When you book a slot with a removals company, they will usually offer to send some of their team members round to your property to conduct a pre-move home survey. Here are two reasons why you should take them up on this offer.
The removals staff might spot issues that need to be sorted before you move
If you allow the removals team to visit your property beforehand, they might be able to spot and then advise you to address problems that could complicate the upcoming move. For example, if when measuring your staircase to see if it's wide enough to carry your furniture down it, they notice that the banister is loose or some of the stair treads are broken, they may recommend that you fix these issues now so that the removalists can safely carry your items down these stairs, without tripping over the broken treads or having no stable banister to grab onto if they stumble.
Fixing this beforehand would not only enable the removalists to use the stairs safely but would also mean that, on moving day, they wouldn't have to figure out a way to remove large items from the upper floors without using the stairs (such as lifting items out through property's windows). This is important, as coming up with this alternate route would take time and might, therefore, prolong your house move.
Having a home survey done will allow you to clarify which items you're taking with you
If the removalists visit your home in person beforehand, you can show them the items which you don't plan to take with you (such as furniture that belongs to your landlord or that you've included in the sale of the property) and they can then take photos of these items and make a note not to remove them when they move your items. This will ensure that when they come to move your possessions, the removalists won't, for example, waste time unscrewing a wall-mounted shelf that they mistakenly believe belongs to you or end up accidentally putting your landlord's furniture into the van because you forgot to tell them that this furniture item is not coming with you.
This, in turn, will mean that the van won't get full before all of your actual belongings are in it. It will also mean that, when it is unloaded, you won't discover items that you will have to spend time returning to the old property or have to deal with the property buyer or the landlord accusing you of deliberately taking these things.