HOUSING

REMOVALS

Personnel should be aware that they will be responsible for the payment of their first move into service accommodation and the last move into their own home. Otherwise, Service personnel are provided with free conveyance of their personal baggage, and household effects, within certain limits, when the requirements of the Service make it necessary for them to move.

Moves within UK - Married Accompanied personnel posted within the UK may take advantage of the Service Contract System (SCS), which enables families to convey all their possessions up to a specified limit, which is available from unit administrative offices. The removal service includes packing and unpacking, and collection from the previous address and delivery to the new address.

Single and married unaccompanied personnel are automatically provided with fully furnished single living accommodation in the UK. All Service personnel (irrespective of rank) within these two categories who are posted within the UK are entitled to move up to 6.00 cubic metres of effects. They are required to pack and unpack their own removal boxes. They have no entitlement to move under the SCS system but may move their belongings through any one of the following means:

Practical Help - Many UK companies offer the various services needed when service personnel are moving – from conveyancing to legal service and surveying to removals. One company that undertakes all these under one umbrella is ‘Really Moving’, who offer a combined service to military personnel moving both within the UK and overseas. For further information, go to www.reallymoving.com.

Overseas moves - Married personnel posted to or within NW Europe (Germany, Belgium, Holland and Denmark) may take advantage of the Furniture Movement Scheme (FMS), which enables families to convey all their possessions, up to a specified limit which is available from unit administrative offices.

Married personnel posted outside NW Europe may convey a proportion of their possessions (depending on their rank) to the overseas location using the removal service, which includes packing and unpacking and delivery between two designated addresses.

Personnel moving under the Removal Service are entitled to consign the balance of their personal and household effects (up to a specified limit) to long-term storage in the UK as recommended by the unit administrative office. There is no entitlement to storage for personnel moving under the FMS.

Normal Service - This service is the only service available to single personnel and is also utilised by personnel who opt to move their rank based entitlement under the Removal Service in more than one consignment.

Storage Once a Draft/Posting Order authority has been issued and the entitlement and eligibility to storage facilities at public expense is known (details from unit administrative offices) a Serviceman is entitled to remove their possessions to storage. However, the Ministry of Defence will only pay for the removals to store and storage 14 days before the Serviceman departs from the United Kingdom on their Draft/Posting. Likewise, upon the Serviceman's return to the United Kingdom, storage charges will continue to be paid by the Ministry of Defence for up to 28 days after their arrival in the country. If the Serviceman has not completed the necessary arrangements to have his possessions removed from storage, the Serviceman will be responsible for paying any further charges raised for storage by the contractor.