Moving Abroad? Make Sure You Understand Your International Moving Quote.
Selling your house and moving abroad? You'll need to hire an international mover and we recommend getting quotes from several reputable companies.
Once you've gotten a quote, you'll need to learn what to look out for in order to you hire the right mover for you. You can find more great resources on GoodMigrations.com.
Anatomy of an International Moving Quote
One of the most expensive parts of relocating to a new country is hiring an international mover to ship your things. It's important to understand what's in an international moving quote so you hire the right mover. We've put together some advice to help.
What's Included
People moving abroad often focus exclusively on price, but you must understand what services are actually being included in that price. Oherwise you may book a mover that seems cheaper but is actually more expensive when you realize all the extra services you'll have to pay for. Each mover should list out in the quote exactly what services they'll provide.
Moving Cost
This is what everyone cares about the most, right? At the end of the day, you want to know what the move abroad will code you. Some quotes just have one price displayed while others have multiple prices shown. We'll walk through a few examples.
What's Excluded
It's just as important to understand what services are excluded in the price. Most quotes will have a section that clearly lists what is not part of the cost.
Payment Terms
All quotes should have a section indicating the payment terms. As shown in the example, there's usually nothing special to look for.
Insurance Options
Insurance (sometimes referred to as Transit Protection, as in these examples) is almost never covered in the cost of the quote. Movers will offer it, generally through a third party insurance company, for an additional cost.
Transit Time
How long will it take your stuff to arrive? Weeks? Months? This is something you definitely want the mover to show on your moving quotes.
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Sharon Vagley is a former expat and the CEO and Co-Founder of Good Migrations, a site for people who are moving internationally.