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No matter how big your move is or how far you're moving, it can be stressful because there's a lot to do before it's time to load the moving van. Use this helpful Daily Planning Guide to help you stay organized and on schedule. 4 Weeks Before Moving File a change
of address form with the Postal Office for each person receiving
mail at your home.
Decide which
items you will pack and sketch out the floor plan of your new home
to determine placement of furnishings. Make a list of names, addresses
and numbers you will need or want to remember.
If you're shipping
an automobile, plan to have the gasoline tank less than 1/2 full
and make sure there is sufficient antifreeze and oil. 1 Week Before Moving Arrange for payment
to your ADT driver at destination. (Unless your move is to be billed
to your employer or has previous credit approval, payment by cash,
certified check or money order is required before unloading.)
Pack a box of
things you'll need as soon as you arrive at your new home. (This
might include non-aerosol cleaning supplies, disposable plates
and cups, light tools, snacks, bathroom items and trash bags.) Moving Out Day Be on hand when
the ADT driver arrives and throughout the loading process. (If
you won't be there, make sure someone will be there to direct the
movers. Make sure the driver has in writing the name and phone
number of that person.)
Arrive at your
home a day ahead of time, if possible, to make sure utilities are
connected and to plan placement of major items in your home. Checklist of
People & Companies to be Notified
55
ways to save money moving ELIMINATE RATHER THAN RELOCATE
1. The Floor
Plan. 2. Color-Coordinate
Your Move. 3. Ignore the "I
Might Need It Someday" Syndrome. 4. Plan for Plants. 5. It's Not Dirt
Cheap. 6. Toys -- The
Kids'. 7. Food for Thought. 8. Firewood. 9. Musical Notes. 10. Don't Be
Fuelish. 11. Can Your
Aerosol Cans. 12. Verify Type
of Power. 13. Hearth and
Home. 14. Shelving
Systems. 15. From Flag
Poles to Basketball Goals. VALUABLE INFORMATION 16. Arrange for
the Transfer of Valuables. MISCELLANEOUS MONEY, TIME AND HEADACHE SAVERS Once you've organized your belongings, it's time to organize your move. The things you don't do can cost you both money and time. Here's a listing of small details that can save you dollars and headaches. 17. Coordinate
Your Move. 18. Notify Telephone,
Electric, Gas and Water Companies. 19. Write each
utility in the city to which you're moving. 20. Notify Laundryman and Newspapers to discontinue service. 21. Notify Security Company, Lawn Service, Garbage Disposal Service or any other type of regular service. 22. Check Your
Bank and Savings Accounts. 23. Notify Your Post Office, Publications and Correspondents in advance. 24. Notify Former
Employers and the Social Security Administration. 25. Collect Any
Deposits. 26. Check with
Orthodontist, Obstetrician, etc. 27. Check Your
Homeowners Insurance. 28. If You Sold
It, Don't Move It. 29. Lockers and
Cleaners. 30. Call Toll-Free. 31. Check on
Car or Installment Loans. 32. Transfer
all Insurance Records. 33. Close any Revolving Charge Accounts with department stores or specialty shops not located in your destination city. 34. Notify National Credit or Charge Card Organizations. 35. Try to Complete Closing and any other legal matters before you move. It's costly to make a return trip to take care of details. 36. Arrange for Payment of Your Mover at Destination. Unless charges are to be billed to your employer or the cost of your move has been charged to your personal credit card, payment by cash, certified check or money order is required at your destination.
37. Don't Use
Newspaper for Packing. 38. Pack Toilet Articles and Medicines separately in small containers. Be sure corks and caps are secure. 39. Don't Pack
Too Compactly. 40. Arrange for
Proper Servicing of Your Appliances. 41. Leave Fitted Sheets on Mattresses to protect them. 42. Spread Your
Linens Around. 43. Put Heavy Items on the Bottom and them fill up with lighter things. Use smaller cartons for books, cast-iron cookware, etc. 44. Pack Your Current Phone Book to contact friends or businesses in your former location. 45. Indicate
Contents on the Outside of the Carton. 46. Combine Items You'll Need Immediately Upon Arrival in one box. Designate it "Unload First." Include necessities like toilet paper, paper towels, cups, a can opener, soap, etc.
47. When You Donate Items to Charity, request and keep an itemized receipt. It might help you qualify for a tax deduction. 48. Keep a Detailed Record and Receipts of Your Moving Expenses -- including transportation, lodging, meals, etc. If you are moving because of a change in principal place of employment, such reasonable expenses are deductible. Check with the Internal Revenue Service or your accountant for specifics. 49. Keep a Record of the Costs of Improvements made in your home through the years and any expenses associated with the sale of your home, including realtor fees or classified costs. 50. Insurance
and Inventory. 51. Pick Your
Mover Like You Picked Your Possessions. Very Carefully. 52. Don't Be
Sold By a Low Estimate. 53. An Estimate
Is Only as Accurate as You Are. 54. Check the
Record. 55. Ask Someone
Who Knows.
Let's be honest. Packing has never been called one of life's simple pleasures. It's time-consuming and often can seem overwhelming. But, with proper planning and an organized approach, ADT can help you get moving in the right direction from the beginning. First, review your options. Your ADT Agent offers professionally trained packing crews who can assist you in any phase of your move. Our packing services include: -Full service
packing, crating and unpacking Your ADT Agent will provide a free estimate to pack any part or all of your goods. Or, if you prefer to do-it-yourself and want to save on the cost of your move, the following tips will help guide you toward safe and successful packing. Getting started early in the planning and packing process is probably the best tip we can offer. By packing as few as three or four boxes a day, you'll have over 100 ready at the end of a month. While 100 may seem like a lot, you'll likely be amazed at the number of cartons you'll fill before moving day.
When selecting a prospective mover there are several questions you will want answered. What do they offer with : 1) Packing
Does your moving expenses qualify as a tax deduction? You must have commenced work or carried on a business at your new location. In addition, your new residence must be at least 40 kilometres closer to your new work location. Eligible moving expenses include your travelling expenses incurred in connection with the move, the cost of transporting your household goods, the cost of meals and temporary accommodation for a period not exceeding 15 days, the costs of selling your old residence, or if you were renting, the cost of breaking your lease, and in some cases, legal fees and land transfer taxes paid in connection with the purchase of the new residence. You cannot deduct any loss incurred on the sale of your former residence. Moving expenses that have been paid by your employer cannot be claimed by you as a deduction. If your employer pays or reimburses you for part of your moving expenses, you may deduct all of your eligible moving expenses but must report the amounts paid by your employer as income. Your eligible expenses are only deductible from your income earned at the new location. Amounts not deducted in the year of the move may be carried forward to the next year. If your employer reimburses you for a loss incurred on the sale of your former residence, the amount is not normally required to be included in income. If you are a student, you can also claim moving expenses if you move to begin a job (including a summer job) or to start a business. If you move to attend a full4ime post-secondary institution, you can deduct the expenses, but only to the extent of your scholarship or research grant income.
This article deals with cargo protection and storage protection. Insurance for your goods is referred to as cargo (or transit) protection. Moving companies carry many forms of insurance coverage, one of them being cargo insurance. What movers offer you is an option to be compensated for any loss or damage to your goods while in transit with them. They are not selling you insurance. They are selling a coverage and accepting a degree of liability in return for a premium paid. Even sales representatives confuse the fact. Only insurance companies sell insurance. The movers ask you if you want to be protected under their policy or not and to what degree. Damage and lost items do occur on moves. A moving company is required, by law ( Canada ) to accept some degree of liability when traveling the roads This basic, standard protection is 60 cents per pound per article) . For example, if damage or loss occurs to an item weighing 50 pounds occurs, then the carriers (movers) liability is $ 0.60 x 50 lbs = $ 30.00. Fine for items that are cheap, but heavy, but not well for a $ 500.00 lamp weighing 30 pounds! Here comes the first gray area of "insurance". Take a figurine weighing 10 pounds. It is packed in a box weighing 50 pounds. You did the packing of the box. Different companies have different weighs of interpreting the application of $0.60 per pound. Some will give you the rate on the damaged item only, while some will apply the rate to the cartons weight ( 50 lbs in this case) . Then, there are some who will not give you a thing because YOU DID THE PACKING. Read any contracts and ask the moving company this question. Quite often, if you do the packing, you nullify any insurance compensation from the movers. It is a fair practice. A mover and it's insurance company can not insure contents of boxes that they have never seen. They also don1t know if the contents were packed properly. As a result, if you pack it, you take the risk. There are companies who will negotiate on this issue, but the general rule is, if you pack it ( or unpack it) you nullify any insurance coverage. Now, this option, often referred to as "basic'" or "no insurance'" should cost you nothing. As well, since you get very little in protection. However, this may be enough if you can arrange your own coverage through your own household insurance. Ask your own company or broker. You may find you don1t need any extra coverage through the movers. Now, in general, there is only one other kind of coverage, replacement coverage. However, there may be other kinds offered in between the basic coverage and the replacement. One such possibility is called '1Added Value Protectionl1. Here the company charges a premium and increases the coverage from $ 0.60 per pound to a greater value, say $ 2.00 per pound ( may vary). Another offer may be Market Value or Depreciated Value coverage. This option should be compared against the cost of replacement value. Here, the market value of the damaged item is considered for compensation. Determining the market value of a piece of furniture yourself can be difficult. As a matter of fact, most insurance companies offering cargo protection movers deal only with replacement costs these days. Watch out for the mover that tries to tell you that replacement coverage does not exist. It does and there should not be an excessive premium for it. What you will pay for transit protection. As mentioned earlier, there are four possible amounts of coverage. Basic $ 0.60
per pound (minimum) Market Value coverage is going out of style. Typically, it would cost around $ 1. to $ 3.00 less per $ 1000 of declared value than replacement coverage. That would put it in the $ 4.00 to $ 6.00 per $1000 declared value range. You declare an amount of coverage. In the event of total loss of all your goods, you get back the total declared amount. In the case of damage to an individual piece, you would get back a maximum of the market value for that piece. Replacement Value will fluctuate, as did market value coverage. Typical rates would be $ 7.00 to $ 9.00 per $ 1000 of declared value. Did you catch all of that $ X.00 per $ 1000 declared? It is tricky. Ok, this is it is applied. As an example, let's say you are moving. Your moving consultant will ask you ( among other things) ,"How much cargo protection do you want"?. Well, after considering all you have to move, you come up with $ 50,000 worth of goods. The consultant has also told you that all your goods weigh approximately 12,000 pounds. You look at your options. Basic: Coverage@$0.60perpound x 12,000 pounds = $ 7,200. Cost = 0 Maximum coverage = $ 7,200 Added Value: Coverage @ $ 2.00 per pound x 12,000 pounds = $ 24,000 Cost = S $ 1.25 per $ 1000 declared value = $ 62.50 Market Value: Coverage against total loss is your declared value = $ 50,000 Coverage against loss or damage on individual piece is market Repairs covered up to cost of market value Cost = $ 5.00 per $ 1000 declared = $ 250.00 Replacement Value: Coverage against total loss is your declared value = $ 50,000 Coverage on individual loss or damage is replacement value Repairs covered up to replacement value Cost = $ 7.50 per $ 1000 declared = $ 375.00 So you can see that the cost to get cargo protection in place for your move can get a bit pricey. Not only that, but each kind of policy will have some sort of deducible to go along with it. Some won't, but some can be as high as $ 250. For example, you may pay a premium of $ 300 for cargo protection and then face a $ 250.00 deducible on top of it. What is never insured There are things that are not insured, even if you pay for coverage example would be jewelry. Best to pack them up and take Other items not normally insured are coins, stamps, documents, no insuring items of sentimental value. A photograph will up to the cost of the film, for example. The same goes for software of data is not covered, so back up your disks before moving! Generally, the interior workings of appliance, televisions, stereos, etc. are not covered by the mover unless the mover does some obvious physical damage to the piece. If the item was handled properly and something does not work after the move, it's your responsibility. If there is obvious damage the item, there is a 99 percent chance the internal damage was a result of the rough handling and the movers will pay ( up to your protection selection) for the repair. Again, contents of boxes are not covered under cargo protection policies unless the mover ( or an agent of the mover) has packed and unpacked the cartons. Usually, the mover will cover goods ( up to the coverage you selected) for clear mishandling of the carton. If there is obvious damage to the exterior, generally the mover will compensate you. Sets of furniture and appliances are not covered. That is, if you have a matching couch, love seat and char and the chair gets ripped, the mover is only liable to repair or replace ( up to your coverage selection) the one piece and does not have to touch the matching pieces, even though may not match after, repair, recovering or replacement of the one piece. Extraordinary Value You will have to declare items of extraordinary value. For example, if the movers are taking your car, they will need a value for the car. You may have a painting or a sculpture worth a fair amount. The idea is, that despite all the cargo cover there will be a limit on the amount the insurance company will pay out on one given item. Ask your moving consultant what the limit is. If you have any item in your place that exceeds that value, then you must tell the mover. The item(s) of extraordinary value will be noted on the bill of lading and you will be covered Dangerous Goods Do not pack and item classified as dangerous goods. If any damage resulted from a dangerous good, your insurance would be void. You would not even get $ 0.60 per pound. Ask your moving consultant where your local disposal site is. Generally speaking, each moving company will charge you a premium for cargo protection. When you move locally, the rates and methods of accessing rates will vary from company to company. Some may charge you a flat rate, some will charge based on how long the move takes (hourly) and some include it in their rates. No matter which way you get charged, you should be asking some important questions. 1) What is the total coverage you get? 2) What is the limit per individual item? 3) What is the deductible? 4) Is the coverage market value or replacement value? 5) Ask who the company uses for furniture repairs. This will provide an idea of the quality of repair you can expect if you have damage on your move.
Generally, if your goods will be stored in a warehouse for an extended period of time, you will need separate insurance for this. This can be arranged through the storage facility, your mover or your own insurance company. Storage facilities generally charge between $ 1.00 and $ 2.50 per $ 1000 of declared value per month of storage. The same rules about dangerous goods and items of extraordinary value apply here as well.
There are several variations which should be considered when moving. 1) Valuation
- You need to sign a waiver which shows the mover is responsible
for $0.60 per pound of the items moved. You may not be able to
replace items which are more than $0.60 per pound if damage occurs.
Before moving your computer, there are certain procedures to follow which will protect your system from mechanical failure or damage due to normal physical shock which occurs during transport. If the following steps are taken prior to moving your computer, your system will arrive safely at destination. FLOPPY DISK DRIVE PREPARATION Make backup copies of your data files and store them together with the original program disks in a sturdy container, preferably a fireproof lockbox. Remove any floppy diskettes from the drives and insert a cardboard disk or an old floppy disk in the drive and close the drive door. HARD DISK PREPARATION To avoid shock to your hard disk, the recording heads should be "parked" before transport. When automatic park and lock systems are powered down, the disk automatically retracts the recording heads from the data area into a safety zone. Other PC systems require the running of a program to activate the park procedure. IBM and most hard-disk clones include the program SHIPDISK.BXE that parks the heads. The program is usually located on the diagnostic diskette that came with the computer. You can run the program from the menu of the diagnostic diskette, or you can copy SHIPDISK.EXE to your hard disk and run it. When SHIPDISK is invoked, the red light of the disk goes on and off, indicating that the hard disk is parked. The hard disk is unparked when the computer is turned back on. Once your drives are secure, you should turn the system to OFF and remove all cables from the back of the unit. PACKING/SHIPPING PREPARATION The original packing box your system came in is the best choice. The rigid Styrofoam packing material will hold the system securely in place. In the event your original box is not available, your carrier will provide a sturdy packing container and materials. MOVING A PRINTER The original packing box and material is the best choice for transport because the Styrofoam is customized to fit each printer. If you are moving a laser printer, remove the ink cartridge as the ink may spill and contaminate the laser engine. If you are moving a pin printer, you should insert a piece of paper in the platen to secure the print head.
Moving is often an emotionally turbulent time for children, between home hunting, packing and disconnection notices it is easy to overlook the young child. Even a young toddler can help pack their room. Give them a box and let them pitch in. Don't worry about the mess, you can always repack after they are asleep. Pack up your child's room last so he/she has a comforting and safe place to play and sleep preceding the move. Put their boxes last in the moving truck so they are the first ones off and can be unpacked in the new room before anything else. Take a Travel kit filled with clothes, snacks and favorite toys so you aren't searching boxes frantically looking for "Kitty" or "Blankie". As tempting as it may seem, don't throw out any old toys unless you're sure your child won't be asking for them in the new home. When it comes time for moving try to keep things as much the same as before. Giving up a crib, starting preschool or relinquishing a bottle will prove to be difficult on top of adjusting to moving in the first place.
You can deduct moving expenses from your income tax if you are one of the following : A salary or wage
earner Contact us for a free estimate Tristan & Jack Talarico 1-888-903-6683 local Mtl 514-766-3300 |
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On
line estimation
