What people forget when they move

The box you need on the first evening

Almost everyone makes the same mistake once: everything gets packed properly, and then at nine in the evening on moving day you are opening boxes in the hall looking for toilet paper.

Pack one box — label it clearly, put it in the van last and take it out first:

• Toilet paper and kitchen roll
• A change of clothes and pyjamas for everyone
• Medication, toiletries, basic cosmetics
• Enough plates, cutlery and mugs for one meal, and the kettle

Something to sleep on, and in

Moving is exhausting, and the one thing that has to work at the end of it is the bed.

• Pillows, duvets, a set of bedding
• A mattress protector
• A few clean towels
• Whatever each person actually sleeps with — the blanket, the toy

Cleaning things

Both flats need cleaning, and both need it at a point when every cleaning product you own is sealed in a box somewhere.

• An all-purpose cleaner and bathroom disinfectant
• Cloths, sponges and kitchen roll
• A broom, a dustpan and a mop
• Bin bags, more than you think

Documents

A move is the worst possible time to lose a passport. These travel with you, in a bag you keep hold of, never in the load:

• ID cards, passports, birth certificates
• Bank and tax paperwork
• The lease or the purchase contract
• Medical records, prescriptions, test results
• Vehicle registration and insurance policies

Insurance does not cover documents, cash or jewellery in a removal load anywhere — the detail is in our guide to insurance in transit.

Chargers and cables

The classic: the electronics arrive, get unpacked, and the cables are in a box that will not be opened for three days.

• Chargers for phones, tablets and laptops
• Television and device cables
• Extension leads and adapters

Put them all in one labelled bag and keep it with the first-evening box, not with the devices.

The storeroom, the cellar and the garage

These are the rooms nobody goes into, which is exactly why they get packed last or not inventoried at all. They are also where the awkward, heavy and seasonal things live.

• Tools and whatever is hanging on the garage wall
• Winter tyres, snow chains, car-care things
• Seasonal decorations and out-of-season garden furniture
• Things put there "temporarily" that have been there for years

Count these rooms in the volume estimate too. They are the most common reason a quote turns out to have been based on less than was actually there — and if you want them cleared rather than moved, that is a separate job we do.

Things hidden on purpose

Jewellery, cash, spare keys or documents deliberately put somewhere unusual — in a book, in a shoe, in a tin — are forgotten precisely because they are not where you would look for them.

• Valuables stored outside the obvious boxes
• Spare keys for the flat, the car, the gate
• Cash or papers in books, drawers and similar hiding places

Make a list of hiding places a week before, while you can still remember them.

The things that are not objects

These get forgotten just as often as a box, and they cause more trouble.

• Changing the address with your bank, your employer and the relevant authorities
• Transferring or cancelling electricity, water, internet and television at the old address
• Updating the delivery address for parcels and subscriptions
• Taking a final meter reading, and photographing it

The full sequence with the deadlines is in the complete moving checklist. If you want the physical side taken off your hands entirely, our full-service move covers packing, transport and setting the new place up.

Frequently asked questions