Recommendations for shipping companies from UK to Adelaide

Hi all,

I am making the move in October and I have been looking around at shipping companies to send my stuff over with and I am interested in any recommendations or personal experiences that people have had.

I don't think I will have enough for a full container and it will be shipped from the West Midlands if this makes any difference!

Thanks

I used Anglo Pacific and they were fine. Some friends used Doree Bonner and rated them quite highly.

There are 6 or 7 big companies shipping wise. Doree Bonner, Crown, Anglo Pacific, Pickfords, White and Co (I think its called) and one or two others.

I'd give a number of them a call well in advance, book in 3 or 4 to come out and give quotes (it can take a few weeks to get an appointment slot from when you call so plan this in advance) and see which one you like out of them. Don't get more quotes than that else it'll get silly. I think 3 is ample personally. You can always haggle on price. Be aware if its not a full sole use containers worth your stuff will go groupage which can add quite a number of weeks to the delivery time. Mainly as groupage is based on 40ft containers, not 20ft so they have to wait till they fill them up before shipping them out. It could be a couple of weeks, 6 or more. Impossible to know at the time you book (or have collected for shipping even).

Also, depending on how much you have you may want to consider self packing and shipping using a Move Cube. These can work out cost effective but do require you to plan and pack carefully and to not be shipping masses (ie a full house worth). We used a large Move Cube (they have 3 sizes) and it was fine. Packed ourselves, loaded it all in to it and away it went, arrived when they said and no problems the Adelaide end.

We used crown after getting 4 quotes, they weren't the cheapest but came down on price for us when we asked for discount.

we found their representative the most knowledgable. The packing up and removal was spot on, can't comment further as furniture not arrived yet but still on course for estimated arrival. But so far so good for us

good luck

steve

Hi, our stuff left Southampton last Monday, after 2 days of packing by Crown, 3 guys came, and they were great! couldn't fault them! hopefully see our stuff in Adelaide in 8 - 10 weeks!

Thanks for all the replies. I have booked some appointments with a few of the above companies, so I will see what the differences between them are!

We used crown after getting 4 quotes, they weren't the cheapest but came down on price for us when we asked for discount

So initially they tried to rip you off by quoting a higher price than the correct cost of the job.

So initially they tried to rip you off by quoting a higher price than the correct cost of the job.

Rule of thumb. You generally get what you pay for they weren't the cheapest but they did seem more knowledgeable so I guess your paying a premium for that. And like I said they did move on price so my happy!!!

We used PSS (from Glasgow though but I'm sure they're nationwide) - excellent service and best price out of 4 different companies. We used them in Feb '13 and were v happy with everything

Any idea on cost of a full container from north east England to Adelaide just a ball park figure as a starting point ? As I know various shippers differ

Any idea on cost of a full container from north east England to Adelaide just a ball park figure as a starting point ? As I know various shippers differ

20ft sole use, around £3,500 although could have gone up a bit more in recent times.

Quotes will vary, so get a few in and go with the one you like best.

Also don't get the shipping companies own insurance. Check out either Letton Percival or Insure Your Move for that.

Very useful info - as always!

Quick update on costs, as of my enquiries today, for anyone who's beginning the process...

The Seven Seas 'Movecube' option came to £919 approx. for a 3 cubic meter container (their 'medium' size), all the way up to £4,000 for a 20ft (1,100 cubic feet) container from Allied Pickfords. Both companies were very helpful on the phone, incidentally.

We only intend moving small personal possessions so the cube seems a good idea.

As for the insurance side of things - the figures quoted by Seven Seas and Pickfords seem a bit high to me, so I'm checking out the independent providers.

S

Pickfords is a bit dearer but we took it as there is no excess

One trip hubby had a tile cutter damaged value 250 GBP guess what excess was 250 GBP so not worth the claim

But insurance is necessary in case the whole container goes AWOL

Our container this time is around 5600 GBP with insurance for a sole use 40ft container that will take the

car as well as the furniture

Thanks Philly. The quote we got for our transporting car came as a bit of a shock - it totals around £2,000 for a shared container. And then there's the threat of Australian customs charging many hundreds of dollars to clean it, should there be a speck of mud from the UK.

The insurance side of things is tricky as we have lots of paintings that are potentially expensive to replace, though don't have much commercial value (sorry, it's a bit complicated!). God knows what would happen if they were damaged and we had to claim... it would take years to sort out.

Another complicated thing to add to my already endless list of complicated things. Quick, someone tell me that it'll all be worth it in the end!!!

S

With your car check with Iron Chef if its worth taking - we are taking an Aussie car back so it wont be hard to get it on the road

The threat of customs cleaning its is a certainty -they will clean it regardless of how clean it is Our previous car was detailed before loading Oz customs cleaned it -twice !!

I have found pictures mirrors etc travel well and we have never ever had a breakage - except the guy off loading our stuff in Adelaide who dropped a box on his toe and broke it Toe not box

The tile cutter we had damaged I think was crammed so tight in its box and packaging it sent the whole base off alignment which doesn't do cutting a straight tile any good

Thanks Philly. I'll look into Iron Chef.

I did in fact get a couple of cheaper quotes for shipping possessions yesterday, though they were from a company that seems to attract mixed reviews - Anglo Pacific. Anyone on the forum had any experience? For a medium sized container they appear to be £200-300 cheaper than the Movecube option.

S