Key takeaways
- Ask for the insurance terms in writing before you book, not just a verbal “yes, we’re covered”.
- A guarantee is only worth something if you know what actually triggers it, so ask before you need it.
- Review volume matters as much as star rating: a company with 150-plus reviews and a handful of detailed ones tells you more than five glowing lines with no specifics.
Most people vetting a moving company are comparing three or four quotes that all say roughly the same things: professional, reliable, fully insured. The quotes rarely tell you what those words actually mean in practice, and that’s usually where the real differences between companies show up. This is the checklist we’d want a friend to run through before they sign with anyone, us included.
Ask what’s actually insured, not just whether they’re insured
“We’re fully insured” is the single most repeated phrase in this industry, and it means almost nothing on its own. What matters is what’s covered, what’s excluded, and what the claims process actually looks like if something breaks. A company that hands you a proper policy summary, or names the actual insurance partner underwriting high-value items, is telling you something a company that just says “don’t worry, we’re covered” isn’t.
Ask specifically: is cover automatic or an add-on, is there an excess, and are specialist items like art, antiques or electronics covered at their replacement value or a depreciated one. The difference between those last two is bigger than it sounds. A five-year-old television covered at depreciated value might pay out a fraction of what it costs to replace, while cover at replacement value gets you an equivalent new item regardless of age. If a mover can’t answer that distinction in one conversation, that’s your answer about how the process would go if something did get damaged.
It’s also worth asking who the underwriter actually is, rather than accepting “we’re insured” as a closed topic. A company that partners with a named specialist insurer for high-value items, and can point to that relationship directly, is giving you something checkable. A vague assurance isn’t.
Read the guarantee terms before you read the marketing copy
A money-back guarantee sounds reassuring on a homepage banner and means very little until you know what actually has to go wrong for it to apply. Some guarantees cover a genuinely bad move. Others technically only cover a cancellation made a certain number of days out, which is a very different thing. We offer a money-back guarantee at HouseHoppers, and the honest advice, whether you’re vetting us or anyone else, is the same: ask what specifically triggers it before you book, not after something’s gone wrong.
How to actually read moving company reviews
Star ratings are the least useful part of a review. Anyone can leave five stars with no detail, and a single bad experience can drag an otherwise solid rating down without telling you anything about the company’s actual pattern of service. What’s more useful is reading a handful of the longer reviews and looking for specifics: did they mention a name, a date, a particular part of the move that went well or badly. Specific detail is harder to fake than a star count.
Volume matters too, in both directions. A company with only a handful of reviews hasn’t been tested by enough real moves for a pattern to show. A company with a genuinely large volume of reviews, whether that’s 20 or 200, has had far more chances for something to go wrong publicly, so a strong rating held over that volume is worth more than the same rating on a handful of reviews. It’s also worth knowing that a testimonials page is curated by definition. Ours, our Wall of Fame, features named clients including a few public figures, and while every quote on it is real, it’s still us choosing which quotes to show you. Independent review platforms are the better place to check the pattern, precisely because we don’t get to pick which ones appear.
Check what happens on move day, not just what’s promised beforehand
A lot of vetting happens before booking and stops there, which misses the part that actually determines how the day goes. Ask whether you’ll have one point of contact on the day itself, or whether you’re dealing with whoever happens to answer the phone. Ask what happens the moment something is found damaged: is it flagged and photographed on the spot, or only if you notice and complain afterwards. At HouseHoppers, that’s the reason we run a dedicated supervisor on every move, someone who walks both properties with you beforehand and is the one person accountable for the day, rather than a driver who’s also trying to manage the admin.
Check who’s actually behind the company
For a service you’re trusting with your home or office, it’s reasonable to ask how long the company has actually been operating, who owns it, and whether that’s easy to verify rather than just asserted. HouseHoppers has been operating since 2005, over twenty years, and is 100% female-owned with Level 1 B-BBEE status, which is public information rather than a marketing claim. Whichever company you’re comparing, a straight answer to “how long have you been trading and who runs this” is a reasonable bar, and hesitation on that question is worth noticing.
Red flags worth walking away from
A few things are worth treating as disqualifying rather than just a minor concern:
- No written quote, only a verbal number given over the phone. Anything you’d want to hold a company to later needs to exist somewhere other than a phone call you both remember differently.
- Reluctance to name their insurance provider or explain the claims process. A company confident in its cover will usually tell you outright, since it’s a selling point, not a liability.
- Pressure to pay a large deposit or the full amount before move day. A reasonable deposit is normal. Being pushed for the full amount upfront, especially by a company you found only that week, isn’t.
- No fixed business address you could actually visit. A registered office and a WhatsApp number aren’t the same level of accountability.
- Reviews that are all extremely recent, with no history stretching back further than a few weeks. A genuine track record builds over years, not a single promotional push.
None of these guarantee a bad experience on their own, but two or three together are a reasonable reason to keep comparing rather than sign.
Ask if you can speak to a recent client directly
This is the one step most people skip because it feels like an imposition, and it’s often the most revealing. A curated testimonials page will only ever show you the best version of a company’s story. A company willing to put you in touch with someone who moved with them in the last month or two, unprompted and unedited, is offering something a testimonials page structurally can’t. Not every mover will say yes, and that’s useful information too.
The vetting checklist in one place
- Get the insurance terms in writing, including exclusions and claims process
- Ask what specifically triggers any guarantee offered
- Read the longer, more detailed reviews rather than just the star average
- Confirm who your single point of contact will be on move day
- Verify how long the company has actually been trading
- Watch for the red flags above before you commit a deposit
- Ask if they’ll connect you with a recent client directly
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a moving company is trustworthy in South Africa?
Look past the marketing language to specifics: written insurance terms, a guarantee with clear conditions, detailed reviews rather than just a star rating, and a verifiable trading history. A company willing to answer all four in one conversation is generally a safer bet than one that deflects.
What should a moving company’s guarantee actually cover?
That varies by company, so ask directly rather than assuming. Some guarantees cover the quality of the move itself, others only cover cancellation terms. Get the specific conditions before you book, not after.
Are online reviews for moving companies reliable?
They’re useful when you read past the star rating. Detailed reviews naming specifics are harder to fake than a high average, and a strong rating held across a large number of reviews tells you more than the same rating on a handful.
What insurance should a moving company have?
At minimum, cover for damage during transit, with clear terms on exclusions and excess. For high-value or specialist items like art or antiques, ask whether cover is at replacement value and whether it’s automatic or an add-on.
Comparing HouseHoppers against this checklist
If you’re using this list to compare us against anyone else, that’s exactly what it’s here for. You can read more about our history, ownership and guarantee on our About Us page, see the actual services and tiers on offer under Relocation Services, or request a quote and put the questions above to us directly. If you’re vetting us specifically for an office move, our guide to corporate relocation covers the questions worth asking on that side too.