Moving from the US to the UK
Posted on September 23, 2024
Here at ClickMoves Towers we take a lot of enquiries from folks moving from the US to the UK, and so we thought we’d spend a little bit of time to talk about what we can offer in terms of services and pricing – and also the requirements for customs clearance and avoiding expensive import taxes and duties.
In 2023 we helped over 600 clients relocate their household goods and personal effects from the US to the UK. In some cases for clients moving a whole house full furniture, in other cases for clients with just a few boxes. We are in the unique position that we have the ability to cover the whole of the US (and Canada and Mexico in fact, but that’s for another post) through our network of US partners, and that’s an important point, because we are not affiliated to one exclusive “national” service provider in the US, we are always able to look for “local” Movers, who generally offer greater local knowledge, skills, and pricing (which we can pass onto our clients).
We offer a range of services for clients moving from the US to the UK, and we’re going to talk a little more about those now. Once we understand our clients needs we can offer the service that best matches their needs – in terms speed of delivery, and budget:
Door to door by air freight has become more and more popular recently, because the cost of moving small consignments by air freight is very quick (generally 3-5 days), and since COVID, has become very economical. We would recommend that you send furniture by air freight, but certainly if you only have a few boxes (say less than 15), its generally much cheaper to send boxes by air freight from the US to the UK. We just shipped 12 boxes of family heirlooms for a client from Atlanta, GA to Essex in England, and that client paid $890.00 – compared to well over $1,300.00 that she would have paid for the same consignment to go by sea freight.
Door to door by “consolidated” sea freight, is also very popular with clients that have mid-sized consignments with a few pieces of furniture in addition to boxes of personal effects. By “consolidated” we just mean that the sea shipping container will hold consignments belonging to multiple clients (sometimes as many as 50 individual clients). The advantage of consolidating, or sharing the container, is that clients also share all of the costs relating to that container, the sea freight, the shipping documentation, the port costs and everything else. So the “consolidated” sea freight is very economical – we just helped a single client moving from New York to London with a studio apartment of furniture and personal effects, and she paid £2,890.00 for the door to door service. But be warned, it can be a little slow for some clients – estimate 6-12 weeks.
Door to door “exclusive container” service is best for clients with a whole heap of stuff to ship from the US to the UK. This is a more traditional type of moving service, and includes a full packing/unpacking, and clients will have their own exclusive shipping container (either a 20ft , or 40ft or the very largest 45ft container). The service is quick – normally 5 weeks, but its expensive). We just handled a large move for a client relocating from Lake Tahoe in California to Wales, and they paid $11,900.00 for the door to door service.
Regarding customs paperwork, its not too complicated or arduous, and our team will work with you to make sure it all gets done correctly. But essentially there’s a little bit to do on the US, but as long as you haven’t overstayed your visa (for non-US nationals), or you have unresolved criminal offences, it’s a walk in the park. And for the UK side you’ll need a ToR (transfer of residence) which you can apply for here, and that will make sure that you will not need to pay any import tax or duties on the items that you’re brining into the UK. If for some reason you don’t qualify for the ToR, don’t despair, we’ll talk you through the other options.
Well I think that’s got everything covered on this topic , but don’t hesitate to get in touch if there’s any further information that you need.
ClickMoves is an international Moving company, with representation in every major city throughout the World. We provide quality international door to door Moving Services (that’s Removal Services for you Brits and Aussies reading this), at affordable rates. So if you’re planning to relocate overseas, get in touch. And check out what our excellent clients are saying about us on Trust Pilot.