The things people actually ask

Because in Epsom the answer varies more than almost anywhere. You might need nobody’s permission, or a managing agent’s, or an estate company’s, or the council’s — and which one it is decides the date, the vehicle and how far ahead we have to start.

A firm that asks about bedrooms first and access later finds out on the morning, which is the worst possible moment.

Usually written notice, our insurance details, and a lift booking. Many blocks also restrict removals to weekday daytime hours, which rules out the Saturday move people often assume.

Some hold a deposit against damage to communal areas, refunded after an inspection. We contact the agent and confirm all of it in writing before your date is fixed.

They cannot stop you moving, but on several Epsom estates the roads are unadopted — maintained by a management company rather than the council — so the company does have a say in what drives on them and where it stands.

It is almost always fine when it is asked in advance. It is occasionally a problem when a vehicle simply turns up.

We do, at both ends where both are on controlled streets. It is an application with a fee and a notice period rather than something arranged on the day.

The notice period is the constraint. Tell us your likely date as soon as you have one, even an uncertain one — an application filed against a date that then moves is a far smaller problem than one never filed.

Five very large Victorian and Edwardian hospitals were built on the fields west of Epsom, and between them they housed a small town. They are now housing estates — Livingstone Park, Clarendon Park, Noble Park, Manor Park and West Park.

They give Epsom a housing stock that exists almost nowhere else: apartments inside listed institutional buildings with long communal corridors and shared lifts, sitting on private roads a few yards from ordinary freehold houses.

Not harder, but different. The corridors are far longer than in an ordinary apartment building, so the carry from the lift to your door can be substantial — that affects the crew size rather than the vehicle.

The original staircase is frequently the listed part of the building, and frequently the only alternative when the lift is in use. We measure both.

They often do. These sites were converted in phases over many years, and a couple of hundred yards can put two addresses under entirely different management arrangements.

We confirm rather than assume, which is why we ask for the estate name as well as the postcode.

If you are anywhere near the Downs, we would rather you did not. The roads across the Downs close to through traffic on those meetings, Tattenham Corner and Langley Vale become difficult to reach, and the town fills.

We check your date against the race calendar before it is confirmed. If it clashes we will say so plainly rather than take the booking and hope.

We start earlier and route in from the far side, away from the closures. It is entirely workable and it is not the day anybody would choose.

What we will not do is pretend the meeting is not happening.

No. A suspension holds a bay against ordinary parking; it does nothing when a road is closed under a traffic order for an event.

It is not worth paying for on those dates, and we will tell you that rather than quietly adding it.

Epsom and the towns around it — Ewell, Stoneleigh, Ashtead, Banstead, Tadworth, Worcester Park, Leatherhead and Chessington — plus moves in and out of the area to anywhere in the UK.

A great many of our jobs are London households moving out to Epsom, and Epsom households moving further out in turn.

As soon as you have a likely date. In a managed block or on a controlled street the notice periods are the constraint rather than our diary, and both work better with room to move.

A provisional booking that changes is entirely normal.

We read everything that comes in and reply by email once we have been through it, normally within a working day or two.

If you already have a date agreed, say so and we will treat it as urgent.

Yes. Goods in transit and public liability cover are in place, and the level applying to your move is set out in writing with your quote.

Managing agents frequently ask for our certificate before they will confirm a lift booking. We supply it as a matter of course.