The question on our own booking form reads: who will be present to gain access and instruct the team? The most common honest answer is nobody, and that is not a problem.
A large share of what we clear is emptied without a single person from the family setting foot in the place. Executors three counties away. A son abroad. Someone not well enough to visit. It is ordinary work.
How a clearance runs with nobody there
Keys. From an estate agent, a solicitor's office, a neighbour or a key safe. Tell us which and give us a name and a number. Our team leader carries identification and will show it.
The walk-round. Normally we walk the property with whoever is there and agree what stays. With nobody present, that agreement has to be made in advance and in writing — usually a short email listing anything that must not be touched. Room by room is best. "The brown sideboard in the back bedroom stays" beats "leave the good furniture".
Anything that looks like it matters. Money, documents, photographs, medals, jewellery, anything that could be valuable — set aside, photographed, and you are told before another thing moves. Nothing in that category goes on the van.
Access control. Nobody comes in who is not named on the instruction, however friendly. An empty house standing open all day attracts visitors and the crew treat every one of them as a stranger.
The end. Photographs of every room, keys returned the way you asked, invoice to follow.
The one thing to get right beforehand
What stays. It is the only decision that cannot be made remotely once the van has gone.
Write the list before the day, be specific, and if something is uncertain say "do not touch until you have rung me" rather than leaving the crew to judge. They will always ring rather than guess, but a phone call at eight in the morning is easier for everyone if the list was clear.
If you would rather attend
That is fine too, and there is no discount either way. Some people want to be there for the first half hour and then leave. That is often the best of both — the walk-round happens face to face and you are not standing in a cold hallway watching a van get loaded.