FAQs

We recommend contacting your chosen international removal company 2-3 months in advance, when possible. It always pays to have enough time to prepare.

Remember, all reputable international removal companies such as Anglo Pacific, are members of the British Association of Removers (BAR) Overseas Group.

First step: Tell us what you’re moving

Whether it’s a few boxes or a whole house, we need to know how much you’re shipping overseas. Do one of the following so we can provide a tailored and cost-effective quote or plan:

• Take a free home survey
• Free video survey
• A telephone consultation
• Quick quote online form (just baggage)
• Quick quote online form (removals – furniture, house etc.)

Second step: Prepare for your international relocation

We’ll explain the entire overseas removal process from start to finish; from professional packing, collection and shipment, to final delivery. We’ll also agree a tailored moving plan with you so you know exactly what’s happening at all times.

Third step: Ready to go!

We collect your items, ship and deliver. International shipping is super easy. You can even track your belongings anywhere in the world with our smart shipment tracking.

Absolutely!

We use only industry approved packing materials and recognised techniques to provide maximum protection during the journey. Our movers and packers are trained to BAR packing standards, the highest in our industry, and we have been awarded BAR Packer of the Year, reflecting our ongoing commitment to training. Every item is labelled when shipping overseas and a detailed Packing Inventory is completed in your presence prior to international removal.

When using Anglo Pacific for international shipping and removals, we supply the finest quality packing materials to protect against extremes of temperature, humidity, sub-standard roads or high seas.

View our full packing materials guide.

Yes!

We supply a great range of export cartons and moving boxes so you can pack your personal items. We can deliver the tea cartons in advance of moving day.

Moving boxes and cartons are supplied and delivered free of charge; however, subsequent deliveries can incur a delivery fee.

WWe can help you decide which and how many tea cartons you need. All you have to do is advise us of what items you’re shipping abroad.

Baggage only:

Please leave the tea cartons unsealed for our crew to complete an inventory. Please note that owner packed items will be rigorously examined by the destination customs and/or quarantine authority.

Removals:

Start sorting out the essentials well in advance of moving day. Attics, cellars, garages, sheds all need to be cleared, appliances need disconnecting and fixtures and fittings dismantling, refrigerators and freezers require defrosting and outdoor equipment thorough cleaning. Please familiarise yourself with our international removal tips to help prepare you for moving day and our checklist.

Our mover and packers will empty and pack the contents of all cupboards, drawers and wardrobes as directed.

They may use empty drawers or cupboards for stowing light or bulky items such as cushions and pillows, and thereby reduce the overall volume for shipment.

ease clearly identify items not to be sent abroad in advance with ‘Do Not Pack’ labels, and place them separately from the items to be packed. On Moving Day please advise the Foreman those items to be packed and those items remaining. Be sure to isolate your travel documents and passport!

Certain items cannot be accepted for international removals under general conditions of carriage and some items may be subject to inspection or obtaining an import licence. Please refer to our Prohibited and Restricted Items fact sheet to see what goods you can send when shipping overseas.

If you have any items in your consignment to ship overseas which may be considered an endangered species you will require a CITES permit. CITES is the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, an international agreement between governments to safeguard certain species from over-exploitation.

The trade is diverse, ranging from live animals and plants to a vast array of wildlife products derived from them, including food products, exotic leather goods, wooden musical instruments, timber, tourist curios and medicines. If you are not sure whether a species is controlled by CITES you should check on the CITES website.

To apply for a CITES permit you will need to complete an application form (charges apply). You will also need to check any specific requirements with the intended import country prior to international shipment. For further information please visit the CITES website.

Please note we will require the CITES permit six weeks prior to your moving date; we are required to present the permit at the port of departure prior to container loading, failing which the certificate may be deemed invalid and the item may be denied entry at destination, or destroyed or returned to the UK, at your expense.

Of course! Whether you have a car, motorhome, motorbike, boat and/or caravan, our international vehicle shipping means all of these vehicles can be shipped worldwide. Head over to our international vehicle shipping page for more information.

Whilst we have an outstanding claims record and take every precaution to protect your possessions whilst in our care, it is advisable to cover your goods in transit for a sum equivalent to replacement value at destination, including the shipping costs and import duty, that may otherwise be payable.

Our Marine Transit Insurance covers loss or damage in transit from packing and collection and is valid until delivery to final residence or store, whichever is sooner.

For more details please see our insurance page.

If you are travelling or in a situation where your goods will arrive before you do, we can arrange to store your goods in transit and defer shipment to coincide with your arrival date. Alternatively, we can arrange to store your possessions on arrival at destination.

Our storage facilities are modern, Customs approved and security protected. Origin or destination storage rates are available on request.

Please note that you will be required to extend insurance cover to cover the storage.

As a FIDI Accredited International Mover (FAIM) we work to recognised high standards, ensuring that your goods will be handled carefully and professionally from start to finish. We also operate in accordance with the British Association of Removers Code of Practice.

FIDI is the international furniture movers association, with over 600 specialist international movers worldwide, giving us access to partners around the world, with each member conforming to strict financial, operational and administrative standards.

In addition, we employ a Quality Manager who will undertake random site visits to ensure that our working practices, packing standards and equipment are compliant at all times.

Yes! You certainly can track your international shipment online.

Our online shipment tracking enables you to monitor your shipment. You can watch your belongings whizz from port to port when international shipping with Anglo Pacific.

Alongside moving, vehicle shipping, fine arts shipping, trade, shows and exhibitions, we offer a range of complementary services:

• Banking Downunder
• International money transfers
• Pension transfers
• Pet transportation
• UK tax rebates

With over 35 years in the business, we’ve delivered more than half a million consignments worldwide and have helped thousands of individuals, families and companies relocate overseas. We thrive on repeat business and personal recommendations and therefore have a vested interest in everything being completed to your total satisfaction.

Don’t just take it from us, read our huge amount of top reviews from our happy customers here.

We are the UK’s largest independent international moving company, and have the resources, knowledge and experience to help you with any move. We deliver. On quality, on value, online.

Anglo Pacific offers free home surveys and free home video surveys on all of our international shipping and overseas removals services. Which survey you choose to have is entirely up to personal preference.

If you choose a free home survey, one of our expert estimators will arrive at your home and meet with you face to face. You will discuss any budget or time constraints and then walk our estimator through your home, alerting us of everything that you wish to ship overseas. Once we know what goods you are shipping abroad, our moving estimator will discuss your shipping options, provide you with a detailed quote and book you a moving date and time.

Our free video survey is the exact same process, except the survey will be carried out via video call on a mobile device or tablet. Rather than meeting our moving estimators face to face and walking them through your home, the process will be carried out remotely over a video call. You will also be provided with a fully detailed quote after our video survey, and you will also be booked in for your chosen moving date and time.

Any extra items will be loaded within the container, space permitting, or will be returned to our depot and will follow in our next groupage (shared) container.

In either eventuality, additional charges will apply to the excess volume. Please note that additional customs/quarantine inspection charges may also result at destination if there is insufficient space to accommodate extra items within an exclusive container.

Our sales consultants are logistics experts and will always recommend the most appropriate and cost-effective container for your removal.

If you want to make the decision yourself, however, please see the guidelines below.

Exclusive containers

Groupage options

Our groupage service is recommended for smaller consignments where your shipping volume is insufficient to fill a container to capacity. With this option you only pay for the container space occupied by your belongings. You may also wish to consider groupage shipping for extra items you add that can’t fit into your own exclusive container.

With groupage consignments, your belongings are export packed at your home and removed to our warehouse for loading within a steel water-resistant container and shipment with other consignments bound for the same destination, as soon as volumes permit.

International shipping costs are calculated on the overall volume of goods for shipping abroad, expressed in cubic feet.

• Delivery of cartons for owner packing of any specified items
• On site export packing by our skilled professionals
• Removal from your UK address and delivery to UK port/airport of departure
• International shipment to arrival destination port/airport, including port charges
• Destination customs and quarantine clearance (but excluding any incidental fees)
• Delivery to residence, assuming good access and not above first floor, or to store
• Full unpacking of furniture and removal of discarded materials on delivery day

No two moves are alike and our quotation will be tailored to your specific requirements.

Removals:
Our quotation excludes storage at origin or destination (storage charges are available on request), ferries, tolls, provision of hoists or special lifting equipment, parking permits or dispensation, dismantling or re-assembly of furniture, unless specified. Also excluded are import duties, taxes or other sums due to government departments, such as X-ray fees, quarantine inspection fees, customs examination fees, demurrage, quay rent, airline storage charges, cargo dues or container detention fees if incurred, and fumigation or steam cleaning if ordered, and any resulting treatment fees if applicable.

For further information on destination customs formalities and charges that may be payable on arrival please refer to our relevant destination Guide to Importing Personal & Household Effects. If your country is not listed please refer to our FIDI Custom Guides. Please note that the information provided is not definitive and is intended as a guide only. Destination regulations can change without notice and for specific guidance we strongly recommend that you obtain direct rulings from your destination customs authority.

Baggage only:
Our charges exclude destination import duties, taxes or other sums due to government departments, such as quarantine inspection, steam cleaning, fumigation and any resulting treatment fees. For further information on charges that may be payable please refer to our relevant Custom Guides. If you country is not listed please refer to our FIDI Custom Guides. Please note that airfreight to airport excludes charges for destination customs clearance and delivery to residence, if required, which can be paid locally to our destination representative.

Anglo Pacific is the largest consolidator of personal and household effects in the UK and operates to regular sailing schedules with guaranteed container allocations on every vessel. You should allow an overall transit of approximately 8 – 10 weeks to the destination port and a further two weeks for destination customs formalities, subject to seasonal fluctuations.

Consignments destined for countries not served by regular groupage container services are export packed at your home, secured in sturdy outer plywood cases at our warehouse, and delivered to the port of departure for containerisation by the shipping line. As bookings are made for specific vessels transit times are similar to those by exclusive container.

Our sales consultants are logistics experts and will recommend the most appropriate shipment method for your removal.

Overseas shipping costs are exempt from VAT if the ultimate destination is outside the EU. VAT applies at the current UK rate if the ultimate destination is within the EU.

Yes we can!

We have a network of agents around the world that will undertake customs clearance formalities on your behalf and then arrange for delivery to your final address.

In most cases, international shipments sent by sea are also unpacked for you when they are delivered.

Please note that in some countries, such as South America where onward delivery is complex, you may need to arrange collection from the port or airport.

We are members of the Overseas Group of the British Association of Removers (BAR) and are regularly assessed and bound by the International Movers Mutual Insurance Limited (IMMI) Advance Payment Guarantee Scheme, for our customers’ financial protection.

In the unlikely event of failure of a member, the association will appoint another member to complete your contract at no additional expense. IMMI is the only authentic scheme of its kind offering total protection against insolvency.

Our movers and packers are the best in the industry and confirm to strict high standards set by the BAR.

Anglo Pacific is a FIDI Accredited International Mover (FAIM), and conforms to strict financial, operational and administrative standards.

Our terms are 30 days net for account customers, or payment in full prior to arrival at destination port, whichever is sooner. Please note that where the verified packed volume or chargeable weight is greater than the estimated volume/weight in our quotation we reserve the right to adjust our final invoice.

All business is undertaken in accordance with BAR Terms & Conditions. Your attention is particularly drawn to Clauses 8, 9, 10, 11 which set out our liability to you for loss of or damage to goods and property and the time limit for claims, and to clause 6 which sets out our policy regarding cancellations.

We receive trade freight at our London, Manchester and Glasgow depots Monday to Friday between 08:30-18:00hrs and Saturday morning by prior arrangement.

We would appreciate 24 hours notice of delivery wherever possible, failing which unloading will be subject to a queuing system and may be delayed.

Our depots are located in London, Manchester and Glasgow. Please see location info here.

As a major importer of personal and household effects for onward delivery throughout the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe we will endeavour to back-load your transport wherever possible, allowing you to coordinate your transport movements more cost-effectively. Please liaise with our import department for the availability of back-loads
Email: imports@anglopacific.co.uk or Tel: 0800 389 5743.

Yes. We are specialist vehicle shippers of cars, motor homes, motor bikes, boats and caravans worldwide and frequently shipping vehicles worldwide.

Upon delivery to our depot we will complete a pre-shipment Condition Survey, isolate the battery, and strategically place silica gel sachets in the passenger and luggage compartments to absorb moisture in the atmosphere.

Using specialist equipment the vehicle will be protected within the container from the household goods. Alternatively we can provide an exclusive container for the vehicle or can arrange shipment by groupage container service (you pay only for the container space that the vehicle occupies). We can also arrange shipment by roll on/roll off vessel to certain ports.

Yes. We provide storage solutions for all of our shipping and removals services. Ask one of our experts to give you a storage quote along with your shipping quote. Call us on 0800 085 4105 or email trade@anglopacific.co.uk

You will need to provide us with a copy of the photo ID page of your customer’s passport and entry visa (if applicable), and a completed Customs Inventory for any owner packed goods prior to shipment.

Some countries require a completed customs or quarantine declaration prior to arrival, which we will forward with our Packing Inventory and a copy of your customer’s passport to our destination partners. We will let you know the full list of documents you need to complete.

Please note it is your customer’s responsibility to ensure they have authority to import their belongings at destination. Please note we are unable to ship your goods without your completed documentation.

Yes you can! Our online shipment tracking enables you to monitor the location and status of your international shipping and removals consignment in transit when you enter the invoice reference and your consignee’s surname.

For fine arts shipping and shipping antiques, get in touch via our website, phone or email and one of our specialists will discuss your moving plans with you.

We will take the time to understand the item(s) and the most suitable packing and transport options.

For shipping antiques and fine arts shipping to certain countries such as Australia and South Africa, local customs will require a Certificate of Antiquity (for antiques) to be issued in the UK, of which we can arrange.

Shipping antiques into the USA could not be simpler; as long as the dealer you buy from provides an invoice showing circa dates against each item, the consignment will be allowed into the United States, exempt of import duty.

Certain fine arts and antique items require import permits, such as tortoiseshell and stuffed birds, but we can arrange these for you. Our advisors are very knowledgeable and can advise you in more detail.

Everything is packed to impeccably high standards in our London warehouse by our own experienced team.

We only use packing materials which we know from years of experience will protect your consignment whilst it is in transit.

Delicate items for shipment by sea or road and all items travelling by air are packed in purpose-built ply cases for added protection.

Yes, we regularly service antiques dealers and interior designers all over the world and offer the following benefits:

Buyer’s account

This allows us to pay antique dealers on your behalf against monies already deposited with us.

This reduces the number of costly bank transfers you would otherwise incur and helps to ease and simplify the relevant administration. When all collections have been completed we will supply you with a statement of account detailing every transaction made.

Buyer’s pack

We supply a ‘buyer’s pack’ which contains a purchase order pad to record all your purchases, along with stickers and tags for the items, to help us to identify them upon collection.

Yes. We have our own vehicles operating in London and the surrounding areas every day of the week so fine arts and antique collection has never been easier.

For fine arts and antique collections further afield we use reliable antique and fine art carriers to undertake collections on our behalf.

We also operate vehicles in mainland Europe, so collections from countries such as Belgium, Holland and France are not a problem.