You are allowed to leave a moving estimate unsigned until you understand it. The estimate is the number a company gives you before anyone has seen the furniture, the stairs, or the boxes your parent has kept for decades. The contract is what they can bill against. When a parent is moving into your house, the gap between those two documents is where the surprises live.
Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.
Start with the estimate type
Ask whether the estimate is binding or non-binding. A non-binding estimate is a good-faith guess that can change after the crew loads the truck and measures what they carried. A binding estimate fixes the price for the listed inventory, but only if the inventory is complete. Ask the company to write the rule for how a change is triggered directly into the order: the weight limit, the extra stop, the stairs, the waiting time, and the storage days.
Read the valuation coverage
Movers usually offer a choice of how much they will pay if something breaks, and that choice is in the paperwork, not the sales call. Ask for each level in writing. Ask whether the figure is per item, per pound, or a total cap. Ask whether heirlooms and any medical equipment are excluded or need to be listed separately. If an item came with a supplier's handling instructions, write those instructions on the inventory and ask the crew to repeat them back to you.
Write the access route into the order
Most moving disputes start at the door. Note the number of stairs, whether there is an elevator, where the truck can park, and how far the crew must carry items. A parent who walks slowly or uses a walker changes how long the unload takes, and the crew needs that information before moving day, not on it.
Find the cancellation and reschedule terms
Parents' moves get moved. A hospital stay, a family emergency, or a closing on the old house can change the date. Ask what the deposit covers, whether it is refundable, how many days of notice you must give, and what fee applies to a same-week change. Ask whether the company will hold your date if you call early.
Check who signs and who gives direction
The order may list your parent as the customer, you as the contact, or both. Ask who the company will take instructions from on moving day. If the paper names your parent as the one who must agree to terms, that question is not one this article can answer for you. Ask the company what they need, and if the answer involves your parent's legal papers, take the question to whoever helps your family with those papers.
Compare three estimates on the same list
Get three written estimates from the same inventory, the same stairs, the same date, and the same valuation choice. Lay them side by side on the lines that matter: binding status, valuation, access, cancellation, storage, and who gives direction. A lower total that leaves out the stairs or the valuation is not the lower price.
Ask these before you sign
Is the estimate binding, and if not, what triggers a change, in writing? Which valuation level is included, and what does each level pay? Are heirlooms and equipment excluded? Who gives direction on moving day? What does a cancellation cost on each date? Where does the truck park, and how many stairs does the crew carry?
If the move also changes who is home and who is on watch, Local Help for Caregivers in St. Louis is a place to start looking for what else you can line up.