A removals index
The word you searched for
may not mean what you think
This is one removals company, not a listings site. We do not rank or compare other firms, nobody pays to appear here, and there is no advertising anywhere on this site. The domain describes how the content is organised.
Backload. Clearance. Self storage. Fully insured. All-inclusive. Nationwide. Every one of those is used two ways in this trade, and almost every bad removals experience begins with a customer and a firm meaning different things by the same word.
So the site is built as an index. Look up the term, read what it actually buys you, and then decide who to ask for a figure — including whether that should be us.
Index
- Backload Not a service. Not bookable.
- Clearance Needs a licence we do not hold.
- Fully insured A phrase with no fixed meaning.
- Groupage Shared container. Standard, and slower.
- House removals The one word nobody misuses.
- Man and van One driver, or two crew? Ask.
- Self storage Not the same as container storage.
- Sole use A container carrying only yours.
Twelve more terms in the full glossary below, including the four that most often turn up in a quotation you did not expect.
The entries
Six things people search for, in three classes
One of these means exactly what it sounds like. Two of them describe two different products each. Three of them mean something to a remover that they do not mean to you.
Means what you think
Straightforward terms. Search them, book them, nothing hidden.
Means two things
One word, two products. The wrong one is a real nuisance.
- S "Storage" Self storage and container storage are not the same product Two entirely different products share this word. One is a unit you rent and access yourself. The other is your goods inventoried, sealed and held by a remover. They suit different people and the wrong one is a genuine nuisance.
- M "Man and van" Sometimes a service, sometimes a description of a vehicle To some firms it means two crew and a Luton with blankets and straps. To others it means one driver and an empty van, with you doing the carrying. Ask which before you book, because the price difference is explained entirely by that.
Means something else in the trade
Where what you mean and what a remover hears are different.
- B "Backload" Also: return load, return journey, empty leg The most misunderstood word in removals. It is not a discount and it is not a service you can book for a date. It is spare space on a vehicle already going your way, and it exists only when it exists.
- C "House clearance" Not a removal, and not something every remover can legally do People use this to mean everything from a full house move to disposing of a relative's belongings. Disposal requires a waste carrier licence, which we do not hold — so this entry exists mainly to tell you what we will and will not take on.
- I "Shipping" Also: groupage, LCL, FCL, export, freight forwarding A whole vocabulary of its own, and the one where misunderstanding a word costs the most. Singapore, Japan, South Africa and Qatar have their own entries; the rest of the world starts on the international page.
Not sure which entry describes your situation? Describe it in the notes on the quote form and we will tell you which one it is — including when the answer is that you need somebody else.
The glossary
Twelve words, and what each one does to your quotation
Written by a firm with an interest, which is worth knowing. What we have tried to do is describe what each word means across the trade rather than what it means here — including where the honest answer reflects badly on common practice.
marks a term that is genuinely used two ways. Those are the ones worth asking about before you accept a figure.
- Backload Return load · empty leg
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Spare space on a vehicle that is already making a journey in your direction, usually returning from another job. It is not a service, a tier or a discount scheme — it is a coincidence that a firm can sometimes sell.
On your quotation You cannot book one for a date. If a firm offers you a backload on a day of your choosing, they are selling you an ordinary job under a word that sounds cheaper.
- Groupage Part load · shared load · consolidated load · LCL
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Your goods sharing a vehicle or a container with other people's. Standard practice on international moves and on long domestic corridors, and frequently the only affordable option for a single household going a long way.
On your quotation It departs when the vehicle or container fills rather than when you ask, and your goods are handled at a depot at one or both ends. Both of those are real and neither should be a surprise.
- Sole use Dedicated load · exclusive use · FCL
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A vehicle or container carrying nothing but your consignment. On an international move this is the difference between your goods being handled at depots and your goods travelling sealed from door to door.
On your quotation It costs considerably more and on some routes it is worth every penny. Ask for both figures rather than assuming one is out of reach.
- Self storage Storage unit · lock-up
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A room or a container that you rent and hold the key to. You put things in, you take things out, you come and go during the facility's hours. Nobody makes a list of what is in there.
On your quotation It is the right answer if you need frequent access. It is the wrong answer if you want your goods inventoried and handled by the people moving you, and the two are quoted completely differently.
- Container storage Containerised storage · warehouse storage
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Your goods loaded, inventoried and sealed into a container or module by a remover and held in their warehouse. Access requires notice, because your container has to be brought out.
On your quotation Usually cheaper per volume than self storage and far better documented. The trade-off is that you cannot drop in on a Saturday afternoon.
- Fully insured Comprehensive cover · goods in transit
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A phrase with no fixed meaning. Every legitimate remover carries goods-in-transit cover. What varies enormously is the limit, the excess, the exclusions, and whether cartons you packed yourself are covered at all.
On your quotation Ask for the limit per item and the list of exclusions. "Fully insured" on its own tells you nothing and appears on the websites of firms with wildly different policies.
- Waiting time Standing time · demurrage
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The period a crew and vehicle are at your disposal but unable to work — most often on completion day, waiting for keys to be released up a chain.
On your quotation It is chargeable almost everywhere and it should be on the quotation in writing. A quotation silent on waiting time is not a cheaper quotation; it is an incomplete one.
- Shuttle Transfer vehicle · shuttling
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A smaller vehicle running between a large one parked on a passable road and a property it cannot reach. Common on narrow lanes, restricted city centres and properties with no vehicle access.
On your quotation It adds crew time and handling. A firm that surveys properly will quote it in advance; a firm that does not will discover the problem on the day.
- Transfer of residence ToR · household effects relief
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The customs relief that lets you bring used household goods into a country without paying import duty when you are genuinely moving your home there.
On your quotation It is claimed against a described inventory and evidence of both ends of the move. The documents attached to you personally take far longer than people plan for.
- Unaccompanied baggage Personal effects shipment
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Household goods and personal belongings shipped separately from you, rather than travelling as airline luggage. The standard arrangement on a long-haul relocation.
On your quotation Several countries apply a time limit relative to your own arrival for the relief to apply. It is the single most common cause of an unexpected duty bill.
- Port charges THC · terminal handling · destination charges
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Fees levied at the receiving port for handling your container, quite separate from the shipping cost itself.
On your quotation Whether they are in a quotation or not varies by firm and is the commonest reason a cheap international quotation turns out not to be. Ask specifically whether destination charges are included.
- Survey Pre-move survey · estimate visit · video survey
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A visit or a video call at which a remover measures the volume and looks at the access, in order to quote accurately rather than approximately.
On your quotation A quotation given without one is a guess, however confident it sounds. A guess that turns out low becomes a conversation on your moving day.
Link to this freely. Please do not republish it as your own, which is a request rather than a threat.
The expensive six
Words that cost people money
These are the terms where the gap between what you assume and what the trade means has a figure attached. Each one comes with the question to ask, in the words to ask it in — of us as much as of anybody else.
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"Backload"
What people assume A cheaper class of removal that you can book like any other.
What it can mean Spare space on a vehicle already going your way, which exists only when it exists and cannot be promised for a date.
Ask this “Is there actually a vehicle returning on my date, or is this an ordinary job being sold under the word?”
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"Man and van"
What people assume Two people, a proper vehicle, blankets and straps.
What it can mean At some firms, one driver and an empty van, with you doing the lifting and no protective materials at all.
Ask this “How many crew, and does the price include blankets, straps and trolleys?”
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"Fully insured"
What people assume Everything is covered for what it is worth.
What it can mean A phrase with no fixed meaning. Limits per item vary enormously and self-packed cartons are frequently excluded.
Ask this “What is the limit per item, what is the excess, and are cartons I packed covered?”
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"Storage"
What people assume One product with one price.
What it can mean Two products. A unit you hold the key to, or your goods inventoried and sealed by a remover. Different cost, different access, different paperwork.
Ask this “Is this a unit I can walk into, or containerised storage with an inventory?”
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"All-inclusive"
What people assume Nothing further to pay.
What it can mean Rarely includes waiting time on completion day, parking suspensions, shuttles, or destination port charges on an international move.
Ask this “Does this include waiting time, permits, and — if abroad — charges at the destination?”
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"Nationwide"
What people assume Your things stay on one vehicle with one crew.
What it can mean At some firms it means nationwide through partners, with a transfer in the middle and a different crew delivering.
Ask this “Do my goods stay on the same vehicle, and is it your crew at both ends?”
Have a quotation from somebody else and cannot tell which service it is for? Send it over. Working out what it actually covers costs you nothing and it is frequently the difference between two figures that look far apart and are not.
Send us a quotation to readWhere the vocabulary changes
Beyond Europe, almost none of the words are removals words
On a European road move the language is familiar: a vehicle, a crew, a crossing. Go further and the trade stops talking about vehicles altogether and starts talking about containers, consolidation, terminal handling and relief claims. Most of those words belong to shipping rather than to removals, which is exactly why they catch people out.
The four destinations with their own entries are the ones whose vocabulary and paperwork differ most from the European pattern, and none of them is explained well anywhere else. We move worldwide besides — Europe by road, everywhere else by sea and air.
Collections run from every part of the mainland — London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bristol included — and consolidate before departure where the routing suits it.
International removals- UK to Singapore Where the words "sole-use container" earn their cost.
- UK to Japan Where the measurement that matters is the corridor, not the room.
- UK to South Africa Where the paperwork word to learn is "unaccompanied baggage".
- UK to Qatar Where your employer's relocation package decides the vocabulary.
Asked most often
Questions about this site and this trade
- Is this a directory of removals firms?
- No. It is one removals company. We do not list, rank or compare other firms, nobody pays to appear here, and there is no advertising on the site. The domain describes how the content is organised — as an index of terms — rather than what the business is.
- Why organise a removals site around words?
- Because almost every bad removals experience starts with a customer and a firm meaning different things by the same term. Backload, clearance, self storage, fully insured, all-inclusive — each of those is used two ways, and the gap is where the unpleasant surprises live.
- What is the word people get wrong most often?
- Backload. People believe it is a cheaper class of removal they can book for a date. It is spare space on a vehicle already going that way, which exists only when it exists — and a firm that promises one for a chosen day is selling an ordinary job under a better-sounding word.
- Do you actually do the moves yourselves?
- Yes, across the UK and worldwide. The glossary exists because we got tired of spending the first ten minutes of every survey explaining the same six words, not because we are a publisher.
- Will you explain another firm's quotation?
- Send it over. Working out which service a quotation is actually for costs you nothing, and it is frequently the difference between two figures that look far apart and are not.
- Where do you move to?
- Across the UK, throughout Europe by road, and worldwide by sea and air. Singapore, Japan, South Africa and Qatar have their own entries because their vocabulary differs most from the European norm.
More on the questions page — about this site, words about the vehicle, words about storage, words about money, words about abroad, and working with us.
Not sure which word describes your move?
Both addresses, roughly what is going, and how firm the dates are. If you are unsure which service you actually need, say so — it is the commonest note we get and the easiest to answer.