Leaving the county · D
Storage across Kent
Not a unit you rent and drive to, but the middle stage of a move: goods collected by the crew, listed as they load, held while dates settle, and delivered when you say. In a county with a lot of coastal purchases and a lot of European traffic, that middle stage is needed more often than people expect.
Kent has two particular reasons for it: coastal chains, and anything waiting on a crossing booking.
What the arrangement is
Why Kent needs it
Coastal purchases, first. A lot of Kent buying happens on the coast, frequently from outside the county, and those chains are longer and less predictable than a straightforward town move.
Second, the crossings. Anything routed through a ferry or tunnel booking is dependent on a date that is not entirely yours, and a load with nowhere to be is an expensive load. Holding it is simply cheaper than improvising.
Third, the ordinary case everywhere: a sale completes and a purchase does not.
This versus a self-storage unit
A unit is a room with a key, which you fill yourself and can walk into whenever the building is open. It suits a business with stock in circulation, or somebody who needs regular access.
What we do is the other trade: the crew loads at your door, the goods stay as loaded, and access is arranged rather than casual. You save two handlings and a great deal of carrying; you give up walking in on a Sunday.
For a household between two addresses ours is nearly always right. For weekly access, a unit probably wins, and we will tell you so.
What to keep with you
This is where people go wrong. If your things are going away for a stretch you need a genuine living kit: clothes for this season and the next, work equipment, documents, chargers, medication, and whatever a child will ask for by the second day.
We go through that before loading and write it down. Retrieving one box from a held load is an arrangement, and doing it three times is an expensive way to find a coat.
Holding before a move abroad
On a European move, holding here first is frequently the right order. The export file is built against the inventory written at your property, which means the customs list is accurate because it was made where the goods were rather than reconstructed later. See moving abroad.
Storage
Questions about storage
- How much space will I need?
- More than you would guess. We measure at survey rather than asking you to estimate, and the arrangement is adjusted if the survey called it wrong.
- How long can you hold things?
- For as long as the gap runs. The terms, including notice for redelivery, are set out in your booking contract in writing.
- Can I get at my things?
- With notice. If you already know you will want particular items, say so at loading and we will keep them reachable.
- Are stored goods covered?
- Cover and its exclusions are stated in the booking contract. Declare anything unusually valuable at survey so it is handled and covered properly.
- Can goods go from storage straight abroad?
- Yes, and on European moves it is the common sequence — the export file is built against the inventory already written at your property.
Tell us where in Kent you are
The two addresses, a rough idea of what is going, and what the approach looks like. Those three answers get you a useful reply faster than anything else.