Emigrating is a long list of decisions, and shipping your home should not be the one that keeps you awake. We move complete households, part loads, single rooms and everything in between from any UK address to destinations worldwide, and we handle the process end to end: survey, packing, loading, export customs, sea or air transit, import clearance, delivery and unpacking.
A dedicated 20ft container suits a two to three bedroom house at around 28 cubic metres; a 40ft container takes a four to five bedroom home with a car alongside it. If you are shipping less than about twelve cubic metres, groupage is usually cheaper: your effects are packed into a shared container with other consignments for the same destination and you pay by the cubic metre.
Everything is packed to export standard. Furniture is blanket-wrapped and shrink-sealed, mirrors and glass are cased, mattresses are bagged, china and glassware are double-wrapped into purpose-made cartons, and electronics travel in their original boxes wherever you still have them. Every carton is numbered against a valued inventory, which is the document your destination customs will want to see and the one your insurer will settle a claim against.
Send an air shipment alongside the sea freight for anything you need in the first fortnight — clothes, school books, laptops, cot, kettle. It costs far less than people expect for two or three cases and it removes the pressure of waiting five or six weeks for the container to arrive.
What we move
- Full and part household furniture
- Kitchenware, china, glass and antiques
- Beds, mattresses and flat-pack furniture
- Electronics, TVs and home office equipment
- Bicycles, sports equipment and garden tools
- Pianos, artwork and specialist items
- Cars, motorbikes and boats alongside effects
- Excess baggage and priority air shipments
Services included in a household move
A moving abroad quotation from ShipCars UK is built as a complete door-to-door service, not a bare freight rate with everything else added afterwards.
- Free home survey, in person or by video call
- Export-standard packing materials and labour
- Wardrobe cartons, piano skids and crating for fragile or high-value items
- Loading, secure transit and unloading at destination
- Export and import customs documentation
- Valued inventory preparation for insurance and customs purposes
- Unpacking and debris removal at destination, where selected
How Your Shipment Moves
Quote & booking
Rates, sailing or flight options confirmed in writing.
UK collection
Nationwide collection or delivery into our Tilbury depot.
Loading & packing
Lashing, crating, palletising and photographic record.
Customs & export
Export entry, NES clearance and documentation released.
Transit & delivery
Tracking updates until the cargo lands with your consignee.
Equipment: containers versus groupage
Choosing between an exclusive container and shared groupage space is mostly a question of volume, but timing and budget matter too.
20ft and 40ft exclusive-use containers
A 20ft box holds around 28 cubic metres, enough for a two to three bedroom house. A 40ft box holds around 58 cubic metres, or a 40ft high cube around 67, comfortably taking a larger household plus a vehicle. Exclusive use means your container is sealed at your door and not opened again until it reaches you.
Groupage for smaller moves
Shipments under roughly twelve cubic metres are usually cheaper by groupage, where your effects share a container with other households moving to the same country. It takes slightly longer at each end for consolidation and deconsolidation, but the saving on a small load is significant.
UK ports and airports we use
Household consignments are consolidated and loaded at our East Tilbury facility, then routed through whichever UK gateway gives the best sailing or flight for your destination.
- Tilbury and London Gateway — the majority of our sea consignments load here, minutes from our packing warehouse
- Felixstowe and Southampton — used for destinations better served by mainline carrier rotations
- Heathrow and Gatwick — priority air shipments and excess baggage
- Manchester — northern collections routed for air freight where it reduces inland haulage
Transit times
Allow four to six weeks from first enquiry to loading for a full house, longer in the summer peak. Sea transit ranges from a few days within Europe to six weeks to Australasia, plus one to two weeks for clearance and delivery at the far end. Air shipments typically arrive within three to ten days of despatch, including customs clearance. We give you a written timeline at booking and update it at every milestone: collection, gate-in, sailing, arrival, clearance and delivery.
Customs relief on personal effects
Most countries allow returning nationals and new residents to import used household goods free of duty, provided the goods have been owned and used for a qualifying period — often six or twelve months — and are imported within a set window of your arrival. You will normally need your passport, visa or residence permit, a valued inventory and a signed declaration. We prepare the pack, tell you exactly which originals your consignee must present, and flag any items, such as new purchases, alcohol or firearms, that fall outside the relief.
Documentation checklist
Requirements vary by destination, but most household relocations from the UK need the following documents in place before the container or air shipment can be cleared.
- Passport copies for all travelling family members
- Visa, work permit or residence permit for the destination country
- Valued inventory listing every carton and item
- Signed customs declaration confirming personal use of the goods
- Copy of tenancy agreement, property deed or proof of address at destination
- Vehicle title documents, where a car is travelling with the shipment
Packing and loading day
Our packing team arrives with all materials on the agreed date and works room by room, wrapping furniture, casing mirrors and glass, bagging mattresses, and double-wrapping china and glassware into purpose-made cartons. Every carton is numbered and logged against the inventory as it is packed, loaded onto the vehicle in reverse order of unloading, and photographed at the point the container or trailer doors are sealed.
Insurance for household goods
Carrier liability for household effects is minimal and does not reflect the replacement cost of your possessions. We arrange all-risk marine and transit insurance based on the total declared value in your inventory, covering loss, damage and general average contribution from the moment your goods are packed until they are delivered and unpacked at destination.
What affects your price
Household removal quotations vary with a handful of clear factors, all of which are explained on your written quotation.
- Total volume of your effects in cubic metres
- Exclusive container versus shared groupage space
- Distance and accessibility at both the UK and destination address
- Packing service level — full pack, partial pack or self-pack
- Whether a vehicle is travelling alongside the household effects
- Destination port or airport and the season you are moving in
Corporate and relocation agency clients
We work with relocation agencies, HR departments and corporate mobility teams managing multiple employee moves, providing consolidated invoicing, consistent service standards across every family relocated, and a single account manager for the whole programme rather than a different point of contact per move.
What we cannot ship
Aerosols, paint, fuel, gas bottles, fireworks, garden chemicals and open food are prohibited in household consignments. Plants and soil are refused or quarantined almost everywhere. Some destinations restrict used electricals, drones or satellite equipment. We issue a prohibited items list with your booking so nothing is discovered at the quayside.
Frequently asked questions
The questions we are asked most often by people moving abroad from the UK.
How far in advance should I book?
Ideally six to eight weeks before your target moving date, and earlier still if you are moving in the June to September peak, when packing crews and container space are booked furthest ahead.
Can I pack some boxes myself?
Yes. Self-packed cartons are accepted, though most destination customs authorities and insurers prefer professionally packed cartons for high-value or fragile items, and some countries require a professional pack for duty relief to apply.
What happens if my move-in date changes after the container has sailed?
We can hold your consignment at a bonded warehouse at destination for a daily storage fee until your new home is ready, rather than forcing a delivery you are not able to receive.
Why families choose ShipCars UK
NLX Logistics Ltd packs, consolidates and documents household moves at our own East Tilbury facility, so your possessions are handled by one team from your front door to the port rather than passed between subcontracted packers and hauliers. You get a single relocation coordinator, a written timeline updated at every milestone, and a proof-of-delivery file at the end of the move.