About the site, and about the words

Because the site genuinely is organised as one — an index you look things up in. What it is not is a listings business, and we would rather say that plainly at the top of the home page than let anybody work it out three clicks in.

No. There are no paid placements, no affiliate links, no advertising and no referral arrangements on this site. If we mention another kind of business it is because the work is not ours to do.

It is 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.

Link to it freely. Please do not republish it as your own, which is a request rather than a threat.

At a reputable firm: two crew, a vehicle with a tail lift or ramp, blankets, straps and a trolley. At some firms it means one driver and an empty van. Ask how many crew and what protective materials come with it.

When one genuinely exists and your dates are open, it can be excellent value. The problem is not backloads — it is the word being used to describe something that is not one.

Mostly geography. Part load is the domestic word, groupage the international one, and both mean your goods sharing a vehicle or container with other consignments.

A vehicle or container carrying nothing but your consignment, which means no depot transfers and no handling by people who have not seen your house. On an international move that is a substantial difference rather than a comfort.

Self storage if you need to come and go. Container storage if you want your goods inventoried, sealed and handled by the people moving you. The second is usually cheaper per volume and far better documented; the first is available on a Saturday afternoon.

Usually that the collection is included in a minimum storage period. It is not dishonest, but it is worth reading as a package rather than as a free service.

On container storage with a remover, it should be. On a self-storage unit, there is none — nobody but you knows what went in, which matters a great deal if a claim ever arises.

The right of a storage provider to hold and ultimately sell goods against unpaid charges. It is in essentially every storage agreement in the country, including ours, and it is worth knowing the word before you sign one.

That you are not committed by receiving it. It says nothing about whether the figure is fixed, and the words worth looking for are "fixed price" or "guaranteed price" rather than "no obligation".

An estimate can move. A fixed or guaranteed price should not, provided what you told the firm was accurate. Which of the three you have been sent is usually written on the document, and it is the first thing to check.

Waiting time on completion day, parking suspensions and permits, shuttles where access is restricted, and destination port charges on an international move. None of those is hidden — they are simply not always in the figure.

Because the volume, the access and the option chosen decide the figure, and none of the three is knowable from a postcode and a bedroom count. A phone figure is a guess, and a guess that turns out low becomes a conversation on your moving day.

Shipping vocabulary. LCL is less than container load — your goods share a container. FCL is full container load — the container is yours alone. They are the international equivalents of a part load and a dedicated vehicle.

Ask specifically, every time. Port and terminal handling charges at the receiving end are quoted differently by different firms and they are the commonest reason a cheap international figure turns out not to be.

The customs relief that lets you import used household goods without duty when you are genuinely moving your home. It is claimed against a described inventory plus evidence of both ends of the move.

Your belongings shipped separately from you rather than as airline luggage — the normal arrangement on a long-haul relocation. Several countries apply a time limit relative to your own arrival, which is worth knowing before you book flights.

At the property where the volume or the access is uncertain, and by video or photographs where it plainly is not. We will say which yours needs rather than insisting on a visit for its own sake.

Yes, and it happens. A single item across a city is a courier. A disposal job needs a licensed waste carrier, which we are not. Naming the right alternative costs us a booking and is obviously the right thing to do.

We will move goods to a buyer, a charity or another address. We do not hold a waste carrier licence and do not dispose of anything, so a genuine clearance needs somebody else for at least part of it.

Say so straight away, and put it in writing inside the period the terms give. Hold on to the item and whatever it was wrapped in, because both get examined. Raising it with us directly is far better for you than working through the clauses on your own.