If you've signed for a new place, it's time to start thinking about how you're going to transport all of your worldly belongings into your new home. If you all your possessions amount to not warranting the need to hire a removal company with a 7.5 tonne van, then you are left with three options. You can get your mate Steve, you know, the one with a van, to come and help you. Or you could a hire man and his van service. They'll let you rent a van by the hour at a cheap rate – around £15 an hour – and will transport all your belongings to your new home for you. However, if neither these two options tickle your fancy, are just aren't available to you, then your final option is to hire a van yourself.Van hire is done by the day with rates starting at around £40 a day for 3.5 tonne vehicle, and will go up or down in price depending on if you require a bigger or smaller one. Van hire can be a good option compared to hiring a man and van service if you're things require multiple trips. As you pay by the hour for a man and van services, having to make one or more trips to transport all your things means it could be more expensive than just hiring out a van for the day. They are also more beneficial over man and van services if you are moving quite a distance as this will take a long time. If you decide that self-drive van hire is the right option for you, then first you'll need to know what size van you require. To do this, first get a rough estimate of how much volume your things will need to be transported. Volume is height x width x length. You don't need to know the exact volume, but having a rough idea will let you estimate what size van you need. To find out the transport volume size of vans, most van hire websites will have the dimensions readily available. If they don't, then a simple phone call to a van hire company will Once you have narrowed the companies you may wish to rent from, it's time to think about your budget. As mentioned before, a 3.5 tonne vehicle can cost from £40 a day. But you'll need to be insured on the vehicle which will cost you more money. It's best to phone round all the potential companies to get as many quotes as you can on the hiring and insurance. This will lead you to make a more informed decision when deciding which one. Phone around to get the quotes; the van hire companies will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.After you've got all the quotes, your final step is to find out how reliable the company, and their vehicles, are. Like with any service, some companies are better than others. You don't want to hire a vehicle that has its best days behind it. And the last thing you want is to pay £40 for a vehicle that will break down on the way to your new home. To find out how reliable and good the service provided by van hire companies are, simply go on websites like the yellow pages which will have reviews from previous customers. This will help you make a more informed decision about which company you want to hire. It is then up to you to balance price with previous customer satisfaction. Then all that's left to do is hire it and move in!