All the Unexpected and Hidden Costs When Moving – Moving is an exciting and daunting task. When you choose a professional moving company to assist with your move. There’s a possibility you’ll quickly find some additional moving expenses you never expected. It is no secret that the home-moving process can burn through your budget faster than you can say the words your name, so we created this blog and define all the unexpected and hidden costs when moving.

To make your moving process easy and smooth, we have prepared this complete list of all unexpected moving costs when moving out, including hidden, forgotten, and unusual costs that could weaken your chances of moving on a budget. Check out these hidden moving costs, expenses, or fees associated with the use of a professional mover.

The Hidden Costs of Moving House When Using a Moving Company

# Packing Labor + Packing Supplies

A packing service and the cost of packing materials are an ancillary service of full-service moving companies. You can pack your items, or you can have someone else pack your items. All the moving company is responsible for is any damage to your belongings if you obtain their packing service of their packing.

The packing materials are sometimes included with the packing services, or in other cases, the packing materials will be billed separately. Review the cost estimate thoroughly to find out how they will handle the cost of packing materials, or simply ask the moving company.

Some movers will inflate the packing prices while trying to reassure you that almost all of your belongings require special packing materials and that they will need more packing boxes than necessary to ensure your belongings are packed as safely as possible and will be transported safely.

# Moving Insurance

When you sign your Bill of Lading, you get Basic Limited Liability Protection, which is a kind of basic coverage, automatically. You don’t pay for that basic insurance. Proper moving insurance (called Full Value Protection) is one of the most frequently forgotten moving expenses. So if you’re moving valuable objects, you may want to consider purchasing this kind of moving insurance, because it will obligate the moving company to compensate for the replacement value of any damaged or missing objects.

# Fee For Disassembly and Reassembly of Furniture

Moving furniture will likely result in your movers charging you for taking apart large furniture in your old house and putting it back together in the new home or apartment. In addition to the hidden moving costs of being charged extra for moving out, you might not even have considered that beds, wardrobes, dressers, china cabinets, desks, and sofas will usually have to be taken apart to wrap and move safely.

# Extra Charge for Handling Bulky Items

You may incur extra moving expenses if your items are heavier or oversized. This is another one of the undercover moving expenses you should be aware of ahead of time. If you are moving pianos, pool tables, hot tubs, heavy metal safes, or any other difficult-to-move items that are extremely heavy and take up a lot of space in the moving truck, there will be unexpected moving expenses.

For example, many people moving their homes are worried about how to move a piano. If the piano needs to be hoisted by crane, you are looking at another $800-$2500 in moving charges based on the weight and dimensions of the musical instrument and the access to your house or apartment.

# Elevator Fees

The secret costs of moving house take many forms. In the end, you may be quite disappointed to find out that if your building has no elevator or the elevator is broken on moving day, you will be charged a one-time fee – about $75. This cost is only a figure – it will depend on the moving company. Somewhere, a mover decides not to impose a flight charges fee even though the movers will be lugging household goods up and down the stairs due to a missing or malfunctioning elevator in the building.

Therefore, if you are in a high-rise building, be sure to speak to building management and book an elevator just for your moving day so that you are not blindsided by one of the many hidden costs of moving.

# Move Cancellation Fee

Whether unexpected relocation plans got thrown into the mix or you decided to go with a different moving company at the last moment is irrelevant. You just need to be aware that cancelling a booked move can cost you. Every moving company has its cancellation policy. Cancellation policies are usually one of the hidden moving costs we talk about, and for this reason, it’s important you know the terms of the cancellation policy to avoid surprise costs.

A cancellation fee is usually not charged for cancellations with a notice of greater than one week, so you will not see any surprise moving fees.

If you give the moving company notice of at least one week, you could see any fees anywhere from $50 – $100 based on their cancellation policy. If you cancel the move with less than five days’ notice, you could have an average charge of $300 or lose the entire moving deposit.

Regardless of your situation, always try to get a clear understanding of the move cancellation policy of the moving company you booked with before booking the move.

Wrapping Up!

Moving can be more expensive, whether it’s a local or interstate move. Multiple hidden charges often blow the budget, so above we mention some Unexpected and Hidden Moving Costs, making your move smooth without breaking your bank account.