Furniture - Move it or buy a new lot?

[thetwoofus]

Hello

As a matter of interest on furniture etc what of storage companies we are in Herts and intend putting ours into storage, any comments on this subject?. We intend to take almost all our furniture with us whether we do it ourselves or get a company to do it   I'm not sure as yet,have to estimate costs etc and the time factor. Im an hgv driver so size of vehicle is no problem just the aggro of returning the vehicle to uk .Idealy we would like to find a storage Co in the south east(kent area) just  make things easier.

[sclarke2208]

Hi,

Check your yellow pages under 'storage' in Kent. About half of my stuff is in storage here in Stoke-on-Trent. I have a 40 sq metre unit which costs me £70 per month including insurance. I had a full tour of their premises prior getting my stuff there and I have to sign in and out each time I go. Very secure, you have to supply your own locks. This was priceless for me as I am now renting till I move and I have no garage or garden shed here so all that stuff is in storage along with everything from the loft!!  Makes it easy when the BIG move happens.

Good Luck

roseysan

[Jo]

" just the aggro of returning the van to Uk "

Are there not firms that let you hire in the Uk and return to a base in France?

I thought Avis or Hertz...?

[Cassis]

Never heard of that before, Jo.  Who would take them back to the country they are registered in?

[Jo]

If it's an international firm such as Hertz or Avis, they use them in the country of drop off until they have a return hire.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

Can't see that with UK (RHD) vehicles in France -- German, Belgian, etc. would be feasible . However, I'd be surprised if (e.g.) Hertz would be allowed to operate a UK reg vehicle from a French base without re-registering it.

[Cassis]

I still can't see it happening for UK vehicles - who the heck's going to want to hire a RHD GB registered van in France?  Or vice versa?

EDIT:  I take it back - I've just tried the Hertz site and found I can hire a car, at least.  Major snag - pick up a Focus from Dover and drop it in Alençon 3 days later would cost £1,250!!!!  I reckon they must drive the car back or stick them on a transporter for that price.

[Jo]

I have done it before moving from Germany to Uk, but it didn't cost that much!!!

On another point, I am trying to make up my mind whether to take my piano to France, It is a lovely piece of furniture circa 1860, but an indifferent instrument, how do pianos fare given the climate in sw France? Anyone have any experience?

[mint]

jo, i'm also taking my piano.  have to as we will be moving over "for real".  we are not quite sw france, just on the northern edge of the dordogne.  should be ok because i grew up in the tropics and we had pianos there!  mind you, i was only a child so i wouldn't know whether the pianos were affected by the heat and humidity and i wasn't the one paying for its maintenance!

i don't know who will tune my piano, though.  but, that's something i will have to look into once we have the piano in situ

[Llantony]

We have a small house in France which is more or less furnished so we thought we'd hire a van to take the rest of our stuff, clothes books, kitchen stuff etc. when we move there this summer or next.  We aren't that well off so would hesitate to spend thousands on a removal firm.   We found that a local - Nottingham, hi Jo! - firm hires 7 ton self drive trucks and would let us take one to France.  Quite reasonable too.

I've just been told that the law will change in April and an ordinary driving licence will no longer allow my husband to drive a 7 ton truck;  it will require a separate driving test.

 

 

 

[Jo]

Can you tell me the name of the firm? and how big is a seven tonner?!! I've always thought a Ford Transit about 3 or 4 tons, is that right? Whereabouts in Nottingham are you? Small world!

[steve tachauer]

For inexpensive removals, try e-bay. We've had a quote for just £1100 for a move from N.E.Essex to Dept 62 (an hour inland from Boulogne).

 

[Llantony]

Just a word of caution - friends hired a 'man with a van'.  They got a phone call from someone over 100 miles away, where their stuff had been delivered!  The people had traced them somehow.

[Cassis]

Another word of caution.  When it comes to removals, cheapest is not best.  Believe me.  Make sure you know what you are getting.

[sclarke2208]

Hi Jo,

I, too am moving over to France in the summer this year. I have had astronomic quotes from removal companies and I am only going to Pas de Calais 60 miles south of the shuttle terminal. Sooooo I asked my friend what her guy did for a living and ...guess what.... he drives a 7.5 truck [:D] so obviously he has a HGV licence. He has said that if I pay to hire the truck he will drive it over, stay over night and take it back the next day. Plus, as a single over 50 female it means I will have a strong fella to help unload!  [:D] I believe a 7.5 ton lorry is twice the size of a Luton van (?). If you look at the classified ads in LF mag you may see what they look like in some of the ads.

roseysan

[Jo]

Hi Roseysan,

Will there be anyone left in the east midlands?! Does your friend's guy fancy a trip a little further south!! Mind you , I can see my husband being really chuffed about that!!

I know how big a Luton is so thanks, that gives me some idea! We are moving over permanetley in spring next year to the Vienne, my brother and cousin are already in France in the Gironde. Hope all goes well for you,

Jo

[Quillan]

I did the storage thing and had professional movers do the job including the packing and it cost a bomb. One thing I did discover is that you still get a very short insurance period on your goods. A way round this is to take out Marine Cover which gives you a month in which to claim. After all how can you get a complete house unpacked in 7 days which is what most companies offer.

Next time I will sell the lot, move my personal stuff and buy again. I think the furniture is a lot better built in France and you get a lot more ‘bang’ for you ‘bucks’. The other thing is that when you ever have to claim on a French household policy you have to produce a receipt, not a till receipt but a proper facture for the item. We had none for our UK stuff and when something broke they wouldn’t entertain a claim. My camera on the other hand, bought in France with a proper facture, and dropped in the river was sorted out inside two weeks with no hassle (it was a Canon digital SLR worth over 1,000 Euros).

[KathyC]

[quote user="Quillan"]

 

 The other thing is that when you ever have to claim on a French household policy you have to produce a receipt, not a till receipt but a proper facture for the item. We had none for our UK stuff and when something broke they wouldn’t entertain a claim. My camera on the other hand, bought in France with a proper facture, and dropped in the river was sorted out inside two weeks with no hassle (it was a Canon digital SLR worth over 1,000 Euros).

[/quote]

So, if your whole house contents goes up in flames one day or you're visited by a very ambitious burglar, does that mean you'll get nothing? If that's the case I won't bother with contents insurance. That's scary, can anyone else confirm?

(Sorry Quillan, it's not that I disbelieve you, but if you're right, I don't see any point in bothering with insurance.)

[Quillan]

Our first insurance company (MMA) told us about a type of company that comes and 'values' your belongings (I suspect there is a proper name for this service) if you don't have receipts and you end up with a sort of dosier which is acceptable to the insurance company. I have to say that the cost was quite high and to be honest we didn't bother.

We have two 'Lazy Boy' reclining settees which cost about 10k in the UK but I never kept the receipt same with almost everything I brought with me. Every thing I have bought here I always put the receipt in a big box file. No order etc but at least they are all in one place. I see your point about the house being burnt down, never thought of that, I wonder where you would stand. The camera, thank god I kept the receipt, was fine and they did (my new insurance company is MAAF via Bank Populair) ask for a copy of the original receipt. I had to get an estimate, they paid me 40% (I think thats right) up front and the rest when I got the camera back and sent in the final bill. This does of course mean that you have to have the money to pay for the repair in the first place. I don't know if this is normal (in the UK they pay the repairer direct) because I have only made the two claims as I said, one they didn't pay the other they did.

[KathyC]

Presumably if your house burns down your receipts will go with it! I never thought of contents insurance for things breaking down, only for fire and theft. How would you cover things that you inherited (not that I have any), some of which could be very valuable? Anybody else have any experience of this?

[suein56]

[quote user="KathyC"] How would you cover things that you inherited , some of which could be very valuable? Anybody else have any experience of this?[/quote]

Don't know about France but in the UK if you have inherited valuable stuff then a valuation of each item will have been made for probate, so you will have that. I was also told to keep photographs of the items with a copy of the valuations in a secure place. 

Sue

[Jo]

When my mother died, we weren't given copies of any of the valuations, I wonder would the solicitors still have copies? It's seven years now.

[Quillan]

I don't know how you 'mark' (the old invisible pen job) stuff here but we use our old post code as the French ones cover such a large area. At least it’s some form of almost unique identifying. We have photo's of all our jewellery etc, have written down serial numbers of white goods and lodge them with the bank (ours charges nothing for this probably because we are insured though them). We have accidental damage and cover for things like freezers etc, it was a UK fridge freezer they wouldn't pay out on.

Just like in the UK it is down to you to ensure that stuff is kept safe. You can install a small fire safe (they cost around £100) if you are that worried to keep these sort of documents in. Items of high capital cost or sentimental value should be entered on the insurance for anyway and is a good idea to give copies of proof of value.

Like insurance companies throughout the world they always look for a way not to pay, it's what they do. The only two things that worried me was having to pay up front for the repair or replacement and that people in the past on the forum have said they take ages to pay out. The latter in my case proved to be wrong although I am sure there are others where it's taken them ages to get their claim dealt with.

 

[KathyC]

Thanks Quillan, I think that my definition of valuable is a bit different from some of those posting here!

Let's start again. Assuming that your belongings are a mixture of things you've brought from the UK, things you've bought second hand and things that you've bought new and never thought to keep the receipt for ( who keeps a receipt for a 150euro Carrefour TV?), does anyone know whether a French insurance company would pay up (like a UK insurer would do) if you lost things in a fire or were burgled?

I've always been quite completely covered in the UK but it sounds as if it's not going to be worth paying for in France. Our contents insurance has always been quite high as it includes over ten grands' worth of books and not a receipt amongst them!

[rusheslake]

I can highly recommend an english removal man ( he resides in France) and he also does part removals (the odd boxes)

Brilliant bloke & excellent service.