European Removals from Sussex to Spain, France, Portugal and Italy

We prepare the detailed inventory that every cross-border move needs, and we will tell you plainly what each country expects. What we do not do is act as your customs agent — in Spain, for instance, representation has to be a registered representante aduanero, which we are not. Where a move needs a broker we say so at the survey and point you at one, rather than taking it on and hoping.

Spain, France, Portugal and Italy are the regular runs, and they are where our experience actually sits. We go elsewhere in Europe when a move justifies the journey. If your destination is not on that list, ask — the honest answer may be that another firm with a scheduled service to that country will serve you better, and we would rather say so.

It depends on the country, the route, the crossing and whether you have taken a dedicated vehicle or a share of one. We will give you a realistic window when we quote, based on that particular move, rather than a headline figure lifted off a price list. What we will not do is promise a date we cannot hold, because on a move abroad a missed date is a hotel bill.

Yes at this end, in our own warehouse near Pulborough — useful when a UK sale completes before the place abroad is ready, which happens more often than not. Storage at the far end depends on the country and we will be straight about what we can arrange rather than implying we have depots we do not have.

Both can travel under the same personal-property relief as your furniture: the EU rules expressly cover private motor vehicles, caravans, pleasure craft and household pets. That does not mean we move them — vehicles and animals need specialists and their own paperwork, and we will point you at people who do it properly. Alcohol, tobacco and anything for your trade or profession are excluded, though portable instruments of the applied or liberal arts are not.

Yes — goods-in-transit and public liability cover in place, and optional full damage insurance for an extra 10% of your invoice total. Your written quote sets out exactly what applies. Say at the survey if anything is unusually valuable, so the cover and the handling are settled before the vehicle is loaded rather than afterwards.

Short visits to Spain while you are still living in the UK do not automatically break the twelve-month clock — Spanish customs looks at where your normal residence actually was, and it can be evidenced by any reasonable means. It matters for the very common case of buying a place and visiting it before you move properly. Do not take our word for the arithmetic on your own circumstances; take it as the reason to ask the question rather than assume you have disqualified yourself.

Say so as early as you can. It is the single most common thing that goes wrong on a move abroad, and it is far easier to hold a load in our warehouse here for a fortnight than to have a vehicle sitting outside a house nobody can get into. On a dedicated load we can often move the date; on a part load it is harder, because other people are on the same vehicle.

Yes — but that is a different job and it has its own page. Europe is road freight in our own vehicles; anywhere further is sea or air freight in a container, with different packing, paperwork and timescales. See international removals for how that works.

Because a good deal of what is published about European moves has not been updated since Brexit, and some of it was wrong to begin with. Italy is the clearest example: it no longer issues a removals certificate at all, and the declaration goes straight to Italian customs — yet plenty of websites still send people to the consulate for one. We would rather tell you what we can stand behind, say plainly when something is outside what we do, and point you at the authority that decides it.