Six questions worth asking before you book

Most advice on choosing a clearance firm is a list of things to look for. This is a list of things to ask, in the order worth asking them, with what a decent answer sounds like.

What is your waste carrier registration number

Ask this first and ask it before anything about price.

Every registered carrier has one, they are required to give it to you, and it is the only answer on this page you can verify for yourself rather than take on trust. A good answer is a number beginning CBDU, given without hesitation, usually from memory or off the side of the van.

A poor answer is any version of “we’re fully licensed” without a number. Being licensed is not a thing you can be in general; it is a specific registration with a specific number on a public register.

Check it on our checker or the Environment Agency’s register. Look at the tier as well as the fact: a CBDL number is lower tier, which does not permit carrying anybody else’s waste. And glance at the expiry date, because upper tier registrations run out every three years.

This is the question that carries legal weight. If your waste is later fly-tipped and you cannot show you checked, a council can fine you up to £600 regardless of who actually dumped it.

Is the price fixed or estimated

Two firms can quote £450 and mean different things by it.

A fixed price is a fixed price. An estimate is a starting point that assumes a volume, and the most common reason a clearance ends up costing more is that the van filled before the house emptied and a second load was needed.

Ask directly: is this fixed, and if not, what changes it? A firm that does this for a living can answer that in one sentence. Ask what a second load would cost before you need one.

What is not included

Two costs get left out of first quotes often enough to be worth naming.

Disposal charges. Transfer stations charge by weight, and some items carry their own fees. Fridges, freezers and anything with a compressor, mattresses at many sites, paint, gas bottles, tyres, and anything containing asbestos. Ask whether the quote covers disposal or whether tip fees are passed on.

Labour beyond the obvious. A loft, a shed at the end of a long garden, a flat on the third floor with no lift, or no parking within twenty metres. All of these add time, and a quote given over the phone will not have accounted for any of them unless you mentioned them.

What happens to anything worth money

Worth asking even if you think there is nothing.

Some firms resell what they can and offset it against the bill. Some pay separately for individual items. Some take everything to the tip and charge you for the weight. All three are legitimate, and the difference between them can be a few hundred pounds on a full house.

If a firm does offset resale, get the arrangement in writing before they start. “We’ll see what it’s worth” after the van has gone is not an arrangement.

There is a particular version of this worth being alert to. A very low quote sometimes assumes the contents are worth more than the labour. That can be a genuinely good deal for both sides, but you want to know it is the deal you are making.

Who is liable if something is damaged

Ask whether they carry public liability insurance and what it covers.

Clearance involves carrying heavy things down staircases in somebody’s home. Bannisters, doorframes, plaster and flooring all get caught. A firm doing this properly is insured for it and will say so without being defensive.

For a probate or estate clearance there is a second half to this. Ask what happens if something is removed that should not have been. Papers, photographs and jewellery turn up inside furniture more often than anyone expects, and a good firm will have a process rather than a shrug.

What will you not take

Every firm has a list and it is quicker to hear it now.

Common exclusions are asbestos, which needs a licensed contractor, clinical or medical waste, chemicals and solvents, gas bottles, and sometimes plasterboard. If you have any of these, say so when you ask for a quote rather than on the day.

Putting it together

If you only do one thing from this page, get the registration number and check it. It takes ten seconds, it is the only claim on the list you can independently verify, and it is the one the law actually asks of you.

The rest of the questions are about avoiding a disagreement later. None of them is adversarial and a firm that does this well will have heard all of them before. The reaction to being asked tells you at least as much as the answers do.