Quick answer: You can send almost anything legal by courier in the UK, including documents, laptops, medicines, food and furniture. Dangerous goods such as perfume, aerosols and loose lithium batteries follow extra packing rules, valuables need declared cover, and knives sold online can’t go to a home address. Explosives and illegal items can’t be sent at all.
A box of perfume samples. A laptop with a swollen battery. Your late father’s watch. If you’ve ever paused before booking and wondered “am I actually allowed to send this?”, this guide goes item by item, so you know what’s fine, what needs care and what can’t go at all.
Prohibited, Restricted and Everyday Items
Everything you send falls into one of three groups.
Everyday items need nothing special. Documents, car parts, stock, tools, furniture, artwork and computer kit all count here. Pack them well and book. Restricted items can go, but only if you pack, label or declare them a certain way. Perfume, aerosols, batteries, medicines and high-value goods sit in this group. Prohibited items can’t be sent by any courier: explosives, illegal drugs, firearms without the right licences and anything that’s illegal to own.
The lists you find online are mostly written for parcel networks. Those networks run conveyor belts, sort hubs and sometimes air legs, so they ban things like liquids just to keep the belts clean. A dedicated van has none of that. Your consignment is loaded once and unloaded once, which means some items a network refuses can travel safely by road. Not sure which group your item is in? Read on.
Dangerous Goods and Limited Quantities
Dangerous goods have their own rules.
Road transport of hazardous items in the UK follows an international agreement called ADR. The government guidance on moving dangerous goods splits them into nine classes, from explosives (Class 1) to flammable liquids (Class 3) and miscellaneous items such as lithium batteries (Class 9). One line matters most for you: the sender is responsible for classifying, packing and marking the goods. That’s you, not the driver.
Small amounts are easier. Under the “limited quantities” rules, items in small inner containers can travel with lighter paperwork, packed in boxes of up to 30kg or shrink-wrapped trays of up to 20kg. Each substance has its own cap per bottle or tin. Businesses moving larger amounts need proper classification, labels and often a trained driver.
If you run your own vans and want the operator’s side, our guide to ADR rules for courier vans covers training and exemptions.
Batteries, Perfume, Aerosols and Liquids
Most of the confusion starts here.
Phones, tablets and laptops all hold lithium batteries. A battery fitted inside the device is the simplest case, and it travels fine in a van when the device is switched off and padded. Loose spare batteries are stricter. A swollen, leaking or damaged battery is a different matter entirely and shouldn’t be sent as a normal parcel. If you’re moving a batch of work laptops, a dedicated laptop courier keeps the kit upright, dry and in one pair of hands.
Perfume and aftershave are flammable liquids, which makes them Class 3 dangerous goods. Aerosols such as deodorant and spray paint are Class 2 gases. Both can usually go by road in limited quantities, sealed and packed so they can’t leak or be crushed.
Other liquids, like oils, sauces or cleaning products that aren’t hazardous, just need good packing. Tape the caps, bag each bottle and stand them upright. Our guide on how to pack a parcel shows the layering that stops leaks.
Medicines, Samples and Food
Yes, all three can go by courier.
Pharmacies, clinics and labs send prescription medicines, dressings and equipment by courier daily. The questions are temperature and law. Some medicines must stay between 2 and 8°C, so they need an insulated or chilled box. Controlled drugs, the ones on the Home Office controlled drugs list, come with extra duties for the people holding and recording them, so follow your practice’s own procedure.
Patient samples such as blood and urine travel as UN3373, Biological Substance Category B, in triple packaging. Our medical courier service page sets out the packaging layer by layer.
Food is fine too. Cakes, catering trays and chilled produce all travel well in a direct van, because there’s no depot where they can sit warming up overnight. Tell us if it needs to stay cold.
Cash, Passports, Ashes and Valuables
Here the risk is loss, not law.
Sending cash, jewellery or a watch isn’t illegal. The catch is insurance. Many goods-in-transit policies exclude cash and set low limits on jewellery, so an item can be lost and not covered. Our own cover runs to £10,000 per consignment, and a higher declared value can be arranged in writing before collection. Agree it first, never afterwards.
Passports, contracts and court papers are a different kind of valuable. What you really need is proof. A same day document courier hands them to a named person and sends you a photo or signature proof of delivery, with the recipient’s name and the time.
Ashes can be sent too. Cremated remains aren’t dangerous goods. Use a sealed urn inside a padded outer box, and send it direct so it never passes through a sorting hub.
Knives, Alcohol and Age-Restricted Goods
Some items depend on who receives them.
Knives are the big one. Under section 38 of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019, a seller who sells a bladed product at a distance commits an offence if they arrange delivery to a home address or a parcel locker. There are narrow exceptions, but in practice online knife sellers ship to business addresses or use carriers that run age checks at the door. If you’re moving your own tools or kitchen knives between your own premises, that’s not a remote sale, so the rule doesn’t bite.
Alcohol you’ve already paid duty on can travel within the UK by road. Wrap glass bottles separately and stand them upright. If you sell alcohol, your licence conditions and age checks still apply, even when someone else carries it.
Tobacco and vapes are similar. A business that sells them has to check age, whoever delivers.
What to Tell Your Courier When You Book
Be specific. It saves you trouble.
When you ring the controller, the first question after the two addresses is always “what’s going in the van?” It isn’t nosiness. A small van carries around 400kg, an SWB around 800kg, and the answer decides which one turns up. It also tells the driver whether to bring straps, blankets or a cool box, and flags anything that needs a declared value or dangerous goods paperwork.
Give us the item, the rough size and weight, and whether it’s fragile, cold, flammable or valuable. If something can’t go with us, we’ll say so straight away and point you to the right specialist. Collection is usually within 30 to 60 minutes in London and the South East once you’ve booked.
Sending Items by Courier at a Glance
| Question | Short answer |
|---|---|
| Can most items go by courier? | Yes. Documents, parts, stock, furniture, laptops, food and medicines are all routine. |
| Which items need extra care? | Perfume, aerosols, loose lithium batteries and other dangerous goods, plus medicines, food and valuables. |
| What can’t be sent at all? | Explosives, illegal drugs, unlicensed firearms and anything illegal to own. |
| Can knives go to a home address? | Not if sold online. Section 38 of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 restricts remote sales delivered to homes. |
| What should I tell the courier? | The item, its size and weight, and whether it’s fragile, chilled, flammable or high value. |
Frequently Asked Questions
What items can be sent by courier?
Most everyday goods can go by courier, from documents and parts to furniture, laptops and stock. The things that need care are dangerous goods (flammable, toxic or corrosive items), lithium batteries, medicines, food, valuables and age-restricted goods like knives. A few items, such as explosives and illegal drugs, can’t be sent at all. Tell the courier exactly what you’re sending when you book.
Can I send liquids by courier?
Yes, in most cases. Many parcel networks ban liquids because conveyor sorting can split a bottle, but a dedicated van has no sorting stage, so sealed, well-packed liquids that aren’t dangerous goods can often travel. Flammable liquids such as perfume, paint thinners or fuel are dangerous goods and follow stricter rules. Always say what the liquid is when you book.
Can I send a lithium battery by courier?
Usually, if it’s undamaged and packed properly. A battery inside a phone or laptop is the easiest case. Loose lithium batteries are stricter, and large or damaged ones need specialist handling. Lithium batteries are classed as dangerous goods (Class 9), so check the watt-hour rating, protect the terminals and never send a swollen or leaking battery as an ordinary parcel.
Is it legal to send cash by courier?
Yes, sending your own cash by courier isn’t illegal in the UK. The real question is cover. Many goods-in-transit policies exclude cash, so a lost envelope of notes might not be insured at all. If you must send money, agree the declared value with the courier before collection and get it confirmed in writing. A bank transfer is usually the safer route.
Can you send medicine by courier?
Yes. Prescription medicines, pharmacy stock and clinical supplies are moved by courier every day. Some medicines need to stay cold, so you’ll need a chilled or insulated service. Controlled drugs carry extra legal duties around possession and record keeping, so a pharmacy or practice should follow its own procedures. Patient samples go as UN3373 with triple packaging.
Can you send ashes by courier?
Yes. Cremated remains aren’t classed as dangerous goods, so a courier can carry them. Use a sealed, sturdy urn or container, pack it inside a strong outer box with plenty of padding, and send it direct to a named person. A dedicated driver who hands it over in person, with a signature on delivery, removes most of the worry.
Still not sure about your item? Tell us what it is, where it’s going and when it needs to arrive, and we’ll confirm whether we can take it and a fixed, all-inclusive price in writing before a driver sets off.