Moving Abroad Checklist

Processing times of two to six months are normal, and many routes need police certificates, translated documents or a medical before you can even apply. Check whether your qualifications need formal recognition at the other end.

Get at least three quotes and check each mover is BAR registered. Ask what is included: packing materials, port charges, customs clearance and delivery at the far end are often quoted separately, which makes cheap headline prices misleading.

The costs people forget: a rental deposit of several months' rent, replacing appliances that will not run on the local voltage, pet transport, and the exchange-rate spread on moving a lump sum. Use a specialist currency service for anything substantial.

Work out the cubic footage first, then decide. Sofas, wardrobes, mattresses and white goods are often worth less than the freight cost, while books, tools and anything sentimental usually earn their place.

Renting: check your notice period and book the check-out inventory. Owning: if you let it out you will need consent to let from your lender, an EPC, gas safety certificate and probably a non-resident landlord scheme registration with HMRC. If you leave it empty, tell your insurer - unoccupied property cover is a different policy.

Ask each school what they need from the UK side: recent reports, reference letters, immunisation records and sometimes an entrance assessment. Request your children's records from their current school before you deregister them, not after.

There is often a qualifying period before residents get state healthcare, and pre-existing conditions can be excluded from a new private policy. Get a written schedule of what is covered rather than relying on a summary.

Many countries apply their own succession rules to assets held there, and some override what a foreign will says about who inherits. If you will hold property or accounts in both countries, get advice in both. Consider a power of attorney for anyone handling your UK affairs while you are away.

Renewing while abroad is slower and more expensive than renewing from the UK, so renew before you go even if there is a year left. Children's passports are valid for five years, not ten.

Your State Pension is only index-linked in the EEA, Switzerland, Gibraltar and countries with a social security agreement - elsewhere it freezes at the rate you first receive. Transfers to an overseas scheme are only allowed into a QROPS, and getting it wrong is expensive, so take regulated advice.

Use form P85 if you do not complete a Self Assessment return; if you do, report your departure on the return instead. While you are away, check whether voluntary National Insurance contributions are worth paying to protect your State Pension.

If you receive a UK State Pension or certain benefits and move to the EEA or Switzerland, you may qualify for an S1 form, which registers you for state healthcare there at the UK's expense. Otherwise you will need private cover until local residency entitles you to the state system.

Policy varies: some banks keep current accounts open with an overseas address, others close them for non-residents or move you to a fee-charging international account. Keep at least one UK account if you will still receive UK income, and never leave post going to an address you no longer control.

• Car insurance
• Home insurance
• Health insurance
• Life insurance
• Travel insurance for the journey

Ask for a printed summary as well as the electronic record, and get generic drug names rather than UK brand names - brands differ abroad. Carry enough medication for the first few weeks with a copy of the prescription.

Import duty and local compliance modifications often cost more than the shipping. Some countries ban right-hand-drive imports outright or require the vehicle to be a certain age; check before you pay for anything.

Check for anything on an annual renewal that will auto-charge after you leave, and anything tied to a UK card you plan to close. Take a note of accounts you want to keep but will need to re-verify from a foreign IP address.

Sell or donate six to eight weeks out, not in the final fortnight - collections and marketplace sales both take longer than you think, and packers work faster in an empty house.

Decide early: paying to store furniture for two years usually costs more than the furniture is worth. If you do store, check the unit is insured, ask whether access needs notice, and keep a copy of the inventory of what went in.

Do not book flights for the day after collection. Sea freight takes weeks, so you will need somewhere to sleep and a suitcase that carries you through it. Check your baggage allowance and the cost of an extra bag against shipping the same weight.

Book on the long estimate for your shipment, not the short one. Somewhere with a washing machine and a kitchen is worth paying for when you are living out of suitcases for a month.

You can keep an existing ISA but cannot pay into it once you stop being a UK resident. Some platforms will not service non-resident clients at all, so ask before you go rather than discovering it when you are locked out.

Mobile and broadband contracts usually have an early termination charge - check whether the remaining term is cheaper to run down than to cancel. Keep one UK mobile number alive if it is tied to your bank's security codes.

• TV Licence
• Electricity
• Gas
• Water
• Broadband
• Landline
• Mobile contracts
• Streaming and TV packages

Closing every UK card wipes out the credit history you may want if you ever come back. Keep one no-fee card open and active, and make sure its statements go somewhere you can read them.

Most countries want a microchip, a rabies vaccination given after the microchip and a set number of days before travel, an official vet's animal health certificate, and sometimes a blood test with a waiting period. Australia and New Zealand add import permits and quarantine.

If you are moving with 1st Move, your Move Coordinator confirms collection, packing and the sailing. Get the collection window, not just the date, and tell them about parking restrictions, stairs or a long carry - surprises on the day cost time and money.

Photograph anything valuable next to its serial number before it is packed. It is the difference between a claim that is paid quickly and one that is argued over. If you are moving with us, your MoveProtect application doubles as your inventory.

Expect to prove residency or a visa, and to declare anything new or bought within the last six months separately - used personal effects are usually duty-free, new goods are not.

Ask for a written vaccination record you can present at the other end, and check whether your children's schools require specific immunisations before enrolment.

High-street banks typically charge two to four per cent in the exchange rate, which on a house deposit is a serious sum. Specialists let you fix a rate ahead of time, which is worth doing if your transfer is large and your timing is fixed.

An unpaid balance you never saw because the post went to your old address is the single most common way a move abroad damages a credit file.

Take originals in your hand luggage and keep scans in encrypted cloud storage. Some countries want documents apostilled or officially translated - that has to be done in the UK before you leave, and it takes days to weeks.

Include repeat purchases you have forgotten are automatic - pet food, contact lenses, coffee subscriptions.

The same goes for pets - a cat that slips out while the lorry is being loaded is a genuinely bad day.

Check your airline's baggage allowance again - allowances and fees change, and an extra bag bought at the airport costs several times what it does online.

Australia, New Zealand and Canada are strictest. Bicycles, boots, golf clubs, camping gear, lawnmowers and vacuum cleaners all need to be spotless - hose them, brush them and let them dry completely.

Give the council a forwarding address or your refund will sit unclaimed. If you own a UK property that will sit empty you remain liable for council tax on it, and many councils charge a premium on long-term empty homes.

• Council tax account closed
• Registered as an overseas voter

Two-factor authentication tied to a UK mobile number is the thing that locks people out. Move your codes to an authenticator app before you cancel the number, and note down recovery codes on paper.

Airport exchange rates are the worst you will get. Order currency in advance or use a card with no foreign transaction fee and withdraw on arrival.

Loose lithium batteries and power banks must travel in hand luggage, not in the hold - and not in your shipment at all.

• Passports and visas
• Travel insurance documents
• Flight bookings
• Medication and prescriptions
• Shipping and customs paperwork
• Toiletries
• Phone, laptop and chargers
• Keys and valuables

Add the things that make an empty house liveable: a towel, bedding, a kettle if the voltage suits, a phone charger adapter, and a few kitchen basics.

Allow a full 24 hours, and leave the doors propped open overnight. A damp fridge in a shipping container for six weeks ruins whatever is packed near it.

Check the garden and the meter cupboard too. Anything you find after the packers have gone becomes your problem to post or abandon.

Save your removals coordinator, the airline and your arrival accommodation as offline contacts, and screenshot your booking references in case you have no data.

Washing machines need the drum locked or wedged if they are travelling. Drain the hoses fully - residual water is the usual culprit when a shipment arrives smelling bad.

Photographs settle disputes that readings alone do not. Do the same with the property's condition if you are renting - it is your evidence for the deposit.

Read what you are signing: note any existing damage on the inventory at collection, because a condition noted at the far end without a record at this end is very hard to claim for.

This is usually the gateway to everything else - a tax number, a bank account, a phone contract and healthcare typically all depend on it. Find out the deadline before you arrive; some are as short as a week and carry fines.

Take your medical summary and a list of medications by their generic names. Some UK prescriptions are not licensed abroad and a local doctor will need to prescribe an equivalent.

Salaries, rent and utilities generally need a local account. Keep your UK account open alongside it until you are certain nothing still needs to be paid from or into the UK.

Some countries exchange a UK licence straight across; others require a test once a grace period of six to twelve months expires. Miss the window and you may have to start from a provisional licence.

An out-of-date address is how refunds go missing and accounts get frozen. Set a reminder to review it again after twelve months, when your mail redirection lapses.

Delays at the far end are usually paperwork, not shipping. Keep your inventory, passport, visa and proof of address to hand, and check the delivery access at your new address - a container that cannot park costs money.