Preparing for moving day, week by week

Moving day will be a long day, so make sure there is enough to eat and drink in the house. Eat your way through the fridge and start defrosting the freezer two days beforehand; it takes longer than you think and the water has to go somewhere. The fridge is unplugged a day beforehand.

The boxes are ready, but the large furniture stays put until last. We take that apart on the day itself if that has been agreed, and wrap it in moving blankets, so there is nothing for you to do beforehand. Short of boxes? With us you get moving boxes free on loan and we collect them again afterwards.

There is room now to tidy up, so clean whatever you can already reach. Do keep a bucket of cleaning things aside: the last round waits until the van is full. Finally, ring everyone who is helping, from the movers to the neighbour with the van, and agree what time you start and who stands where.

Go to bed in good time the night before, because it will be a long day and you would rather start it rested. In the morning, pack the last things and set aside two items that do not go in the van but travel with you in the car:

• The first-night box: bedding, towels, toiletries, medicines, chargers and coffee.
• The document bag: passports, insurance policies, jewellery and bank cards.

Make sure the spot for the van is free. Park your own car where the van needs to stand and ask the neighbours to do the same. In Haarlem you need no exemption to place a vehicle, so none for a removal van either. If you take up space on the carriageway or the cycle path, a traffic plan does have to be submitted through the LTC platform, at least three weeks beforehand. If you want to keep parking bays free, you apply for a temporary parking permit through parkeren.haarlem.nl, with DigiD or eHerkenning: in the centre 23.70 euros per part of the day and 47.45 euros for a whole day, in Noord, Zuid, Oost and West 13.35 and 26.70 euros. Those are the rates of August 2026; the council adjusts them every year. If you book us, we work out during the home survey what your street needs and we submit the traffic plan or the application for you. How that works in Haarlem is explained under the removal van in Haarlem.

While the van is being loaded, walk past the places where something always gets left behind:

• High up and at the back: high shelves and the backs of cupboards.
• Appliances: the oven and the drum of the washing machine.
• Outside: the shed and the garden.

Photograph the gas, electricity and water meter readings with the date in shot; you may pass them to your energy supplier up to five days after the move. Then walk one last round through the house together with the foreman: what comes along, what stays and what is fragile. With us there is always a qualified foreman on the job, precisely for that moment. Once the van is full, you clean the last corners.

On arrival the unloading starts straight away. Let the movers do their work and simply point out where things go, which is quicker than helping to carry. Put a small floor plan or a note with the room name on every door, then nobody has to ask. Here too, photograph the meter readings before the house gets busy.

Go through your things while the van is still outside. Visible damage you report straight away on delivery, damage found later at the latest fourteen days after the move, in writing or by email. Preferably do so within two working days, with photos; how it goes from there is set out in our complaints procedure. With an Erkende Verhuizer (the Dutch recognised-mover accreditation) your household contents are insured during the move up to 100,000 euros with no excess.

It is a gruelling day, but at the end your bed is standing and that makes it worth it.