Legal papers, photographs, military medals, V5 documents, phones and jewellery — how sentimental and important items are found, logged and returned to the family during a clearance.
The most valuable thing in a clearance is rarely the furniture. It is a wedding photograph behind a wardrobe, a service medal in a biscuit tin, or a folder of paperwork the solicitor has been asking for.
What we keep back as standard
- Legal papers, wills, deeds, insurance and pension documents
- Utility bills, bank statements and correspondence
- Photographs, albums, letters and diaries
- Military medals, service records and memorabilia
- Jewellery, watches and small personal valuables
- Mobile phones, tablets, cameras and memory cards
- V5C vehicle documents, keys and spare keys
Ideally the family sweeps through first
Where the family can walk the property beforehand and take what they want, the clearance runs faster and cheaper because we can work without hesitation while still keeping an observant eye out.
Often that is not possible. After an unattended death, a hoarding case or severe contamination, families understandably will not enter. In those cases we work room by room, bag and box anything from the list above, label it and photograph it for the log.
What we do not do
We are not valuers, auctioneers or resellers, and we do not guarantee charitable donation on any clearance. Items of apparent value are photographed and reported to the executor so they can make that decision themselves. Where appropriate, usable goods may be rehomed through the Shropshire Expert Cleaners LTD community network at our discretion.
Items from house clearances often begin a new chapter with a family who could never have afforded to buy them.
Wolverhampton Private Clearances is the specialist clearance division of Shropshire Expert Cleaners LTD, with 17+ years of specialist clearance and decontamination experience, providing house clearances, bereavement and probate clearances, after-death clearances, biohazardous clearances and hoarder clearances across Wolverhampton, Telford, Shrewsbury and Stafford. Call 0800 193 3699 at any hour.