What to remove before caravan collection, and what you can leave
Most people over-prepare for caravan collection day. They spend a weekend hauling out curtains and cupboard doors, guessing at what to remove before caravan collection instead of working from a short, accurate list. There's a genuine list of things that have to leave the caravan before we arrive, and everything else can stay exactly where it is. Here's the difference, in plain terms.
What people forget the morning of collection
The things that get missed aren't the big, obvious items. They're the small ones tucked out of sight.
- Paperwork with your name or address on it, tax reminders, insurance letters, anything left in a drawer
- Photos, keys and anything sentimental, particularly in the roof lockers, which get checked last or not at all
- Bank cards, chequebooks or ID that ended up in a caravan and never came back out
- Keys to the caravan itself, the awning, or any external lockers, so nothing's fumbled for on the day
Do one pass through the drawers and lockers before we arrive. That's the whole job for this part.
Gas bottles and batteries: the two things we can't take with us
Two items always need sorting separately, and they're not ours to take. If there's an LPG cylinder in the front locker, it stays the property of whoever issued it, Calor or Flogas usually. It needs to go back through the supplier's exchange scheme, not travel with the caravan. A leisure battery is more straightforward: most garages and recycling centres take an old one back, and it's a five-minute job to sort before we're stood in front of the van. Our guide to gas bottle disposal and the other hazardous bits covers both properly, including what to do if the bottle isn't marked.
Take it now if you want to keep it
Once the caravan's on the back of a tow bed or broken up on site, it's gone. If any of this is coming with you, take it off first: fittings you're attached to, the awning, a fitted motor mover, the spare wheel if it's still usable. Anything screwed or bolted on that you'd actually miss counts too. Nobody on our end will know which bits matter to you unless they're already sitting to one side when we arrive.
What you genuinely don't need to touch
Here's the part most people get wrong: emptying the caravan out completely isn't necessary, and it isn't what we're asking for. Furniture, carpets, curtains, cushions, the fitted units, whatever's left in the cupboards. All of that goes as part of the job, whether it's a touring caravan being broken up or a static being cleared. You don't need to strip the inside back to bare walls before we arrive. Spend your time on the short list above instead of a weekend you don't need to lose.
Water systems: why a full tank matters before we arrive
If the caravan still has water in the system, fresh or waste, let it down before collection day if you're able to. A pressurised or full water system can be heavier and messier to move than an empty one. It's one more thing that can complicate a static clearance, where equipment has to get close to the van. If you're not sure how to drain it, or the caravan's been standing untouched for years and you'd rather not go near the plumbing, just tell us. It changes nothing about the quote, it just means the crew knows what to expect.
The last walk-through: five minutes under the seats
Before we arrive, do one final check: open the seat bases, look under the fixed beds, and check any cupboard you haven't opened in a while. This is where the last stray items usually turn up, chargers, tools, the odd bottle of gas nobody remembered was there. It takes five minutes and it's the difference between a clean handover and a phone call after we've left.
Does what you leave in affect your price?
No, not for the items covered above. Furniture, carpets and fittings left inside are already priced into the job. What does affect the price is whether the caravan is towable, and its overall condition, which is why clear photos matter more than how tidy it looks inside.
| Job | What's involved | Price |
| Touring, towable | Wheels on, sound enough to survive the tow, collected as-is | £350–£450 |
| Touring, not towable | Broken up on site, or moved on a tow bed to be broken elsewhere | £500–£850 |
| Static | Broken up on site, waste taken away | £1,800–£3,980 |
The skip isn't included on a not towable touring job, you'll need to arrange your own, usually 6–8 yards. On a static job, if we can burn the timber on site, the price usually comes down by a few hundred pounds.
Photos before booking, not on the day
Clear photos of the caravan, inside and out, are what turn a guess into an accurate quote, whether it's a towable tourer, a not towable one, or a static. Send photos of all four sides, the wheels and chassis if it's a tourer, and anything unusual like decking or an awning still attached. It's the same logic behind being clear about what's actually there when you first ask for a price: the more accurate the photos, the less chance of anything changing once we're on site.
Booking: why 24 hours matters
We're always busy, so once you've got a quote you're happy with, book within 24 hours if the date suits. Leave it longer and you could be waiting several weeks for the next slot, particularly for static clearances. There's more on timing in our piece on how quickly a caravan can actually be collected.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to empty the caravan completely before you arrive?
No. Furniture, carpets, curtains and fitted units can all stay. Empty the caravan of paperwork, valuables and anything you want to keep, sort the gas bottle and battery separately, and leave the rest to us.
What if I find a gas bottle at the last minute?
Don't put it in the caravan or leave it for us to take, it isn't ours to take either way. Contact the supplier for an exchange, or check with your council's recycling centre if it's unmarked, before collection day if you can.
Do you take spare wheels and motor movers?
Only if you want us to. If you'd rather keep either, take them off before we arrive. Anything still fitted on the day is treated as part of the caravan.
What if I miss something during the walk-through?
Tell us as soon as you notice, ideally before the collection date. Once the caravan's broken up or gone, whatever was inside goes with it.
A short checklist, not a weekend of clearing out. Sort the paperwork, the gas bottle and the battery, take off anything you're keeping, then send us clear photos and get a quote. If you'd rather read the full picture first, our caravan disposal page covers how the whole process works from quote to collection.