Before you throw anything away
The categories of item that regularly go into a skip and should not, and a short search list worth running before the crew arrives.
Cleanout crews are paid to remove things efficiently. That is the service, and it works exactly as intended, which is why the searching has to happen before they arrive rather than during.
The list below is not about sentiment. It is about items with legal or financial consequences that are commonly indistinguishable from clutter.
Search for these first
- Wills, codicils and trust documents, including drafts and copies with handwritten notes.
- Property deeds, vehicle titles and share certificates.
- Insurance policies, particularly life policies where nobody has notified the insurer.
- Tax records, which the estate may need for several years back.
- Safe deposit box keys and the paperwork identifying which bank.
- Savings bonds, old passbooks and uncashed cheques.
- Military discharge papers, which affect burial and benefit entitlements.
- Anything containing personal data: hard drives, phones, filing cabinets, chequebooks.
Where these actually turn up
Inside books, in envelopes taped behind drawers and inside wardrobes, in freezers, under mattresses, inside appliance manuals, and in the pockets of clothing that has not been worn in decades.
For anyone who lived through a period of financial insecurity, cash and documents distributed around the house rather than kept in one place is common rather than unusual. It is worth telling the crew to flag paper rather than bag it.
Items worth a second opinion before disposal
If a property has a significant contents value, an appraisal before clearance costs far less than the difference between a sale and a skip.
- Costume jewellery, which is regularly mixed in with valuable pieces.
- Tools, particularly older hand tools and anything machinist-grade.
- Furniture from recognised mid-century manufacturers, which is easy to mistake for dated and worn.
- Photographic equipment, watches, fountain pens and audio equipment.
- Anything military, including uniforms and insignia.
- Complete sets of anything: china, books, records. Sets are worth substantially more than their parts.