How to hire
Start by matching the service to your job. A full packing service means the crew boxes every room and usually supplies the materials, while a fragile-only pack covers kitchens, glass, mirrors and artwork and leaves you to box books, clothes and soft furnishings yourself [4]. If you only need materials, a packaging counter or a storage branch box shop sells boxes, wrap and tape over the counter. Movers pack as part of the move and storage firms rent the unit and sell the boxes, and this page scores both, so decide which half matters more before you enquire.
Then check the scheme behind a mover. Members of the British Association of Removers are audited each year, have advance payments covered by the association guarantee, and answer to a free dispute service [1]. Search the member results on the association site or ring its office, and look for the badge carried as a live link rather than a flat image [1]. Storage firms point to the Self Storage Association, whose site directory finds member stores by postcode [3]. Either membership can also be checked through the Trading Standards code scheme search [2]. Ask for the membership details and check them yourself rather than taking a logo at face value.
Book the survey before you accept a price. Most Telford movers offer a free home or video survey, and the honest ones price from what they see rather than from a phone description. Get two or three itemised written quotes on the same scope, with labour, materials and VAT shown separately, since quotes for the same job vary by hundreds of pounds between firms [5]. Each quote should name the rooms covered, the materials included, the moving date, the crew size, parking and access at both ends, and what changes the price if you add rooms or boxes. It should also name the cancellation terms and who to call if dates slip.
Read the liability line before the crew starts. Some firms state full insurance, others publish contractual liability terms on declared values with a per-item figure where nothing is declared, and storage branches describe liability plans for goods in the unit that sit apart from your home insurance. Ask what is covered during packing, in transit and in store, what you must declare and photograph, and what the excess is. If the answer is vague, treat that as missing paperwork rather than reassurance and get it settled in the quote.
Nail the practical detail for your street. Telford estates, flats above shops and new-build closes can all defeat a large van, so agree parking, carrying distances, lift access and arrival times at both addresses. Month-end Fridays and summer weekends book out first and cost more, so a midweek date often buys you a calmer crew and more room to manoeuvre. Agree what the crew will and will not do: disconnecting cookers and washing machines, taking apart beds and wardrobes, lifting fitted carpets, and taking away used boxes and wrap at the end.
Telford and Wrekin adds local wrinkles worth raising at the survey. The borough holds eight conservation areas, including Wellington and the Severn Gorge [10], so a move touching Wellington, Dawley, Madeley or the Gorge villages around Ironbridge can mean steps, tight parking and longer carries. Newer estates such as Lawley trade stairs for tight closes and limited turning room, which matters just as much to a large van. Where a van would need road space on a restricted street, the council runs a road-space booking route with an administration fee of £42 [9]. And where decluttering comes first, the council collects bulky furniture and appliances from borough homes on a bookable, charged-per-band service [11].
A typical job runs in five stages. First contact is a call or form with your rooms, dates and both addresses. Then comes the survey, at home or by video, where the firm sees stairs, parking and fragile pieces. The written quote follows, fixed against that survey rather than a phone guess. Packing day sees the crew wrap, box and list as they go. Sign-off happens at delivery: walk the inventory with the crew while they are still there, and get any damage written down before the van pulls away.
Finish with paperwork you can file. Keep the itemised quote, the inventory or box count, the terms with the liability position, and every invoice and receipt together, and pay staged amounts rather than the full sum in cash up front. On delivery, check boxes against the inventory before the crew leaves and note damage on the paperwork there and then. If a dispute will not settle with the firm, a member mover answers to the association free dispute service [1], and Citizens Advice sets out your consumer options step by step [7].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, national cost guides put a full professional pack at £150–£300 for a one-bedroom flat, £250–£400 for a two-bedroom house, £400–£500 for a three-bedroom house and £500–£800 or more for larger homes, including VAT [4]. Materials are often billed on top, adding roughly £50–£150 depending on box counts and wrapping [4]. Telford usually sits below London and South East prices for the same work [4].
Within those bands, volume is the driver: room count, belongings and fragile pieces set the hours and the box count [4]. A lightly furnished flat with easy access lands at the lower end, while a full family house with a garage and a loft lands at the other [4].
A fragile-only pack, where the crew wraps kitchens, glass and artwork while you box the rest, runs at a fraction of the full price [4] [5]. The fragile count moves it: more glass and china means more hours and more wrap [4].
Packing easy rooms yourself and decluttering before the survey cuts professional hours, which is where the saving sits [4]. Going fully DIY still costs materials money: guides put bundles and wrap at roughly £30–£70 for a small flat, rising past £100 for a family house [4].
Where storage joins the job, Checkatrade's 2026 guide puts a 50 sq ft unit at about £22 a week or £95 a month and a 100 sq ft unit at about £44 a week or £190 a month [6]. Opening offers such as half-price weeks or price-match promises change the first bill but not the ongoing rate, so ask what the unit reverts to. Telford branches advertise starting prices and quote-beating promises of their own, so compare the revert rate and not the headline.
What moves your packing price is volume first: rooms, belongings and fragile pieces set the hours and the box count [4]. Timing, stairs and long carries at either end, parking, and distance all add on, as does anything specialist such as pianos or artwork crates. Ask whether VAT sits inside or on top of every figure, since guides mix the two [4] [6]. Get the scope in writing before work starts: which rooms, which materials, the moving and storage dates, the liability position, and what changes the price if the load grows.
Red flags
Prices a full pack from a phone description alone, with no survey, video call or photos of the rooms.
Cannot name a trade membership you can check yourself on the association or code-scheme search [1] [2].
Offers one fixed price with no split between labour, materials and VAT [4].
Asks for the full sum in cash up front, with no written terms or receipt.
Stays vague about what happens if something breaks, with no stated cover or liability terms.
Gives no fixed business address and goes quiet between the survey and moving day.
Changes the price on moving day without writing down why the scope grew.
Will not put the box count or inventory in writing before the van is loaded.
Rents a storage unit with no written access hours, price-review terms or notice period.