What are the top residential moving services terms you need to know? You're ready to hire a contractor to help with your first move. But you don't know the lingo. Before you agree to an estimate or choose services you may, or may not, actually need, take a look at the top move-related vocabulary terms.
Moving Estimates
The moving estimate is the price a contractor quotes for your individual move. There are three primary types of moving estimates that residential and local contractors provide. These include binding, non-binding, and binding not to exceed estimates. A binding estimate is a fixed cost based on the weight of your to-move items. If the mover's weight estimate is off and your items are heavier than the quote, you won't pay more. But if the boxes, bins, furniture, or other belongings weigh less, the mover won't charge you a lower amount.
A non-binding estimate does not include a fixed price. If the actual weight is more than the estimated weight, you'll pay more. A lighter move will cost you less. In comparison, the binding not to exceed estimate won't force you to pay more than the original quoted price. It does give you the chance to pay less—if the move-day weight is a lower number than what you originally expected.
Moving Insurance Coverage and Valuations
You trust your mover. But sometimes accidents are out of their (or your) control. Move insurance helps to protect you against damage or loss during this process. There are a few different types of moving insurance. Federal law requires released value coverage and full value protection for state-to-state moves. These types of coverage are not mandated for local moves.
Even though the government doesn't make moving coverage a requirement for the local contractor, they may still offer some types of protection. Movers can't sell "insurance" to customers for local services. But they can provide you with expanded valuations. A valuation is not an insurance policy. Instead, you set the valuation (value per pound) of the items you need to move. This may only cover some items and won't include anything in a box that the moving contractor didn't pack themselves. Since this coverage isn't mandatory, a moving company may or may not offer it to their customers.
Moving or Packing Inventory
How will you know that everything you made safely made it from point A to point B? A moving or packing inventory can help you to verify that you didn't leave anything behind. This is an itemized list that you can organize by category. Choose categories that make sense to you—such as room, season, use, size, or household member.
There isn't one way to create a moving or packing inventory. Along with category choices, you can also select the overall method you use to write or list the inventory. Some homeowners prefer to use an app or spreadsheet, while others put pen to paper and inventory their to-move items in a notebook.
Contact a residential moving service to learn more.
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