Part of the moving process it’s easy to postpone or even forget entirely is the gathering up and transporting of our documents. It’s a busy enough time as it is, with so much packing and planning to take care of. But it’s not all about clothes, furniture, books and gadgets. We also need to take a lifetime’s worth of document with us, some of them incredibly important. Not only do we need to bring them to our new home, we need to make sure that they’re protected during the moving process. No matter how wonderful our removals company might be, we should guard against things going wrong. The risk of our documents being either damaged or lost is something we should strive to diminish. Here are some thoughts and ideas for getting your documents ready for the move and safe both during and after it.
Go through everything – Allow lots of time to get your documents road-ready. This is also a good time for weeding out the ones that you no longer need; expired warranties or documents which have been superseded by more recent versions. Shred any documents you’re finished with.
Keep them in groups – Categorising your documents is the next step; it means that, should at any point it be necessary, you can identify and retrieve any individual document you need. Of course, it may be that you store your documents via an alternative method, but if not, consider categorising them into Personal (birth certificates, medical etc), Housing-related (property deeds, council tax bills etc), Move-related (contract with removals company, receipts etc). Give each of these groups its own box-file, accordion folder or ring-bind folder.
Copying – Back-up all your documents with scans and/or physical copies. Moving house is a chaotic time and you can relax more about risks (e.g. documents being accidentally put in the rubbish) if you’ve guarded against them by having duplicates and scans.
Moving Day – Don’t put your documents into the removals van along with all your possessions. Instead, take them with you – whether that’s in your own car or tucked up beside you in the passenger seat of the removals van.
