FAQs
Hourly charge
We charge £45 per person per hour. We don’t charge more for hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays.
Minimum booking
Our minimum booking is 3 hours i.e. one of us working alone for 3 hours or both of us working together for 90 minutes.
How long is your working day?
A full working day is 6 1/2 hours, which includes a 1/2 hour lunch break so you only pay for the 6 hours we work.
Discounted day rate
We offer a discounted day rate of £250 per person.
Where we work and travel costs
We usually work within the London area (zones 1–6) but we are happy to travel further afield. If you live outside London and would like our help, please get in touch to discuss terms.
We don’t charge for travel within London but we do ask clients outside London to reimburse travel and accommodation costs where applicable.
Making a booking
We can provide guideline quotes based on emailed pictures and a description of what you would like to achieve, but wherever practical we like to organise a home visit, which comprises a free thirty-minute consultation where we can discuss and agree the scope of the project. We are also more than happy to discuss your requirements over the phone.
Confirmation and Deposit
Following the discussion/home visit, we will email you with details of the proposed booking (i.e. date, time, location, scope, number of hours and name(s) of organiser) and ask you to confirm by return email.
To secure time in our individual diaries, we ask all new clients for a deposit of £50 if you are booking just one of us or £100 if you are booking both of us. This deposit is fully redeemable against the cost of your session(s) if the booking goes ahead.
N.B. If you cancel an agreed booking with less than 48-hours’ notice and do not immediately reschedule the session, your deposit becomes non-refundable.
Estimates
We will make every effort to complete the project within the estimated time agreed with you, however sometimes a task may take longer to complete, especially when a client finds it very hard to make decisions or participate fully in the organising process. In these circumstances, we may need to renegotiate time and costs, but we will always do this with you and agree the best way forward together.
Payment
Payment is due at the end of each session (or block of sessions by prior arrangement).
We are separately registered as self-employed with The Inland Revenue so we will each submit our own invoices for assignments where we have worked together
If projects are expected to take several months, we will invoice weekly as the project moves forward and these invoices will be payable within 7 days.
We accept payment by bank transfer, cheque or cash. Payments will be acknowledged by email.
Cancellations
If you cancel an agreed booking with less than 48-hours’ notice and do not immediately reschedule the session, your deposit (see Confirmation and Deposit above) becomes non-refundable.
Whilst we will make every effort to avoid cancelling any bookings, there may be times when we need to cancel for reasons beyond our control. If this happens, we will give you as much notice as possible and will reschedule the booking as quickly as we can.
How we work
We work individually and as a pair, depending on the size and scope of the task. When we work together it maximises our effectiveness, halves the time it takes to complete tasks and significantly reduces disruption for our clients, but this is entirely up to you.
The most effective sessions are those where we work with our clients; it is important for you to be part of the process and to guide us as to your aims.
Our advice
We will always endeavour to give you the best possible advice and guidance, but it is always your decision to keep, sell or discard items.
What will we achieve?
We will be guided by you. If you simply want a tidy wardrobe, then we will achieve that for you. If you want to declutter on a large scale, then we will help you do just that. You are the client; we will not impose any pre-conceived ideas on you or your possessions.
Do I need to prepare for your visit, or invest in special storage?
It would be useful to have some black sacks, J-cloths and the hoover ready but other than that you won’t usually need anything specific. However, if it becomes obvious during our initial consultation that you are going to need some storage systems then we will discuss this with you; if it looks as though you are going to need a skip, then we will help you get that organised.
Do you clean?
No, our job is clearing and sorting, but we will wipe down surfaces and hoover round where we are working.
Are you insured?
Yes, we have £1,000,000 Professional Indemnity and Public Liability cover with Westminster Indemnity.
Accidental loss or damage
While we will always take the greatest possible care with your belongings, accidents do sometimes happen. In these circumstances, we will not be liable for losses or damage as we expect our clients to have sufficient household insurance to cover any accidental losses or damage, howsoever caused.
Can I trust you?
Yes, we are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office with regard to data protection and the safeguarding of clients’ details and we both have clearance from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) (previously Criminal Records Bureau).
Professional affiliation
We are proud to be members of The Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers (UK) and have signed up to their Code of Conduct, full details of which can be found on their website http://www.apdo-uk.co.uk
