It may come as a surprise, but many moving companies commonly refuse to relocate specific items. If you are planning a move in the near future, you should know what items you ought to plan on moving yourself, without the help of a professional moving company. Read on to learn more:
Heirlooms or Extremely High Value Items
Expensive property or items that are of extreme sentimental value are often not ideal to relocate via a moving company. These items include jewelry, cash reserves, stocks or other high value items. In addition, a moving company’s insurance will only cover lost or damaged items at their market value. Therefore, an item that holds immense sentimental value, perhaps something that has been passed down in your family, would not be something a moving company could adequately insure. If something happened to said item, the market value wouldn’t begin to cover the sentimental loss. Therefore, it’s wise to keep both high value items and those of sentimental nature with you during a move and not on a moving truck.
Plants And Pets
In some specific cases, moving companies will transport a certain type of plant, with a special permit. However, in most cases, plants are not considered transportable because pests can hitch a ride with them and be inadvertently transported to another area. Also, pets, being living beings, are not something you should transport via a moving company. Your pet should stay with you and make the trip to your new home by your side.
Hazardous, Flammable or Corrosive Materials
Anything that includes acid, flammables, such as lighter fluid, kerosene fuel, charcoal and paint remover cannot be moved via a moving truck. There are many household items that fall into this category. Therefore, you should check with your moving company before packing to determine their policy on these items. Often moving companies will have a list of items they will not transport, which often includes gasoline, batteries, pain thinner, fire extinguishers and aerosol cans.
Certain Types of Equipment
Fuel-powered equipment, like lawn mowers, weeding equipment, motorcycles and more must be drained of their fuel at least 24 hours before moving to be applicable for transport. If equipment still has traces of fuel inside the tanks, moving companies will often refuse to transport them for safety reasons.
Scuba And Diving Equipment
The pressurized oxygen that is housed in scuba tanks makes diving and scuba equipment a no-can-do for many moving companies. There is a risk of explosion due to the mixture of gases in these tanks, which is a liability movers don’t want.
Pianos
There are many moving companies that will not move a piano. This is usually because this item demands special equipment and experience in order to move properly. Often, it’s a much better to have the piano moved professionally by a piano moving company.
While the vast majority of your household possessions are easily handled by a moving company, there are a few specific items they often refuse to move. The items listed above are just a few. It’s a good idea to ask ahead of time what items cannot be moved and prepare alternative ways to get them relocated.