, whether self-packed cartons are covered, and whether the cover extends to goods in store. Ask for the policy summary rather than the adjective.
05 What is not your risk?
A goods lift that fails, a freeholder who withdraws permission, a suspended bay somebody parks in anyway, a chain that does not complete. Nobody in your contract has authority over any of those, and a firm that guarantees around them is promising something it does not own.
06 Is any of this legal advice?
No. This site sets out how a removals contract and removals insurance usually work, which is a different thing from advising you on your own position. For that, a solicitor, Citizens Advice or the Financial Ombudsman Service is the right place.
More on the questions page — what the word means, cover and limits, where the line falls, things nobody controls, claims, and how we work.
Ask us for it in writing
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and whether you are packing any of it yourself. Ask for the policy summary in the same message and we will send it without being awkward about it.