These are the questions we get asked most often by Eastbourne, Hailsham and Sussex customers. If your question is not here, give us a call on 01323 848 008 or email office@markratcliffemoving.co.uk — we are happy to help.
Three ways: phone us on 01323 848 008, complete our online quote form, or request a free in-home or video survey. For accurate pricing we recommend the survey — it takes 30-45 minutes.
Yes. Once we have surveyed your home and issued a written quote, that price holds unless your inventory changes significantly. There are no hidden surcharges or fuel add-ons.
30 days from the date issued. If your move date is more than 30 days out, we can reissue or extend the quote.
20% of the quoted price secures your move date. Balance is payable on the day of completion.
No — all surveys are free with absolutely no obligation.
Typically 8:00–8:30am for a full day move. We will confirm a more precise window the day before.
Not necessarily — but it helps to be there at both ends to direct the crew on where things go. Many customers leave once loading is complete and meet the lorry at the destination.
We arrange parking suspensions in advance for known restrictions. Mention this during the survey.
We move in all weathers. Pad-wrapping protects furniture from rain damage between the house and the lorry. We have waterproof covers for the loading area.
For a full removal with our packing service — no, we pack on a pre-move day. For self-pack moves, yes — be packed the night before so the crew can load straight away.
Yes — included with the quoted packing service, or available to buy from our Lower Dicker packaging shop if you are self-packing.
For lightweight items in sturdy drawer units, yes. For heavy items or fragile drawers we ask you to empty them.
Yes. We are trained to handle TVs, computers and sound systems. Original boxes are best where you have them.
Every piece of furniture is individually wrapped in a thick quilted blanket inside your home, taped, labelled, then carried to the lorry. It is only unwrapped once it has been placed in its final position in your new home.
Each customer has their own individual steel-walled room rather than a shelf or cage inside a shared warehouse. 24-hour CCTV, alarmed access.
Four weeks. After that you pay month-by-month with no long contract and no early-exit fees.
Yes — by appointment during depot hours, normally with 24-hour notice.
Storage insurance is available as an add-on and strongly recommended. We arrange cover through our broker.
Air freight to Europe is 5-10 days door to door. Sea freight to Australia, USA or Thailand is 6-12 weeks. We give a more accurate window once we know destination and volume.
Yes — inventory packing list, valued inventory, customs declarations and Transfer of Residence (ToR1) paperwork are all prepared by us.
Yes — UK to Thailand is one of our specialist routes. We ship regularly to Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai.
Most countries prohibit firearms, explosives, narcotics, certain plants and seeds, ivory, and some food items. Many restrict alcohol and electronics. We provide a destination-specific list.
Balance is due on the day of completion. We accept bank transfer (faster payments), card or cheque.
No charge for postponements, cancellations or key waits. We simply update the diary at no extra cost.
Tips are entirely optional and never expected. If your crew has gone above and beyond, a tip is appreciated — many customers offer £10-20 per person at the end of a good move.
For larger or international moves we can sometimes split the balance — speak to us during the quote process.
Mark Ratcliffe Moving has been operating since 1982 — over forty years. We are family-run, based at Lower Dicker near Hailsham, and have moved tens of thousands of households across Sussex and beyond.
Yes. We are a full member of the British Association of Removers Overseas Group. Members are independently inspected against standards covering premises, vehicles, training, customer service and complaints handling. Ask us for our membership number if you would like to verify it.
All our crews are directly employed, uniformed and trained in-house at our staff training centre to BS 8564-aligned standards. We do not use agency or zero-hours labour. This matters because the people moving your possessions care about the company's reputation and the quality of the work.
Standard goods-in-transit insurance is included on every quote — currently up to £40,000 per load. Higher-value declared cover is available as an add-on. We can also recommend specialist insurers for art, antiques and high-value collections.
You raise a claim within seven days of the move, supplying photographs and the item details. We aim to settle straightforward claims within 14 days. Our breakage rate is extremely low — typically under 1 in 50 moves has any claim at all.
Yes. As a BAR member we participate in the Advance Payment Guarantee scheme, which protects deposits up to a specified limit in the unlikely event of company failure between deposit and move date.
This FAQ collects the questions we get asked most often during quote and post-quote conversations — usually because the answer needs more than a one-liner. For anything more specific to your move, three options. First, call the office on 01323 848 008; we’d rather spend ten minutes on the phone than have you wonder. Second, email office@markratcliffemoving.co.uk if it’s a question that needs typed-out detail (international shipping rules, particular antique handling, complex storage arrangements). Third, book a free survey; many questions only become specific once a surveyor has walked your rooms.
We try to answer directly rather than steer every question toward booking a removal. If your situation suggests our service isn’t the right fit — you’re moving a single chair across town, or moving overseas to a country we don’t routinely service, or moving on a budget that won’t cover a BAR-member firm — we’ll say so and point you to a better-suited alternative. That’s how the FAQs are written.
New questions get added every few weeks based on what came up during quotes. The page is reviewed in full at least quarterly. If you spot something that’s out of date (a price band that’s shifted, a service that’s changed) please flag it — we’ll update it the same week. The credibility of these FAQs depends on them staying accurate, not on them looking polished.
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What to check before you sign — BAR membership, insurance, written quotes, reviews. Plus the red flags that mean "walk away".
Read article →Call us today for a free, no-obligation quote — or use our online form. Whether it's a one-room move or a full international relocation, we've handled it before.