It may be tempting to avoid the professional removers and do it yourself, there are more cons than pros. What size van? Do you have family and friends with the driving licence needed? What happens if a piece of furniture is to heavy or cumbersome to carry or if the people in your new house are slow to move out? And do you have adequate insurance to cover breakages?

The average cost of UK removals from a three-bedroomed semi-detached property in England and Wales amounts to around £379, according to the annual Woolwich house-moving survey. Compared with legal fees averaging £979 on a £150,000 house purchase, and estate agency fees averaging £1,490 on the sale of a £100,000 house, removal firms come quite cheap and do all the heavy labour intensive work.

A few websites offer online quotes for removals but there is no guarantee of a cheaper or more appropriate service. But Any Van and Really Moving offering a 'mini move' service for the time-relaxed house mover. So long as you have only a few possessions to move, the site will match your start and end point with larger house moves involving the same areas - if the removals vans have space, your furniture can be accommodated at a reduced price in a part load. But for most of us - quite apart from the practical issues of transporting pets, plants and people between homes - there are only small savings to be made by advance planning.

How to dispose of unwanted household junk do it before you get a removal quote. Get a clearance estimate then a removal quote not after you have paid a removal company to move it! If you move only a short distance (about 70 per cent of moves are within 20 miles), then consider taking small but valuable commodities such as jewellery in your car protected under existing insurance, thus limiting special insurance bills for the full house move.

Most good removal firms offer limited liability insurance on moving your goods - The well known company Pickford's imposes a £40 limit per item - but they also encourage customers to cover themselves against bigger losses and to check household insurance. Most removals firm set a statute of limitations of 14 days from the move date, by which time any claim for loss or damage must be lodged.

If you have very valuable possessions or even an art collection, there are specialist firms such as Cadogan Tate that have specific departments for this type of move. Added security measures include video recording of items being loaded on the removal van and then taken off at the new residence, to insure against tampering or theft. But this will come at a high price.

Top tips

About 65 per cent of house removals happen on a Friday so get booked in quick if your moving on a Friday, a short-notice move is possible if you nominate another quieter day. 'Give us two weeks' notice - preferably four - and avoid moving on the final Friday of the month, which is can be very busy. A few pushy removal firms add a extra fee for short-notice moves, so look around and see if you can and get an itemised quotes.
For more free moving day advice contact Nicks Removals https://www.nicksremovals.co.uk/