Peter Driscoll of European Transport Brokers (www.etbrokers-removals.com) takes you through some of trials and tribulations associated with moving to Europe and explains away some of mystery associated with moving. In this article he will go on to some of pitfalls that can trap unwary as well as providing a sometimes amusing view of an industry still trying to drag itself into 21st century.

'Hello I am moving to France can you give me a quote to ship my furniture please?'

A simple phrase that can often lead to clumps of hair being pulled from roots, cardiac arrests (on getting quotes) and sleepless nights worrying about scratches on dining room table. After Death and Divorce, moving house is recognised as one of most trying and stressful times that anyone can endure, yet we all do it and often approach this potential minefield with Ostrich like abandon. Yet does it have to be like this?

Today there are over one million people a year moving between EU member states, and most of them take their home contents with them. All that appears to have changed over past two hundred years is number of people moving and distance they travel. BUT furniture is still carried down flights of stairs and still placed on various forms of transport and moved from A to B. Why then has it all got so complicated and by extension, so expensive, especially for European moves?

So you have bought your house in sun and decide to contact a removal company. Ten calls later you are wondering why half companies you call don't do Europe and why other half have completely misunderstood your enquiry and are giving you quotes that would enable you to buy a third home in Romania. Not only do quotes seem large but one low quote you have got seems so low that now you are worried that there is something wrong with company!

But why do you ask are there such differences in quotes you do get? In April this year we acted for a family moving from South Wales to near Bergerac. The family themselves had obtained quotes to have their thee bedroom house contents moved to their new home in France. The cheapest quote they had come across was £2500. We acted on their behalf and received 47 quotes from companies all over Europe to do move. We found family a firm to do move for an all inclusive price of £1558. A saving to them of just under one thousand pounds.

Peter Driscoll of European Transport Brokers (www.etbrokers-removals.com) takes you through some of trials and tribulations associated with moving to Europe and explains away some of mystery associated with moving. In this article he will go on to some of pitfalls that can trap unwary as well as providing a sometimes amusing view of an industry still trying to drag itself into 21st century.

To steal a catch phrase, as dear old Max Bygraves would say “Let me tell you a story”... Five years ago I was looking to get my own house contents moved to South of France and received quotes in region of four to five thousand pounds. It was to be a simple move. No extras at all. No packing, no disconnecting of machines, no disassembling, no plants and no piped music for my furniture whilst “en route”. Just a simple move. Two brother in laws and rest of family were roped in to help and a 7.5 tonne lorry was acquired. With Air Brakes hissing and “Yorkie” in hand, I promptly banged rear end of lorry leaving depot! My excuse being that I had never before driven a 30 foot long vehicle. That should have been my first clue to see reason, but blinded by desire to save money I continued! To cut a very long story short, it took us over 22 hours to drive down to South of France, and I did save some money. But that is not whole story!

I took time off work. My brothers in law also took five days holidays. If they had been paid, or if I had paid myself for hours worked then story would have been different. Then we come to “invisible” costs. The bruised fingers, aching backs, dropped items of furniture, flaring of tempers, boredom of driving at 50 mph on a motorway, and finally having no one to blame for damaged items! True I saved money but at what cost! And it could have been FAR worse, for as I discovered later, my home contents insurance policy did not cover goods in transit to France. One accident and I would have lost everything. Further, I have a sneaking suspicion that vehicle may have been a “tad” overweight. Had I been stopped entire load could have been seized! Never again!

But DIY can be an option if you have a small load, plenty of time and are not worried about some seriously hard work. To hire a “Luton” size van and move say 15m3 of furniture from Birmingham to Dordogne will cost you about £1100 all in. This includes hire charges, diesel, ferry and motorway tolls and meals, but not any “Tips” for kidnapped family members! To ask a removal company to do same job will cost anything from £1300 to £2500, depending on who you ask.