Why the cheapest quote is rarely the cheapest move
Three quotes for the same house can differ by hundreds of pounds. That gap is not arbitrary, and it is not usually greed. It reflects real differences in what is being provided, and understanding those differences is how you avoid paying twice.
Here is what sits inside a removal price.
Crew, and the hours they are given
The largest single component is labour, and it is where cheap quotes are made cheap.
A firm can quote less by sending fewer people or by allocating fewer hours than the job needs. Neither reduces the work. On a fixed price, the crew is under pressure to finish, which is when things get carried too fast and corners get clipped. On an hourly rate, the shortfall simply appears on your final bill.
When comparing quotes, ask each firm two questions: how many people, and how many hours. Two prices that look identical often turn out to be three people for six hours against two people for eight. You want the numbers, not the total.
Vehicles, and getting the size right
A vehicle costs money whether it is full or half empty, so firms size them to the survey. Undersizing is the failure mode: a load that will not fit means a second trip, a second day, or items left behind on completion day.
This is why a proper survey matters more than any other part of the quoting process. A price produced from a web form is a guess about volume, and guesses get revised on the day.
Insurance, which is the part people never check
Legitimate removals carry several kinds of cover, and each costs the firm money that appears in your price:
- Goods in Transit for your belongings while they are in the vehicle
- Warehouse-keeper liability if anything goes into storage
- Public liability for damage to the properties themselves
- Employers' liability, a legal requirement for any company with employees, with a minimum of £5 million cover
- Hire and reward vehicle insurance, required to carry other people's goods for payment
A firm that carries none of this can quote considerably less. If something goes wrong, you discover that a policy you assumed existed does not, and that the person who dropped your television is not insured to have been carrying it. Our guide to what "white van man" really means sets out how to verify these.
Ask for certificates. A professional firm produces them without hesitation.
Training, equipment and the boring compliance
The rest of the price is the things you never see:
- Trolleys, straps, blankets, protective covers and floor protection
- Manual handling training, which is what stops people injuring themselves on your stairs
- Vehicle maintenance, MOT, tax and depot costs
- Waste carrier registration if anything is being taken away
- Actual employment of the crew, rather than casual labour paid in cash
None of it is glamorous, and all of it is the difference between a company and a man with a hired van.
Where cheap quotes get expensive
The pattern is consistent enough to name.
Extra hours on the day. The estimate assumed less than the job took. On an hourly rate you pay the difference; the quote was never the price.
A second trip. The vehicle was too small because nobody surveyed properly.
Damage nobody pays for. Either there is no insurance, or the claim falls into an exclusion, most commonly self-packed boxes.
Waiting charges. Some very cheap quotes are cheap because everything beyond the bare minimum is billed separately.
The job that does not happen. Deposits taken for jobs that never appear are a genuine problem in this trade, particularly with firms that exist only as a phone number and a website.
Warning signs worth taking seriously
Any one of these is a reason to ask more questions. Several together is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No survey offered, even for a whole house
- No written quotation, only a figure agreed on the phone
- No business address on the website, or an address that turns out to be a mailbox
- No VAT number on a firm that appears large enough to be registered
- Cash only, or a deposit requested by transfer to a personal account
- Reluctance to show insurance certificates
- A price dramatically below the others, which usually means something in the list above is missing
- Reviews that are all five stars, all recent, and all short
Check Companies House for how long the business has existed and whether it files accounts. It takes two minutes and tells you a great deal.
What "good" actually looks like
A firm worth its price will survey the job properly, tell you honestly when a cheaper service would suit you better, put everything in writing, hold and evidence its insurance, turn up when it said it would, and give you a named person to call on the day.
It will also tell you what it cannot do. Firms that claim to handle everything, at any notice, cheaper than anyone else, are describing a business that does not exist.
For how to compare offers once you have them, see our guide to managing a move, and for the smaller end of the market, how a man and van booking works.
Frequently asked questions
Why do removal quotes vary so much? Mainly crew size and hours allocated, then vehicle size, insurance carried and what is included. Two quotes at the same price can represent very different amounts of labour, so compare the numbers rather than the total.
Should I choose the cheapest removal quote? Not by default. Cheap quotes are usually cheap because of fewer people, fewer hours, less insurance, or no survey, and the difference tends to reappear as extra hours, a second trip or an unpaid damage claim.
What insurance should a removal company have? Goods in Transit for items in the vehicle, warehouse-keeper liability for anything stored, public liability, employers' liability if it has staff, and hire and reward vehicle insurance. Ask to see certificates.
How do I check a removal company is legitimate? Look for a real business address, a written quotation, insurance certificates, and a Companies House record showing how long it has traded. Be wary of cash-only arrangements and deposits to personal accounts.
What is a pre-move survey and do I need one? An assessment of volume and access, in person or by video, before a price is given. For anything larger than a single room it is essential, since quotes given without one are estimates that change on the day.
Is a fixed price better than an hourly rate? For a whole house, usually yes, because it transfers the risk of the job taking longer to the company. Hourly suits small jobs where the work is genuinely brief and predictable.
How we can help
RMV Storage & Removals has worked across London for over fifteen years from our base in Enfield. We are AIM-accredited, carry full Goods in Transit and warehouse-keeper liability cover, and survey every job before quoting.
We handle house and office removals, man and van work, packing services and materials and container storage delivered to your door, across every area we cover including Enfield and North London.
If you have quotes in front of you and want a second opinion on what they include, get in touch and we will tell you honestly.
Written by Riki Migliori, Director at RMV Storage & Removals. Originally published May 2016. Fully reviewed and updated summer 2026.