DIY Removals

If you're moving house, the first thing you'll need to decide is whether to use a removal company or do the move yourself by hiring a self-drive van and asking a few willing and able friends to help you. Although you can save money by doing it yourself, it's inadvisable unless it's a simple job, and you have only a have a few possessions or no big items of furniture.

Think carefully also about the sites that you will be moving to and from - will they be easy to access? For example, moving furniture from a bungalow with wide hallways and doors will be much easier than from a sixth floor apartment in a block with no lift.

People usually decide against hiring a removals firm because of the cost involved. This can vary considerably, depending on the distance between homes, how easily accessible both properties are, what day of the week or time of the year you want to move, the size of your home and the amount of possessions you have. To move the contents of a minimalist one-bedroom apartment may cost only a few hundred pounds, while the contents of a large family house with all its associated clutter can run to several thousand.

If you don't have many things to move, or are moving to or from an apartment with lifts rather than stairs, the removal work may be a straightforward job that you can do yourself. However, you will need to work out the cost of hiring the van (including petrol and insurance), and take into account the time involved, which may involve the loss of a day's earnings. It's backbreaking work, and not much fun spending your day dragging heavy sofas, beds and wardrobes up stairs and trying to squeeze them through impossibly small spaces. It may be better idea just to move selected fragile and valuable items yourself and leave everything else to the professionals.

However, if you do decide to tackle the job yourself, you will probably need to hire a van or a truck. Here are some points you should check with the van hire company:

• What capacity van do I need, given the size of the property?
• Are vans cleaned between rentals? How regularly are they serviced?
• How much fuel will at the van have? Must it be returned with the same amount?
• Does it have a hydraulic loading lift?
• Are blankets provided?
• Are there side straps to secure upright items?
• What are the insurance terms?