Moving checklist
What to do and when, from four weeks out to your first week in the new place. Use your browser's print option to keep a paper copy — the page is formatted for it.
Moving goes wrong in the admin, not the lifting. Most of what causes a bad move day — a missing gate pass, a lift that was never booked, an address nobody updated — is decided weeks earlier.
Nothing here is specific to using us. It is the list we would give a friend.
Four weeks before
- Get two or three written quotes. Ask each for the same itemised breakdown so you are comparing the same job.
- Fix your date — and check whether it falls in the month-end rush, when vehicles and crews are scarce and dearer.
- Start decluttering. You pay to move volume, so anything you will not unpack is worth dealing with now.
- Give notice to your landlord if you are renting, and confirm what the deposit return depends on.
- If children are changing school, request transfer certificates now — they take longer than people expect.
Two weeks before
- Confirm the booking in writing, with the vehicle size and crew size stated.
- Book the service lift and a gate pass at both buildings, and check the permitted shifting hours.
- Arrange transfer or final readings for electricity, water, gas, broadband and the newspaper.
- Book a technician for anything that needs professional disconnection — split AC, geyser, water purifier.
- Update your address on bank records, insurance, Aadhaar and any subscription that posts you something.
- Use up frozen food and anything that will not travel.
The week before
- Pack an "open first" box: kettle, mugs, tea, phone chargers, toilet roll, soap, a towel each, basic tools, torch, bedsheets.
- Set aside documents, jewellery, cash and medicines to carry yourself. These never go on the truck.
- Photograph the back of your TV and router so you can reconnect the cables without guessing.
- Confirm who will be present at each address, and share their numbers with your coordinator.
- Arrange care for pets and small children on the day. A house full of open doors is not the place for either.
The day before
- Defrost and drain the fridge, and drain the washing machine hoses. Both need to be properly dry.
- Have gas cylinders emptied and disconnected by the supplier — they cannot travel loaded.
- Charge your phone and a power bank. You will be on calls all day.
- Withdraw some cash for incidentals, and keep it on you.
- Confirm the arrival time with the crew and re-check the lift booking.
Moving day
- Walk the crew through the house first, and point out anything fragile or already damaged.
- Keep your personal bag with documents and valuables in one place, with you.
- Check the inventory and sign the loading sheet before the vehicle leaves.
- Walk every room, cupboard and balcony before locking up. Check the loft and behind doors.
- Take meter readings and photograph them.
- At the new place, check goods against the inventory as they come off — and note anything wrong on the sheet before the crew leaves.
First week in the new home
- Test every appliance, including the ones you did not use on day one.
- Get the locks changed if you have moved into a resale or previously rented property.
- Register with the society office and collect any parking or access cards.
- Find your nearest hospital, pharmacy and police station before you need them.
- Report any damage in writing within the window your mover stated.
Want us to handle the heavy part?
Surveyed first, quoted in writing, moved by our own crews.