When we’re moving home, typically we’ll want to leave us much as possible to the professionals we’re paying to do the job for us.
If you’ve selected a top-class furniture removals company for your move, you can be sure they’ll take 101% care of your household items. Nothing in what follows should be seen as contradicting that.
Even so, there is typically a range of items that it might be advisable to take care of yourself, including:
- Precious metals and jewellery to include precious watches. This is not really a theft-risk issue just the sheer uncertainty and problems that might arise subsequently if you can’t find something. Remember as well that if you are moving such items to check your insurance. Individual items above a certain value might need special cover.
- Credit cards and cash – even in foreign currencies. The same logic here applies as per jewellery above. Disputes and suspicion can arise even when totally unfounded. It’s a situation best avoided by keeping these items in your own hands at all times.
- Documents of great importance. Examples might include birth and marriage certificates, wills, testaments, share certificates, passports and so on.
- Copies of security documentation including passwords. True, passwords and such should never be written down – but we’ve all done it!
- Dangerous and hazardous items or materials. Different professional household removals companies use different definitions here so a little common sense is required. Typically though, this includes certain categories of chemicals, corrosive fluids, fireworks, explosives or substances that are liable to explode if mishandled, very flammable materials, biological items that are defined as presenting a bio-hazard, radioactive items (even low intensity) and so on. If in doubt, don’t just put them in a carton and hope nobody notices but instead discuss them with your removers in advance.
- Very valuable antiques. That might be both an insurance and a fragility issue. Examples of fragility might include porcelain and glass items.
- Antique and valuable grandfather clocks. Actually, these can be safely left to removals companies to deal with but it might be sensible to have a special case built for the transport. Yes, it’s expensive but not as much so as trying to replace your clock if it gets damaged.
- Guns and ammunition. Not only is this a safety issue but there could also be legal issues surrounding the carriage of such items. These should be discussed well in advance of your move with your removals company and perhaps the police as well.
- Dangerously sharp items such as larger fighting knives, daggers, scythes, swords, spears and any other form of horticultural blade or bladed weapons. This applies whether they’re antiques or not and this is doubly important if you’re doing your own packing.
- Larger glass items, whether safety glass or not. That’s because in some cases, such as with large panes of glass, specialist handling equipment may be required.
This list is not exhaustive. If you’re in any doubt, discuss your individual requirements with your selected furniture removals company and they will be happy to offer specific advice.