Every removals firm has a list of things it will not put on a van, and most of them bury it in the terms and conditions where you find it at eight in the morning on moving day. Here it is instead.

The items fall into three groups, and the reasons are different for each.

1. Prohibited on the road

These need specialist haulage licensing that a removals firm does not hold. It is not a preference and it is not negotiable.

Compressed gas cylinders — including camping gas and patio bottles
Petrol, diesel and other fuels
Corrosive or toxic chemicals
Explosives and fireworks

What to do instead: run mowers, strimmers and pressure washers dry before the day. A container that looks empty usually is not — a fuel tank with vapour in it is still a fuel tank. Take fuels and solvents to your local recycling centre in the week before the move, not on the morning.

Sealed wine, spirits and beer are fine, though worth wrapping well. Small quantities of sealed household cleaners are acceptable; anything open or leaking should go before the day.

Firearms

A category of their own. Firearms and ammunition are governed by licensing law and must never be packed in an unmarked box. Speak to us and to your police firearms licensing department well ahead of the move so it is arranged properly.

2. Outside insurance cover

These can physically travel, but standard goods in transit cover does not extend to them, so putting them on a van means carrying a risk nobody is covering.

Cash
Jewellery
Passports, deeds and important documents

What to do instead: carry them yourself. Put them in a labelled bag that stays in your own car along with medication, keys and anything sentimental or irreplaceable. It is not that we expect a problem — it is that these are exactly the things that get lost track of among a hundred boxes.

3. Impractical in a loaded van

Legal, coverable, and still a bad idea.

Perishable and frozen food. Empty the fridge and freezer and defrost at least 24 hours ahead. We will happily move the appliance; we will not move what is inside it. A freezer defrosting in the back of a van in July is an experience nobody needs twice.

Plants. They can usually travel, but at your own risk and outside our insurance cover. We would steer you away from anything large or soil-heavy — a tipped pot in a loaded van is nobody's idea of a good day. Treasured ones are better off in your own car.

Pets. We will not move them, and it is a welfare matter rather than red tape. A loaded removal van cannot offer the ventilation, temperature control or monitoring an animal needs in transit. Pets travel with you, or with a specialist pet transporter for a longer journey. Arrange it before the day; a cat in a carrier in a hallway full of boxes is not a plan.

Things that are fine, but need declaring

Not prohibited — just heavy or specialist enough that turning up without the right equipment means we cannot take them that day:

A piano
A safe
An American-style fridge-freezer
Gym equipment

Tell us before you book. Declared in advance, these are usually straightforward, and if there is an additional charge you will know about it upfront. Discovered on the day, the item may have to be booked as a separate job — which is a worse outcome for everyone.

Why the list matters more than it looks

Every item on it has, somewhere, been the reason a move went wrong. The undeclared patio gas bottle in the shed. The freezer nobody emptied. The cat that got out.

None of it is difficult to deal with, and all of it is easier a week early than on the morning. If you are not sure about something, ask us before the day rather than finding out at the tailgate.