Questions to ask your DC movers before hiring them

Whatever you do it’s important that you inform yourself about it because knowledge is power right? That way you can avoid possible scams and companies trying to get the advantage of the fact that you don’t know how to do something. No matter if you are moving for the first time or it’s your first time hiring professional movers like Helix Transfer & Storage, we are here to help you. Just like in any other industry, things change in the moving industry as well. That means you should keep up with the changes. Since there are various movers out there you need to have a way of finding out which mover to hire. Here are some questions to ask your DC movers before hiring them to make sure they offer what you’re looking for.

Ask them if they have a proper license

Before you ask anything else, you need to make sure the moving company you want to hire has a proper license. All professional movers should have a license number that the United States Department of Transportation provides. You can do a little research to see if the license a moving company is claiming to have is legit. Just go to USDOT’s official website. You should have in mind that moving companies that operate within only one state are not regulated by this department. They are regulated by the state they are in.

Do they offer the services you need?

No moving company is the same. That means they all offer different kinds of services. If you simply assume they are doing everything you need done, it might get you in trouble on your moving day when you find out you don’t have everything covered. For example, you assumed the mover you picked does the packing for you but you haven’t checked. On a moving day they show you packing is not on the list of the services they offer. You sure don’t want this happening to you.

What kinds of liability insurance do they offer?

If you plan on entrusting your belongings to a moving company, you need to make sure they offer insurance. Just in case an accident happens and something gets damaged during the moving process. It doesn’t matter if you’re moving to a place that’s nearby, accidents can still happen. According to the FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration), an interstate moving company with a license must offer at least these two types of inability insurance – Full Value Protection and Released Value Protection.

Ask your DC movers before hiring them for their references

Before you hire one from the local movers DC, make sure to ask for references. When you request this, the one representing a moving company should always be able to give you all the information you need.

What we also recommend when choosing a mover is to ask your family or close friends if they know any good movers. It’s true that now that we have access to a lot of information by using the internet, but listening to someone you trust sharing their first-hand experience is pretty useful. You can also check their online reviews, just to make sure they are indeed a reliable moving company.

How much do they charge

It may seem like a pretty obvious question, but don’t forget to ask this so you can fit the moving expenses into your budget. There are usually a few aspects movers take into consideration when calculating the price of your move:

• Distance
• What season the move is being realized in
• The weight of the goods that are being shipped

Of course, these are just some examples, make sure to ask your specific mover how they determine the price of the move.

Do they charge additional fees?

Ask your DC movers before hiring them if there are any additional fees they charge during the moving process. Some of them will charge more for locations that are not easily accessible, certain goods, etc. For example, they could be charging additional fees for bigger items. You should talk about all these additional fees a while before the move. Otherwise, will surprise you when you see a higher bill than you had expected. Companies often “hide” fees like this somewhere in your contract. That way you can easily miss them and won’t pay attention to them. When you ask directly, it will be much harder for a company to avoid the question.

Ask what happens if you have to cancel the move

Not everything always goes as planned, so you might even have to cancel your move if something unexpected happens. Especially if your move is a long distance one. Ask your moving company from long distance movers DC what are the consequences of canceling the moving process. There are moving companies that won’t charge you anything if you cancel on time. Some will even let you cancel without paying anything even the day before the move.

But the truth is, the majority of movers will take the whole deposit or a certain amount of money from your deposit in case you cancel the move. They might even charge additional fees for this.

So, if you are not one hundred percent sure you are going to move, make sure to ask this before signing a contract with a moving company. You don’t want to spend extra money on something like this.

Ask your DC movers before hiring them if they provide packing services

This is a useful thing to ask if you are preparing for a sudden move. In that case, you won’t have much time to do the packing yourself. A lot of moving companies offer various packing services which usually consist of packing, unpacking, furniture assembling, etc. Since it’s an additional service, your mover will add it to the cost of your move. When talking about this with your mover from residential movers DC area, ask them what you need to do beforehand so everything is ready for them to do the packing.

Now that you know what are some of the questions you should ask your DC movers before hiring them, you are ready to go!