About
A van that tells you when to book somebody else
Every other van site lists what it will carry. This one starts with whether you need a van at all.
The question people type into a search box is usually not 'what can a van carry'. It is some version of 'is this a van job, or have I got this wrong'. So that is the question this site is built around.
Why we have a page saying no
Because taking the booking and finding out on the morning is worse for you than a straight no now.
Man-and-van sites tend to accept everything. Then a crew of two arrives at a three-bedroom house with a loft, a garage and a shed, and the day finishes in the dark with things still in the property.
We would rather lose the booking. Five jobs are listed on a page of their own — whole houses, full packs, anything with a piano, moves with storage in the middle, and completion-day chains — with the reason and what to book instead. It is the most useful thing here and it costs us work.
What we are actually good at
Collections, single heavy items, rooms rather than homes, storage runs and small business loads.
Most of the van work in this city is not somebody moving house. It is somebody who bought a sofa from a stranger, or is emptying one room out of a furnished flat-share, or is taking stock to a market on Friday and collecting it on Sunday.
None of that fits a removals survey and all of it fits a van with two people in it. That is the work we want and it is what this site is arranged around.
Straight answers first
You will notice the answer comes before the explanation on every page here.
That is deliberate. If you are standing in a stranger's hallway wondering whether the wardrobe is coming out, you want the answer, not three paragraphs of context first.
It also means we cannot hide behind the explanation. An answer written first has to be an actual answer.
Three things we will not do
Handle your money, carry waste, or move a piano.
Money. We do not pay sellers on your behalf. Not cash, not a transfer from our phone, not a card tap at their door. Pay them yourself, however you agreed, before we arrive. A driver carrying strangers' cash around London is a bad idea for obvious reasons, and a payment dispute routed through us helps nobody.
Waste. We hold no waste carrier licence and do not dispose of anything. An old item leaving a property has to be going to a person or an address — a charity that has accepted it, a buyer, a relative. The liability for waste disposed of improperly attaches to the householder as well as to whoever carried it, which is worth knowing before anybody offers to take it off your hands cheaply.
Pianos. Not at any crew size, on any floor, with any equipment we own. The weight sits high and off-centre and the failure mode is somebody getting badly hurt. It is a specialist trade.
How we quote
In writing, after looking at both addresses properly.
Send both addresses, what the item is, the floor at each end and a photograph of the biggest thing. We look at the parking at both ends on a map, work out whether it is one person or two, and send a written price.
If it is not a van job you will get a reply saying so and roughly what sort of firm to look for. No quote, no call-back sequence, and we do not pass your details anywhere.
Insurance
We carry goods-in-transit and public liability cover. Limits, exclusions and the basis of settlement are set out in the booking contract, and anything high-value should be declared before the day rather than mentioned on it. We photograph obvious existing damage before loading on collections, which makes that conversation straightforward if it ever needs having.
What customers say
Four of them, including one we turned down
The sofa I bought had not been taken apart and the seller had gone out. They had already warned me both of those were possible and told me to confirm the day before, which I did not do. My fault entirely. They waited, the seller came back, and nobody made me feel stupid about it.
I asked them to quote a three-bed in Walthamstow and got a reply saying it was not a van job, why, and what to look for in a firm. No quote, no follow-up emails trying to change my mind. I used a proper removals company and I will use these for everything smaller.
Same two blokes every time now. They know the building, they know which lift works, and they know the delivery bay closes at a particular time better than I do. Regular runs are worth setting up rather than rebooking each week.
They asked which castello I meant, which I did not expect and which turned out to matter enormously — my flat is in the old town and the last part was carried up by hand. Knowing that before we left London made it a planned thing rather than a disaster.
Customer reviews, shortened for length and published with permission. Man With Van London holds no press coverage, awards or trade memberships and does not display any.
Tell us what it is and where it is
If it is not a van job we will say so, and say what to book instead.
Both addresses, what the item is, what floor each end is on, and a photograph of the biggest thing. That is enough for a straight answer and a written price.