Hiring Movers vs. DIY Moving: How to Compare Costs and Protections

Moving yourself replaces the mover's bill with a truck rental, fuel, equipment, and helpers, and it leaves breakage on you, because a standard renters policy does not pay for things you drop or break. Hiring movers shifts the labor and part of the risk: the mover's liability depends on the protection level you choose and can be reduced if your inadequate packing causes damage. On interstate moves, the free level pays no more than 60 cents per pound per item; moves within one state follow state rules. To compare the two, get written estimates based on a survey of your belongings from movers that hold the license or federal registration their route requires, and price the do-it-yourself move line by line.

What to add up for each option

To get quotes you can compare, give every mover the same list of furniture and boxes, the same pickup and delivery dates, and the same details about stairs, elevators, parking, and the distance from the truck to your door. For an interstate move, the mover must survey your belongings in person or by live or recorded video before giving a written estimate, unless you waive the survey in writing, and it must price services such as elevators and long carries before it prepares the bill of lading, the contract for your move.

Interstate shipments can arrive any day within the "delivery spread," the delivery window written on your bill of lading. For a move payable on delivery, requesting actual weight and charges and providing contact information triggers at least 24 hours' advance notice of that information, excluding weekends and federal holidays. The mover may waive the 24-hour timing requirement for destination weighing, or with your agreement for pickup and delivery on consecutive weekdays or a non-binding move with payment at delivery capped at 110% of the estimate. If that window starts before your new lease does, plan for storage, covered below.

Binding, non-binding, and not-to-exceed estimates

Example: on a $2,000 non-binding interstate estimate where the final weight puts the cost at $2,400, you can be required to pay $2,200 at delivery, and the mover bills the other $200 after 30 days. With either estimate, if the truck cannot reach your door and the mover needs extra equipment or labor, called impracticable operations, it can also collect up to 15% of the other charges for that work at delivery. If you cannot pay what is due at delivery, the mover can put your shipment in storage at your expense. A mover that refuses to deliver after you offer 110% of a non-binding estimate, or 100% of a binding one, plus the full charges for additional services you requested after the bill of lading was issued and any allowed impracticable-operations charge, is violating federal law.

Check the mover's license or registration

• Interstate moves: The mover must be registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). Look up the company at protectyourmove.gov to confirm its registration and whether it is a mover or a broker, which only arranges moves for movers. FMCSA advises avoiding companies that are not registered or refuse to survey your belongings, and keeping every receipt if a company demands cash.
• California: Movers need a license from the Bureau of Household Goods and Services for moves within California and for moves into or out of the state. The bureau tells consumers to verify the license online, get an in-person inspection of the belongings, and get every estimate in writing.
• Texas: Movers that move households within Texas must be licensed by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TxDMV). Look the mover up in TxDMV's Truck Stop database, where "Active" means licensed, or ask for its TxDMV certificate number and search that.
• Moves within another state: Ask the mover which state agency licenses it, and check that agency's records.

Released value or full value protection

On an interstate move, you choose between two levels of mover liability:

• Full value protection applies unless you waive it in writing. For a lost or damaged item, the mover chooses whether to repair it, replace it with one of like kind and quality, or pay you the cost. It raises the price of the move, and its cost is based on a minimum value of $6.00 per pound times your shipment's weight, with deductible options. List any item worth more than $100 per pound, such as jewelry or antiques, on the shipping papers, or the mover can limit what it pays for it.
• Released value costs nothing extra and pays no more than 60 cents per pound per item. FMCSA's example: a 10-pound stereo component worth $1,000 would bring $6.

A mover can also offer separate insurance from a third-party company; if you buy it through the mover, the mover must give you a copy of the policy, and disputes with that insurer fall outside FMCSA's rules. For damage, you have 9 months from delivery to file a written claim. The mover must acknowledge it within 30 days and give you a decision within 120 days, unless it notifies you in writing that it needs a 60-day extension. If you request arbitration on a claim of $10,000 or less, the result is binding. Do not sign a delivery receipt with language that releases the mover from liability; strike that language before you sign.

Moves within Texas work differently. Movers and customers can agree to different liability levels, including none; at 60 cents per pound per item, TxDMV notes the mover would pay $30 for a 50-pound television. You must file a written damage claim within 90 days of delivery, and TxDMV mediates disputes at no cost.

For what your own policy pays on moving day, see setting up renters insurance when you move and what renters insurance covers.

Renting a truck: what to check before you sign

1. Get the full price in writing: daily rate, mileage charge, fuel policy, equipment, and the damage waiver, which is the rental company's offer to cover damage to the truck for a fee.
2. Call your auto insurer and ask what your policy covers when you drive a rental, and whether that includes a moving truck of the size you are renting. Credit card rental coverage can pay before or after your auto policy, depending on the card's terms; ask the issuer whether it covers your moving truck and which coverage pays first.
3. Decline the waiver only with coverage confirmed. If neither your policy nor your card covers the truck, damage to it is yours to pay.
4. Check both buildings' rules. Reserve the elevator or loading dock, ask about move-in hours and parking permits, and find out whether the building requires movers to provide a certificate of insurance. Tell movers about these rules before they write the estimate.

Storage when your move-out and move-in dates do not line up

Before storage in transit ends, an interstate mover must notify you in writing at least 10 days ahead, or 1 day ahead if the storage lasts less than 10 days, with the date it converts to permanent storage. At conversion, the mover's liability ends, the warehouse's rules and charges apply, and you have 9 months to claim for loss or damage that happened in transit or during storage in transit.

For a self-storage unit, a renters policy usually covers stored belongings only up to 10% to 20% of its personal property limit, according to the Texas Department of Insurance; with a 10% limit and $50,000 in coverage, the most it would pay is $5,000. Insurance sold by storage facilities usually covers wind but not flood. If you fall behind on storage rent, the facility can sell your belongings; in Texas, it must first give you written notice and 14 days to pay, then publish or post a notice of sale.

To place the move in your overall schedule, see the move-out timeline, and to total the cash you need, see how much money you need to move.