A summary of the most frequently asked questions

We are happy to answer any questions that you may have. You may find it helpful to scroll through the questions and answers below. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly, either by email to [email protected] or by filling in our contact form, outlining your query. We will get back to you as soon as possible.

Which schools use the service?
We work with all schools in the UK with boarders who are unable to take all their belongings home and where school storage space is scarce. To place an order as an individual simply select “Place an order” and order as appropriate. We will liaise with the school directly regarding the collection and redelivery. At some schools we provide a dedicated holiday storage service and the school contracts School Trunk directly enabling us to offer a different pricing structure. If you know of a school that might benefit from this please contact us using the contact form.

• Do you collect and deliver over weekends?
Our office hours are 08h30 – 17h00, Monday to Friday. As we find that many schools and universities prefer not to take deliveries over the weekend, we do not, as a matter of policy, collect or deliver over the weekend. If a customer specifically needs a weekend delivery, additional charges will apply, for each item required to be delivered on a Saturday there will be an additional charge of £20.

• What if I booked for you to collect too few or too many items?
Not to worry, when your belongings are collected, we record exactly what has been taken, we then check it against your order and revise accordingly.

• What if I want to take a gap year?
We are happy to store your boxes until you start university the following year. There is an additional £60 charge per item. Please email us at [email protected] for further information.

• What is your minimum/maximum storage period?
We don’t have a minimum or maximum holiday storage period, however please note that our flat rates are per holiday, which can in Summer be up to 19 weeks. Additional storage charges will be incurred if a holiday period is exceeded.

• Can I use a different collection/re-delivery address?
If you’re moving, not to worry. We’ll deliver your belongings door-to-door at the address you prefer, be it your permanent address, a business address or a hotel. If we are delivering to a school we will check that a member of staff is on site before delivering your belongings ahead of the start of term. If we are redelivering to a university we cannot deliver your items before you have registered due to strict security policies set out by the University and items must be delivered to a manned reception area.

• What if I do not return to the UK?
Not a problem, we can ship your belongings worldwide. You simply need to contact us with the details of where you want your belongings sent and we will prepare a quote for you. Quotes are prepared based on a a delivery address, number, size and weight of items. You may also be required to fill our contents information for customs. Please also see our Terms and Conditions for prohibited items.

• What size can my suitcase or box be?
We only accept airline approved suitcases, as your belongings do go in transit and into storage, it needs to be able to withstand similar conditions. We are able to provide you with suitable strong collapsible crates, or cardboard boxes. A second suitcase and non-standard items will be treated as 2 items. Plastic bags are not sufficient and will be treated as non standard items.

• How do I label my belongings?
Once you have placed your order, we will prepare and send you directly a set of tracking labels. You must put one label on each item you want School Trunk to collect. Simply cut the labels along the cutting line. Put the long labels around the handle of a suitcase or duvet bag and stick the ends together. Put the shorter labels onto the long front side of crates or boxes, so they are clearly visible when stacked. Unused labels can simply be thrown away.

• How far in advance can I book?
Please ensure your order is placed in order to leave enough time to solve any problems that may occur with the process, address or date. Please allow 72 hours for packaging to be despatched. We will also despatch labels along with packaging ordered, unless at a contracted school, where room information will be provided to us by the School.

• When/how do I pay?
When you place an order, an invoice will automatically be generated and sent to the billing e-mail address entered. Payment can be made via all major credit/debit cards, via paypal or bank transfer online.

• What happens if an item of mine is lost?
School Trunk will recompense a customer for the loss of an item at the rate of £100 per item.

• What if I don’t know the dates I am leaving/returning?
If you are at school not to worry, we liaise directly with your house staff/matron to arrange a time convenient to come and collect your belongings. If you are leaving to go to university/private accommodation, you can let us know your choice and exact location after exam results are released. We need to receive your deliver address 7 days ahead of expected re-delivery.

• Can I store other items like furniture/bikes etc?
We do not store furniture. However, we can store non-standard items such as musical instruments, skateboards, hockey sticks but these must be packed appropriately. These non-standard items counts as 2 or 3 items depending on the size, so there will be an additional charge.

• Where are my belongings stored?
We have a number of climate controlled, secure storage facilities at a growing number of locations around the UK.

• How do you transport my belongings?
We use a combination of our own fleet of couriers as well as using partners such as Parcelforce and DPD. All items must be packed to withstand transportation.

• How much does it cost if you need to send me packing materials?
Our storage products are individually priced on our website. Please allow 72 hours for packaging products to be sent to you and if you are ordering items along with a Silver Storage service, we will also include labels for all of your items, unless at a contracted school where we will be provided with room information as well to add to your order.

• Can you ship my belongings internationally?
The basic price for our international shipments is £125 + £10 per box, this includes our collection, processing and administration fee. Once we have collected your belongings and they arrive in our warehouse, we are able to accurately weigh and measure each item and will then be able to provide you with a precise quote for shipping to the final destination. You will need to pay this additional charge, in addition to the basic price, before we can ship your items.

• Which schools use the service?

  Independent schools with a significant number of boarders who prefer not to, or simply cannot, take their belongings home over the holiday periods, and where school storage space is scarce. If your school does not offer the School Trunk service, please use the contact form and we will get in touch with your school directly to introduce the School Trunk offer and make sure you are able to sign up for the service.

  Schools may also ask parents to subscribe to the School Trunk Silver Storage solution to meet a pupil’s extra storage requirements, where there is a need beyond the school’s formal holiday storage policy. School Trunk’s Gold Care service ensures that the student’s personal belongings are not only stored but school uniforms are washed or dry cleaned, mended and labelled as required before being professionally re-packed in preparation for the new term.

• How do we get started?

  We work directly with schools and parents. If you are a parent, you can simply order online for Silver Storage, Gold Care and Storage Products.

  We are always delighted to hear from schools who have not yet signed up to the School Trunk programme. Please fill out the contact form and we will contact you to discuss the set up process and tailor a specific offer to meet the school’s unique requirements. Once we have agreed the parameters of the offer for your particular school, we agree collection and delivery dates with you, help you to promote the service appropriately and provide all the support you need to ensure that pupils’ storage needs are professionally met every term.

• What do I have to do?

  We aim to make the process as smooth as possible for parents and students and schools and their staff.

  Parents and students simply need to ensure that their order is completed, submitted and paid for ahead of when collection is required. Ahead of the end of term, we provide labels and Storage Products as ordered. Students then pack as normal, fix the labels to their belongings and we take care of the rest.

  For schools, School Trunk takes care of the end of term storage detail, leaving house staff time to focus on their primary pastoral care role while we care for the pupil’s school uniform and personal belongings. We provide a simple checklist for house staff letting them know: which pupils are signed up for the service; what pupils must do when labelling and securing their trunk/school suitcase and any additional School Crates; what the timetable is for collection and delivery; and contact phone numbers should they have questions.

• Do schools inform parents about the offer?

  Schools often choose to support their existing holiday storage policy by informing parents of the School Trunk service. Some schools adopt a ‘no belongings left on site’ policy, whilst others may provide a basic holiday storage offer but require parents to remove any items exceeding this allowance. We help schools to communicate the School Trunk offer and supply a number of communication elements that schools can use from email content to posters and introductory meetings. Many schools with regular communication with parents simply direct parents to our website.

• Can a school offer the service directly to parents?

  Some schools offer the School Trunk service to parents directly as part of their pastoral care. We work with schools to put together a unique proposition which meets the school’s specific requirements. In some cases, the School Trunk offer is branded by the school and the invoicing and fee collection is managed by the school as part of the school bill.

• Do you provide an incentive for schools to promote the School Trunk offer?

  For ethical reasons we do not provide a financial incentive for schools. The major benefits to schools derive from the improved used of space and the ability to offer pupils and parents a valet service for the pupil’s school uniform over the school holidays. School Trunk may work with specific selected schools to support a chosen charity.

• Do you collect and deliver over weekends?

  Our office hours are 08h30 - 17h00, Monday to Friday. As we find that many schools and universities prefer not to take deliveries over the weekend, we do not, as a matter of policy, deliver over the weekend. If a customer specifically needs a weekend delivery, we will do our best to accommodate their requests but there is a £20 per item charge.

• What if I booked for you to collect too few or too many items?

  Not to worry, when your belongings are collected, we record exactly what has been taken, we then check it against your order and issue a credit note or cheque refund accordingly or an additional invoice.

• What if I want to take a gap year?

  We are happy to store your boxes until you start university the following year. There is a charge for the additional storage costs. Please email us at [email protected] for further information.

• What is your minimum/maximum storage period?

  We don’t have a minimum or maximum storage period, however please not that our flat rates include a storage fee for up to 12 weeks, and additional charges will be incurred if this time period is exceeded.

• Can I use a different collection/re-delivery address?

  If you’re moving, not to worry. We’ll deliver your belongings door-to-door at the address you prefer, be it your permanent address, a business address or a hotel. If we are delivering to a school we will check that a member of staff is on site before delivering your belongings ahead of the start of term. If we are delivering to a university or home address, we do need to confirm that you will be there to receive the belongings and we are only able to deliver to a manned reception area or post room.

• What size can my bag or box be?

  We only accept airline approved suitcases, as your belongings do go in transit and into storage, so need to be able to withstand similar conditions. We are able to provide you with suitable strong collapsible crates, or cardboard boxes. Non standard items will incur an extra item charge.

• How do I label my belongings?

  Once your have placed your order, we will prepare and send you your tracking labels, all you have to do is attach them to your belongings.

• How far in advance can I book?

  Please ensure your order is placed in order to leave enough time to solve any problems that may occur with the process, address or date. Please allow 72 hours, after payment has been received for packaging to be despatched. We will also despatch labels along with packaging ordered.

• When/how do I pay?

  Payment can be made via all major credit/debit cards, via paypal, bank transfer online or cheque.

• What happens if an item of mine is lost?

  School Trunk will recompense a customer for the loss of an item at the rate of £100 per item.

• What if I don’t know the dates I am leaving/returning?
  

  If you are at school not to worry, we will always liaise directly with your house staff/matron to arrange a time convenient to come and collect your belongings. If you are leaving to university/private accommodation, you can let us know your choice and exact location after exam results are released. We need to receive your deliver address 7 days ahead of expected re-delivery.

• Can I store other items like furniture/bikes etc?

  We do not store furniture. However, any irregular items such as musical instruments, skateboards, hockey sticks etc we can store. These irregular, non standard items counts as 2/3 items depending on their size, so there could be an additional charges incurred.

• Where are my belongings stored?

  We have a number of climate controlled, secure storage facilities at a growing number of locations around the UK. All our locations are secure with constant CCTV monitoring and each of our storage rooms individually alarmed.

• How do you transport my belongings?

  We use a combination of our own fleet of couriers as well as using partners such as Parcelforce and Interlink.

• How much does it cost if you need to send me packing materials?

  Our storage products are individually priced on our website. There will be no additional delivery fee unless a required date is specified. Please allow 72 hours for packaging products to be sent to you and if you are ordering items along with a Silver Storage service, we will also include labels for all of your items.

• What if I do not return to the UK?

  Not a problem, we can ship your belongings worldwide. You simply need to contact us with the details of where you want your belongings sent and we will prepare a quote for you.