Skip Hire Rubbish Removal: How to Save Money

Whenever you are planning a waste clearance, it’s worth considering if hiring a skip is actually the most cost-effective solution for you. Skips have been an integral part of rubbish removals for over 100 years and are many people’s first port of call. But as time moves on, advances are made and better solutions present themselves.

In this series, we’ll share with you some tips and tricks on how to make the most of each rubbish removal service, starting with skip hire and look at where you might be able to save yourselves some money.

If you already know what you want from your skip hire, then feel free to book your skip hire now or give Clearabee a buzz. Otherwise, let’s see how you can save some money.

Skips scale in price

Generally speaking, the costliest aspect of skip hire is the delivery and collection of the skip itself, which involves the use of an HGV. Once you’ve accounted for the cost of the transport, the difference between carrying a 6-yard skip is not significantly different to carrying an 8-yard skip instead. In other words, if you’re going to hire a skip, you get better value for money with a higher volume of waste.

For example, a 6-yard general waste skip would cost £230.40, whilst and extra 2 yards would only cost £14.40 more for a 8-yard skip at the price of £244.80. These prices are correct for Bristol – other areas may vary.

So if you’re contemplating hiring a skip, then you will no doubt be better off thinking about any other unwanted waste that you want to clear from your property in order to make the most out of your skip hire. Just be sure to follow advice on the mixing of waste streams and which items are prohibited from being disposed of in a skip (all found here in our handy skip hire guide).

Rubbish removal comparisons

It’s always worth considering if hiring a skip is actually the most cost-effective rubbish-removal service for you. That’s where Clearabee’s comparison tool comes in, as seen here on our dedicated Skip Bag page and this is where there is money to be saved.

For example, a medium skip bag measures 1.5 cubic yards, and an easy way to visualise the amount of waste it can contain is by imagining the size of 3 domestic washing machines. To remove this amount of waste would cost £144.99 for the Skip Bag ‘Bag and Collection’ option. There are other benefits to the Skip Bag option such as the six-month collection period but let’s keep this focused on cost.

Using Clearabee’s comparison tool shows us that to remove the same amount of waste by using a skip would cost £158.40 (this cost is calculated for a general waste skip in Birmingham – prices may vary in other areas). This would mean hiring a 4-yard skip so you would be able to remove more waste if you wished, but if you only want to remove the 1.5 cubic yards, then the price difference speaks for itself.

Better value still is the ‘Man and Van’ clearance service, which can remove 2 cubic yards of waste for £109.99, which is more waste removal for less money. Again, there are other benefits to the ‘Man and Van’ service, such as on-demand collections, but we’ll keep our eye on the cost.

Skip Hire: additional charges

There can often be additional charges associated with skip hire that can increase the total cost. These can be mitigated against if you pay particular attention to the terms and conditions of your skip hire and if you communicate with your skip hire company (such as Clearabee) in as much detail as possible.

When booking your skip hire, discuss where you intend to place your skip beforehand so as to avoid unnecessary complications. If your skip needs to be placed on the public highway then you will need to pay for a skip permit which Clearabee can arrange for you. In the event that you need to place your skip in a Pay and Display or permit-only parking space, then you’ll also need to pay for a parking suspension from your local authority. Being mindful of the terms and conditions around these permits will reduce the chances of incurring additional costs.

When your skip is due to be delivered or collected, ensure that there are no obstacles which will impede access that have not been discussed with Clearabee. This includes but is not exclusive to fences and walls, overhead cables, neighbours’ cars or excessively narrow roads. Such instances could incur a wasted journey charge and may mean that your skip may not be delivered or collected on schedule.

Similarly, if your skip is filled past the ‘Level Load’ line and therefore unsafe and unlawful to transport then your skip may not be collected and you could incur a wasted journey charge. You should also be mindful of the items you attempt to dispose of in your skip so as to avoid prohibited items and any related charges. Restrictions such as these will all be detailed in the terms and conditions of your skip hire so the necessary steps can be taken but if you have any queries, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here at Clearabee.

Skip Hire with Clearabee

Clearabee are the UK’s largest clearance company, with 221,845 jobs completed in 2020 alone. We have recently amassed 10,000 reviews on Trustpilot, securing our position as the most-reviewed such service and a 5-Star ‘Excellent’ rating.

We are registered waste carriers and we always supply a digital Waste Transfer Note once your waste has reached the local Waste Transfer Station. This means that you can be sure that you’re not contributing to the fly-tipping problem and that you can have confidence in Clearabee.

We are also proud of our environmental credentials, having planted two UK forests consisting of 19,674 trees which, along with our ultra-light chassis vehicles, help to make our services carbon-neutral. We also divert from landfill over 95% of all the waste that we collect which means that with Clearabee, you’re helping to keep the planet green.

Order your skip 24 hours a day and 7 days a week using our hassle-free online booking system or by contacting our friendly office team.

For more information and your questions answered, check out our Skip Hire FAQ page or A Guide to Skip Hire.

Removing rubbish. It’s what we do.

All prices featured in the above article were correct at the time of going to press.