Frequently asked
about UK→France moves

Yes — that is the entire point. We are a single-route specialist, not a generalist firm with a France brochure. This corridor is all we do, and we know it end-to-end.

Yes for full-house surveys — wherever you are in mainland UK we will visit at your address. Partial loads from more remote regions sometimes consolidate at a regional hub before heading south to the Channel.

The eight regions on our destinations page reach the whole of France — Brittany to the Alps, Normandy to the Côte d'Azur — and each has its own destination team and route schedule. If your commune is not named on one of those pages, it still sits inside one of the eight; ask us and we will tell you which team covers it.

Regularly to every region we cover, and more often to Paris and the Côte d'Azur in the busy season. The collection and delivery dates for your move are set at survey and confirmed on the written quote — we would rather give you dates we can keep than a frequency that reads well on a website.

Yes — partial loads share a lorry with other households heading the same way, so you pay for the space you use rather than a whole vehicle. The customs and insurance treatment is the same as for a full-house move.

Yes, end-to-end. Our customs agent lodges the UK export declaration, and at the French end the transfer-of-residence declaration goes to the douane with your dated, signed, itemised inventory. You supply the facts — what you own, how long you have had it, where you have lived — and sign the inventory; we prepare and submit the rest.

Usually not. French customs grants a duty- and VAT-free franchise for a change of residence: you must have lived outside the EU for at least 12 consecutive months, and your belongings must have been in your possession and use for at least six months before the move. It is claimed with the douane against a dated, signed, itemised inventory. Alcohol and tobacco are excluded, so a wine collection is declared separately.

Normally no. HMRC's guidance is that you do not need an EORI number to move goods that are for personal use only and are not controlled goods — which describes an ordinary household removal. Our customs agent makes the declarations under its own registration. If anything in your inventory falls outside that, we tell you at survey.

No — and plenty of websites get this wrong. ToR1 is HMRC's relief for belongings coming into the UK. Moving to France, the relief is the French transfer-of-residence franchise, claimed with the douane on the French customs declaration for a change of residence, supported by your inventory and proof of where you lived before. We prepare that declaration on your behalf as part of the move.

No — that is yours to manage with the French prefecture. What we do is time the delivery so your goods arrive after your prefecture appointment is booked.

Yes — all-risks goods-in-transit cover is included with every move, underwritten by a UK marine insurer. The certificate of insurance accompanies the written quote.

Yes, with declared-value documentation at survey. Art, instruments, antique furniture, and other high-value pieces are itemised separately on the certificate.

Photograph it where it stands, before anything is moved again, and send that to us with the signed inventory. We put it to the underwriter, who assesses and responds directly. There is a reporting window in the booking contract and it is on the terms page, but the practical advice is not to treat it as a target: damage is far easier to settle while the crew's delivery notes are fresh and the goods are still where they were set down.

Yes — the same goods-in-transit cover extends to depot storage time on either side.

Your deposit and your goods are protected by the booking contract and by all-risks marine transit insurance arranged for every consignment — the certificate comes with your written quote, before you pay anything. Our terms page sets out what happens to the deposit if a move is cancelled, and the statutory route open to you under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the ADR Regulations 2015 if we cannot settle a complaint between us.

Send us a brief through the quote form on this site, or call us. We arrange a survey of your UK property — in-person for full-house, a video walk-through often suffices for smaller moves — and the written quote follows by email.

Yes. The written quote is one figure covering door-to-door, customs, and insurance. The only variations after that are if you change the move scope (add items, change destination, change date) — we re-quote in that case.

Yes — a deposit is taken at booking confirmation, with the balance due before the lorry leaves the UK. It is refundable on the terms set out on our terms page, and your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply in addition.

Yes. We do not push for a sale; if our quote is not right for your move, no problem.

Longer than a domestic move and shorter than people fear. We will not quote you a headline figure here because the four things that actually drive it — your UK loading point, the French destination, Eurotunnel versus a western sailing, and whether the lorry is yours alone or shared — swing the answer considerably. Those are all known by the time we have surveyed you, so the transit window on your written quote is specific to your move instead of being an average of everyone else's.

Yes. UK-side and France-side indoor storage is available, climate-controlled options at most depots. Charged separately, flexible duration.

Sooner than feels necessary, particularly for a whole house. Three things have to converge — a surveyor at your property, the douanes filings completed in order, and a place on a crossing — and only the first is entirely within our gift. Consolidated partial loads are more forgiving and can sometimes be slotted in at shorter notice if the run has space. The one period that genuinely punishes late booking is the summer peak, when the sailings fill before the schedule does.

Yes — we run year-round. Winter sailings can be disrupted by Channel weather; we watch the forecasts, and if a crossing is cancelled we move the load to the next sensible departure and tell you straight away. Eurotunnel is far less exposed to weather, which is one reason we lean on it in the darker months.

Yes — pianos are routine. Specialist piano movers travel with the load; dedicated cradles, climate-monitored transit.

Yes. Custom crates with art-grade construction, climate-controlled where required, declared-value insurance.

Yes — climate-controlled transport with the right paperwork. Be aware that alcohol is excluded from the French transfer-of-residence franchise, so a private cellar is declared on its own line and is liable to duty and excise. We itemise it at survey so there are no surprises at the douane.

Yes, through our vehicle-partner network, ideally alongside a full-house move on the same route. A private car you have owned and used for at least six months can come in under the transfer-of-residence franchise; customs then issues the 846A certificate, which you need to register the car on French plates within one month of taking up residence.

No — pets travel with you or with a specialist pet-relocation firm, never in a removals lorry. We coordinate timing with your household move so the Animal Health Certificate appointment lands where it should.