# Moving in August - Shipping advice needed



## ldnrx (Jan 8, 2020)

Hi All, we are moving to Wellington from London in August and are looking for some shipping advice.

We are not planning on brining much furniture but as a family of 5 we will have lots of clothes, toys kitchen equipment etc. We are also planning on shipping our car.

Questions

Does anyone have any experience of self-packing companies? We would rather pack up gradually ourselves if possible, I have read it can cause insurance issues but would be grateful for any advice if you have taken a similar approach.

Also does anyone have experience of shipping their car and belongings in the same shipping container?

Or packing (some) of their belongings inside their car when it is shipped? Again I have been advised insurance and customs may have issues with this but if you have any experience we would love to hear about it.

Anyone had a particularly good experience with packing company and would recommend them?


----------



## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

Hi and welcome to the forum,
Yes we used PSS International and went for the full packing service. Two PSS guys packed up our whole 5 bedroom house in the UK in 3 days.....and I mean they packed up everything - washing machine, pots, pans, cutlery, sports equipment, ornaments, furniture. All we left was built in appliances and curtains/blinds as we rented out our UK home for a few years before selling up. We pretty much didn't have to lift a finger....just kept the cups of tea going. It was an awesome service, they did all the inventory and logging of 'at risk' items - e.g. wood/wicker etc and advised us along the way of things we shouldn't take (because of MPI restrictions).
Yes, I do remember there can be issues with insurance of the container goods if you've packed them yourself, quite sensible really as I wouldn't have done as good a job as they did. We didn't have any breakages or had any need to make a claim. We were lucky in the fact my new company in NZ covered the whole shipment insurance wise so we didn't need to take out a shipping policy in the end. The shipping company insurance is very expensive. have a look at Letton Percival in the UK as they do it independently.

Didn't bother with the vehicles in the end. The plan was to bring them along - two cars and a motorbike, but with the export costs, the red tape, paperwork, having to clean them within an inch of their life and risk that we'd have to do it all again when they arrived in NZ with zero guarantee they would ever get compliance to drive/ride on NZ roads we gave it up as not worth it so we sold them all in those final couple months and bought used here. With hindsight I'm glad we did. Saved a heap load of stress at a time when stress levels are running very high.....and it also meant we got near new vehicles again - win:win.

Would highly recommend PSS. They knew their stuff and seemed to cut less corners. middle of the road price wise. They subcontracted to NZ Van Lines this end who were also very good. The fellas here even unpacked the furniture and bolted it all together again.
We paid around £5k for our own 40ft container Preston to Wellington. Took 12 weeks. That price also included a 200kg airfreight package so we could send some stuff immediately and have it with us within a couple weeks - e.g. child's cot, work clothing, jackets as it was entering winter when we arrived....things you must have but don't want to lug them across the globe in your suitcase.


----------



## ldnrx (Jan 8, 2020)

Thanks for your reply, that's all really useful to know especailly about the air freight allowance - not something I had thought of!


----------

