Furniture Courier

Furniture is the clearest case in courier work where the price difference between services buys something specific rather than just speed. A sofa, a wardrobe, a dining table or a reception desk is bulky, awkward, and finished - and almost all furniture damage happens in handling rather than on the road. A shared-load or network service earns its lower unit price by consolidating consignments through sortation hubs, where the item is lifted, stacked against whatever is next to it and re-loaded at least once. A dedicated vehicle carries nothing else, so there is nothing to bear on a polished, veneered or upholstered surface and only the driver who loaded it handles it. The practical consequence for a quote is that you should send us dimensions, not weight: volume and load length decide the vehicle here, and the kilograms rarely do.

Why does furniture need a dedicated vehicle?

Because the risk is in the handovers. Every hub transfer is a lift, a stack and a re-load by somebody with no reason to know which face is the show side — and a scuffed veneer or a crushed cushion edge is not repairable at the delivery address.

On a dedicated run the item is loaded once, blanketed, strapped so no face bears weight, and unloaded by the same person. The honest exception, which we will say rather than sell around: flat-packed, boxed, robust stock going to a trade address with a couple of days to spare travels perfectly well on a network, and costs less there.

What measurements do you actually need?

Three dimensions and the heaviest single item, in that order of importance. Weight almost never decides a furniture vehicle; length and volume do, because a three-seat sofa consumes a large share of a van's load space while weighing a fraction of its payload.

The one measurement people forget is the narrowest point on the route at the far end — a doorway, a stairwell turn, a lift car. An item that fits the vehicle comfortably and the room perfectly can still be defeated by a 760 mm door, and that is a quote problem rather than a delivery problem. Send the item's dimensions and the door's.

Do you wrap and protect the furniture?

We blanket and strap it on the vehicle so nothing bears on a finished surface, and nothing else is loaded against it. We do not supply packaging: the item is presented wrapped, corner-protected, boxed or in manufacturer packaging by the sender.

That split is deliberate rather than a limitation. A wax-polished surface, a loose-cushion upholstery, a glazed cabinet door and a stone top each want different protection, and the person who knows the finish is the one who made or owns it — not a driver at the door with a roll of film. Where you need evidence that nothing has been unwrapped in transit, seal the package yourself; we will carry it sealed and deliver it sealed.

Should the furniture be dismantled first?

Usually only as far as the route demands. Dismantling adds risk of its own — fixings lost, cam locks stripped, panels marked at the edges — so the test is not "will it be safer in pieces" but "will it go through assembled".

Beds, tables with removable legs and modular sofas normally come apart cleanly and should, where a stairwell or lift is involved. Veneered carcasses and anything with a glued joint usually should not. If an item does come apart, keep the fixings with it rather than in a separate consignment: an item that arrives complete but without its bolts is an item that has not really arrived. Tell us at booking which applies, because it changes both the vehicle and the number of people.

Will you take it into the room rather than the door?

Yes, booked as part of the job. Positioning is a separate element from a kerbside or hallway drop because it takes the driver away from the vehicle and usually needs two people, so it is quoted rather than assumed.

Four things decide whether it is possible, and all four belong in the quote: the width of every doorway on the route, the floor surface, whether there is a lift and its internal dimensions, and the destination room or floor. A full-size item almost never fits a passenger lift, so an upper-floor delivery is frequently a de-palletised, carried delivery rather than a furniture delivery, which changes the time on site. Where assembly is wanted on the floor, say so — the instructions and fixings need to travel with the item.

Can you move a single item for a private sale?

Yes, and it is one of the commonest reasons people look for this. An item bought at auction, from a marketplace listing or from a private seller has no retailer behind it and no delivery service attached, and a network will not take an assembled piece.

What makes these jobs smooth is one detail: somebody has to be at both ends, with the item accessible. A collection from a house where the seller is at work, or from a garage behind a locked gate, is a wasted run — so give us a contact and a window for each end. See marketplace collections and auction house collections for those cases specifically.

What about trade and contract furniture?

Handled as a planned run rather than a parcel. A maker supplying several retailers, a dealer moving showroom stock or a fit-out contractor installing a scheme all want a vehicle whose day is known, and a multi-drop round is usually the cheapest way to move a week's output.

The condition is that all the drops are known at quote stage: a round planned as five drops costs less than five separate bookings, but a sixth added on the morning either breaks the sequence or needs a second vehicle. For fit-out work into managed estates there is an extra layer — a service yard with a booked window, a height restriction and a goods lift — which is covered on furniture transport in Brierley Hill and shopfitting delivery.

How are fragile and high-value pieces carried?

Upright where the construction requires it, blanketed with nothing against the face, and secured so the item cannot shift — because a crate that moves is worse than one that is simply heavy. Glazed doors, stone and glass tops, mirrors and exposed carved edges are where the value and the risk sit.

Where a piece is irreplaceable rather than merely expensive — an antique, a one-off commission, a family item — say so at booking. The insurance limit is the wrong question for something that has no replacement, and the right answer is a planned single-driver run rather than a slot on a round. For artwork and framed pieces specifically see artwork and fine art courier.

What does a furniture courier cost?

From £50 (ex VAT) for the smallest dedicated job, quoted as one fixed price for the whole job before you book. Final price depends on distance, vehicle, urgency and time - quoted in full upfront before you book, with fuel and goods-in-transit cover inside the figure.

What you are not paying is a size band, a per-item surcharge or a re-delivery fee, because there is no network behind the price. You are paying for a vehicle and the people on it for the duration of the job.

See the pricing page and the parent furniture transport service.

What insurance covers the furniture?

Goods-in-transit cover of £50,000 per consignment, extending to £1,000,000 through partner carriers where the value requires it, plus public liability of £1,000,000 — the latter matters because the driver is frequently working inside someone's home or an occupied building.

Limits, exclusions and the claims route are set out in our terms, and the exclusion worth reading before you send something valuable is consequential loss: the cover responds to the item, not to a room that cannot be used or a scheme that misses its handover. T&C Logistics Ltd is Companies House number 16838210, operating under an Operator's Licence with a ULEZ-compliant fleet and Driver CPC qualified drivers.

How do I book a furniture collection?

Five things get you a firm price: what the item is, its three dimensions, both postcodes, the access at each end, and whether it has to go into a room.

1. Call 0121 720 3841 for the office or +44 7963 400173 for dispatch. Enquiries are taken around the clock and answered between 06:00 and 22:00, seven days a week.
2. Give the item's height, width and depth, and the heaviest single piece.
3. Give the narrowest point on the route at the far end — doorway, stairwell turn or lift, with the lift's internal dimensions.
4. Say whether the item can travel part dismantled, and confirm fixings travel with it.
5. Say whether two people, positioning or assembly are needed.
6. Accept the fixed price and the nearest vetted driver-partner from our 3,000-plus network takes the job.

Related: furniture transport, white-glove delivery, fragile items, office relocation and worktops. Or request a quote online. Google Reviews rating 5.0★.