Six Questions to Ask Your Commercial Movers

1. What Kind of Liability Coverage and Licenses Does Your Company Have?

Even the most careful movers make mistakes, break equipment, or lose items occasionally. Licensed interstate movers are required by law to offer two coverage options:

Beyond the mandatory options, third-party insurers often work directly with moving companies to offer additional coverage — check any existing commercial property policy first to see if moving protection is already built in.

Ask for current proof of insurance — a legitimate, fully licensed mover should provide it without hesitation. Interstate movers should have a valid USDOT license number you can verify directly through FMCSA. Movers operating only within a single state are regulated by that state instead, with requirements that vary — ask for proof of the applicable state license.

2. Will You Reinstall Furniture in the New Space, and Do You Have Your Own Installers?

Starting your next chapter surrounded by a mountain of disassembled furniture isn't a great first impression. An end-to-end mover is the better option if continuity matters — unpacking and reassembling yourself largely negates the point of hiring a full-service mover in the first place. Larger commercial movers often have dedicated, specially trained reassembly teams; confirm the mover has real experience with your specific workstation systems before committing.

3. Are You Able to Provide Business Continuity?

A genuinely effective end-to-end move includes more than furniture — packing, shipping, and setting up IT systems to minimize downtime is its own specialized skill. Choose a mover that provides a plan tailored to your schedule and holds itself accountable for delays that could affect your productivity.

4. Will You Be Packing Our Office for Us?

Some movers only handle pre-packed, disassembled items — easier on the budget, but harder on your time and stress levels. If you pack yourself, you generally lose insurance coverage on anything broken or misplaced in the process. Asking staff to move heavy items can also create real health and safety liability exposure, on top of pulling them away from their actual jobs. A mover that packs for you costs more but genuinely protects both your time and your liability.

5. Are There Any Items Your Team Will Not Move?

Some items simply can't be handled by commercial movers — alcoholic beverages in many states, for example. Build a plan for anything a mover legally can't handle or that you'd rather move yourself: a company safe, sensitive file cabinets, or servers holding proprietary data are all worth removing from the office before movers arrive, rather than risking them getting swept into the general move.

6. What Is the Moving Estimate, and Are There Any Hidden Costs?

There's no universal quoting standard across the commercial moving industry. Ideally, a mover visits your current office in person to build a real, personalized quote based on what actually needs to move — not a blind estimate.

Ask whether the quote is binding. A binding estimate is a legal document that sets a fixed price the actual cost can't exceed — real protection against surprise fees. Most commercial movers default to non-binding estimates, meaning the final price depends on realized costs, which can work for or against you depending on how the move actually goes. Ask what add-ons (travel time, stairways, and similar factors) are included in any binding quote, and make sure they're spelled out clearly.