What we cannot carry

Draft for review

This page is a working draft for a UK same day courier. Every figure in it — notice periods, payment terms, retention, cancellation charges — is a proposed default, not a position anyone has settled. It must be reviewed and signed off by the operator's solicitor before the site goes live. Set BRAND_LEGAL_REVIEWED_ON once that has happened and this notice goes away on its own.

Some things we will not carry at all, and some we will carry only under a specific agreement. If what you are sending is not obviously on this list but you are unsure, ring us before you book rather than after a courier has arrived.

We will not carry these

Cash, bullion and bearer instruments — including cheques made out to cash, and anything negotiable without endorsement.
Live animals of any kind.
Hazardous, flammable, explosive, corrosive, toxic or radioactive goods, including compressed gases, fireworks, fuels and solvents.
Illegal items, counterfeit goods, and anything whose possession or transport is an offence.
Firearms, ammunition, offensive weapons and bladed articles, other than under a separate written contract with a licensed dealer.
Human remains, body parts and clinical waste.
Unpackaged glass, ceramics and mirrors. Properly crated, yes; loose, no.
Anything requiring a licence we do not hold, or that cannot lawfully be carried in a vehicle under 3.5 tonnes without one.

We will carry these, but only by arrangement

Anything worth more than £500. Tell us the value when you book so cover can be arranged before collection. Declaring it afterwards is too late.
Prescription and controlled medicines — only under an agreed pharmacy or dispensing contract, with the handling rules that come with it.
Clinical and diagnostic samples — only where packaged to the applicable standard and declared at booking.
Alcohol and tobacco in commercial quantities, where duty status and documentation are confirmed first.
Passports, deeds and irreplaceable documents. We carry them regularly, but the cover is for the cost of replacement, not the consequences of loss.

Packaging is your responsibility

We carry what you hand us, in the packaging you hand it to us in. Cover for goods in transit applies only where an item was packaged adequately for the journey, so a fragile item in a thin carrier bag is unlikely to be covered if it breaks. If you are not sure, ask the courier at collection — they would far rather say something then than photograph a damaged item later.

If we find a prohibited item in transit

The courier will stop and contact the dispatch desk. Depending on what it is we will return it to you at your cost, hold it for collection, or where the law requires it, report it to the relevant authority. The original fare remains payable.

[For legal review: confirm this list against the operator's insurance policy exclusions and the conditions of carriage, which must agree with each other. The insurer's exclusions are the controlling document.]

Last reviewed: not yet reviewed.