Moving Help Through Uhaul | What to Look Out For

Moving Help Through Uhaul | What to Look Out For

Woman posing with Uhaul moving help in front of Uhaul

When you’re looking for moving labor for your upcoming move, you’ve probably considered hiring Uhaul movers, the one’s featured on their MovingHelp platform. While their program is pretty cool, as it connects customers with local moving companies, there are quite a few things you should look out for when hiring MovingHelpers. Keep reading to learn more about Uhaul’s MovingHelp program and about the certain things you should look out for if you do decide to hire moving labor through them.

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All About Moving Help

MovingHelp is a really cool program owned by Uhaul that connects consumers to hourly moving labor. MovingHelp allows small local moving companies to easily get jobs without any advertising expenses by taking 15% of their revenue. Typically customers find Uhaul moving helpers by first renting their truck on Uhaul. Customers will be asked if they need equipment and if they’ll need movers. If they need movers, Uhaul will take the customer to Movinghelp.com and let them pick from local moving helpers. I’m going to walk you through the 4 things to consider before hiring Uhaul movers from MovingHelp.

1. Scheduling Through MovingHelp’s Platform

There just isn’t a good way for moving companies to sync their schedule with Moving Help’s platform. So if you’re requesting within a week, or a few days, chances are your movers won’t be available (Although the platform will say they are). PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, for your sake and the moving companies sake, when you book on MovingHelp, call your movers to confirm!

2. You Get What You Pay For

While you can find a lot of great companies on Uhaul’s Moving Help platform, you can also find a lot of inexperienced ones as well. If you and your cousin want to start making some extra money on the side, you can easily get on MovingHelp. All you need is a bank account.

I don’t have a problem with you and your cousin trying to make some extra money on the side—in fact, I respect it—but, there is a science to moving. It doesn’t just take muscle, it takes brains, experience, and spatial relations. You can’t just hire anyone off the street, or the kid next door to move your belongings. Leave it to those with experience if you want it done right.

EDIT: MovingHelp does require the owner to get a background check, however, those that will actually be assisting you do not need to be.

3. Insurance Through MovingHelp

Moving companies that are labor-only are not required to carry insurance, and most moving helpers on MovingHelp are labor-only moving companies. If your movers scratch some paint off the wall or ding a doorway, that’s not such a big deal. However, if your movers tear up your hardwood floors, break your door, or leave a gaping hole in your wall, I imagine you’re not going to be too happy, and neither will your wallet.

Some movers on MovingHelp carry general liability insurance to cover damages like these, most don’t. It’s worth looking into their insurance prior to booking your move.

Even though your moving help might not have insurance, you’re not at a total loss if your movers break something. By law, your movers have to provide basic valuation coverage ($.60/pound) for items broken or damaged. This is fine if they break your weight set, but if your helpers drop your 10-pound flat screen tv, $6.00 isn’t going to go too far.

Unfortunately, this isn’t just a limitation of MovingHelp, most moving companies don’t provide full-valuation coverage. Scratch that, I don’t know a single moving company that provides full-valuation coverage for all goods. Moving companies also aren’t insurance brokers, so you can’t just buy insurance for your move directly from them. If you’re wanting full-valuation coverage, I recommend getting a policy with Movinginsurance.com. They offer full-value coverage for purchase starting at $12 per $1,000 in coverage.

EDIT: MovingHelp now offers insurance in various states called Safeload. Moving Help Service Provider(s) are still not required to be insured, but you can purchase Safeload for additional coverage.

4. Cost of Moving Helpers

You can find some pretty affordable moving help on Uhaul’s platform, but you get what you pay for. Most professional moving companies charge between $50 and $90/hr/mover for labor.

That being said, MovingHelp is also a very competitive marketplace that gives moving companies an opportunity to advertise their services for free, so their prices are worth checking out. However, you can expect to pay an additional 15% (on top of what hiring the moving company directly would cost) to cover MovingHelp’s cut. 

If you’re looking to save some money, we recommend hiring your moving company directly. Chances are you’ll get better customer service and pricing!

5. Uhaul’s MovingHelp Reviews Are Pretty Terrible 

While the reviews that you see from moving companies on their platform seem generally positive, the review system does not reflect cases where the payment code is never released. In other words, if you want to leave a negative review, you’ve got to pay for the move, even if your movers never showed. Nobody’s going to do that.

If you check out MovingHelp’s reviews on a third-party site like SiteJabber, you’ll find they have 1.5 stars out of 307 reviews. Pretty rough if you ask me. The program has good intentions working with local vendors, but they also have a lot of problems when it comes to customer satisfaction.

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Don’t Let This Article Discount Moving Helpers

While I’ve covered a lot of why I’m skeptical of Uhaul’s MovingHelp program, I want to iterate that what I’ve covered on Uhaul’s moving helpers does not reflect hourly moving labor in general.

Hiring moving labor in conjunction with renting a U-Haul moving truck is a great way to save your back, and reduce your moving costs. This hybrid model is becoming the preferred way to move with Uhaul companies popping up EVERYWHERE!

Not only do you save money, but you can also feel at ease. After all, a lot of moving horror stories revolve around having items withheld. When booking a Uhaul moving truck and hiring moving labor, you stay in possession of your goods at all times!

If do you choose to hire moving helpers through Uhaul, just make sure to use a moving company that is a good fit for you. Cover your bases by keeping in mind the 5 things I went over in this article.

Final Thoughts

While DIY moves are becoming more common with the increasing prevalence of Uhauls, many people still need (or want) to hire moving helpers. And why not!? You save a ton of money, reduce the risk for moving scams, and significantly reduce the workload on your shoulders.

Millions are moving using this hybrid model. It’s a trend I think we will continue to see in the future. Many people are using Uhaul’s MovingHelp platform to find moving labor, but I recommend hiring your movers directly. After all, MovingHelp works well… when it works.

If you do decide to hire moving Uhaul helpers watch out for common scams, or just avoid most of these problems by hiring a professional moving company directly. The best way I’ve found for hiring local services is just by Googling “movers near me.” Have you hired Uhaul moving helpers, or are you a moving company that has used their platform? Let me know about your experience in the comments below!

Frequently Asked Questions About U-haul Moving Helpers

How Much Does U-haul Moving Help Cost?

U-haul movers can vary in cost significantly. Every moving helper on the platform is an independent company and sets their rates however they want. Through our research, we’ve found that most helpers charge between $50-$100 per hour per mover. If you choose to book moving helpers on U-haul’s platform you’ll see all the companies that service your area and be able to see pricing. Just watch out for the warnings I mentioned above.

Does Uhaul Have Movers?

Uhaul does not have movers, however they have vendors on their platform, movinghelp.com, which provide hourly moving labor and can help you with loading and unloading U-hauls and U-Boxes.

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Collin Flynn comes born and raised in Racine, Wisconsin off the coast of Lake Michigan. He graduated from Coe College in 2019 with a degree in physics. He is the founder of College Movers, a company that enables young entrepreneurial-minded people to open their own business utilizing the gig-economy and its technological backing. Collin has 4+ years of experience in the moving industry and writes about moving, fitness, and business. When he's not managing his business you can find him running, biking, or swimming — after all he does have triathlons to train for.