Hire Licensed Moving Company: Safe Haven or Waste of Money?

Who doesn’t want to save some cash on services? But as wise people say buy cheap or buy twice. This rule often applies when people make decisions on hiring a licensed moving company. Even if a person understands the charms of hiring movers, often tries to find a cheaper option.

Avoid Moving Scams

Combination of being cheap and affordable fraught with negative consequences. If the moving company damping the prices and comes up with an unbelievably attractive offer, think twice and find out where the trap is. License movers will be not able to cut the price as the amount of their spending related to insuring and licensing activities is quite a big item of expenditure. 

So choosing a company with a low estimated service cost may simply mean, that there is a scammer in front of you. If you value your property and money, when this is the right time to learn how to differentiate a professional licensed moving company from potential fraud: 

• Rule number one is to check the U.S. DOT number before hiring a company. This is a special indicator issued by the U.S.  Department of Transportation and without getting this number any interstate moving services are illegal. 
• When it comes to the local movers within a state, this registration is not obligatory, but instead, such moving companies should be licensed by the state. And here are some tricky parts. The regulation and licensing may differ from state to state, so your obligation as a customer is to check what is appropriate by your state authorities and whether you tend to cooperate with the license movers following all the necessary criteria. Requirements in California may not be the same as in East Coast states. 
• Another way to recognize a scammer is to ask for insurance. Moving companies must be insured, otherwise, in case of an accident or other miscellaneous you will simply lose all your transported belongings and no one will take the responsibility for that. Instead, licensed and insured movers will ensure the full coverage of the damaged items and some other expenses related to the inconvenience. 
• Use common sense while searching for a mover. There should be some doubts if the company doesn’t have a business address, website, or social media pages. 
• If you are already threatened by the number of legal aspects that should be checked, this last tip is for you. Make proper due diligence on the movers before hiring them based on the information available on the internet. Negative reviews, mentions, and comments on social media might be already a red flag for further cooperation. 

Licensed Movers are Insured and Provide Recourse for Damages

This is probably the main reason why your search should be concentrated on moving companies, which are properly licensed and insured. Of course, you may think that your granny’s wardrobe and a few boxes with books are not worth overpaying for license movers and their sometimes pricy offers. But think broader, and realize that anything can happen to baggage and movers while thy are loading trucks. How high is the truck accident probability? Even if you think this is none of your business and you will have zero responsibilities, be sure that the authorities will be definitely interested in why your thing was on board and what you have to do with all these. 

For people, whose belongings have some value, there should be no doubt whether they work with a reliable licensed moving company. This is the only way to have some guarantees, that you secure your items. 

Movers Golden Standards

A self-respecting company that has a reputation in the market will not allow itself the luxury of working without a license or insurance. In order to have a decent client base, professional movers usually come up with a customer-oriented approach to each situation and try to tailor their services to your needs. This usually includes personalized commercial offers, and a dedicated manager, who will be at your convenience, and ready to answer each extra question. Apparently, the short and long-distance move has their specific and this is the job of the moving company to give you some insight into that. 

Besides some internal values and codes of conduct, the company should fulfill some formal requirements to get the license. This includes proper incorporation documents, accountant reports, and no sign of fraud or misconduct. 

How to Ensure Exceptional Experience

Belive, that the experience with a licensed moving company will be positive in 99% of cases. This is a good indicator of professionalism and company reliability. A company operating in a market for a while has its reputation, which is easy to check. If you experience some inconvenience from the beginning like you have been asked to pay upfront, or you have no connection with drivers or movers’ representatives for no reason, this may cause unnecessary stress while moving. 

Another factor, which may stress you, is the price. That’s true, that delivering exceptional services requires extra cost, the burden of which lays on the client. But there is always room for negotiations. And the company’s readiness to discuss the commercial side is another component of successful cooperation.

Safety

Last but not least is taking care of your safety. Rember, that movers are real people who now have an access to your house, your furniture, and household items. In the case of working with licensed and insured movers, you can be relaxed that no one will ever get a personal benefit from the cooperation. Even if you come across dishonest performers who steal or damage something, you will always have all the guarantees of proper protection and compensation.

If it turners out that your contractors have nothing to do with licensed activities you may forget about any legal guarantees or protection. 

When ready to move, make it a smooth and professional journey, rather than a scenario for another detective story without a happy end. Working with licensed and insured moving companies can make this experience pleasant and be a good start for your new life in a new place.