Movers in Chicago

By Ankush Das, founder and CEO of Snestico · Published

A mover working within Illinois needs a Household Goods License from the Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC), which you can search online. It must keep valid insurance on file with the ICC, and the ICC publishes a consumer guide to read before you book.

Snestico doesn't move your things or recommend a mover. This page sets out the checks Illinois's own regulator and FMCSA give, so you can compare any mover you find, and what to plan around the move itself in Chicago.

How do you check a mover in Chicago?

  • Search the mover in the ICC's carrier database: it needs an Illinois Household Goods License
  • Licensed movers must keep valid insurance on file with the ICC and file their rates
  • Read the ICC's "Consumer Guide to Household Goods Movers in Illinois"
  • Get a written estimate before the move, as the ICC advises
  • Leaving Illinois? The mover needs a USDOT number from FMCSA as well

Moving day in Chicago

For space on the street, ask your alderman's ward office about temporary No Parking signs for a residential move; ward offices handle the requests and can tell you how far ahead to ask.

Buildings with elevators often want them booked and a certificate of insurance from the mover; ask management before you fix the date.

Moving to or from another state?

For a move to another state, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) regulates the mover. It must have a USDOT number, which you can look up on FMCSA's site, and give you the booklet "Your Rights and Responsibilities When You Move". On a non-binding estimate you pay no more than 110% of it at delivery; the rest can be billed after 30 days. Full Value Protection is the default, and you only get the cheaper released value, 60 cents per pound per item, if you waive it in writing.

Before and after the truck

  • Get estimates from more than one mover, in writing, after each has seen what you're moving
  • Keep documents, valuables and medicines with you, not on the truck
  • Photograph every room of the old place empty, and of the new place before you unpack, for your deposit
  • Check the inventory and note any damage on the paperwork before you sign
  • Moving light? Sell big furniture before you go and furnish the new place from the local marketplace

Sources

How this was made: drafted with AI assistance, then reviewed and edited by Ankush Das, who checks every fact against the sources listed before it is published or updated.