Ask first, post later
Start with a question, not a parcel. Send a photo on WhatsApp or call, and you will get a straight answer on what testing tier suits your item and what the report will cover. None of it commits you to posting anything.
This is a UK-wide postal testing service. There is no shop to visit and no counter. Wherever you live, the process is the same: ask first, then decide.
Your 14-day cancellation right
What the probate pack is for
HMRC guidance on personal chattels asks for any single item worth more than £1,500 to be listed individually on the inheritance return, and recommends a professional valuation for those pieces. In practice most estates hold a few jewellery pieces whose value nobody knows until the metal has been read.
This pack is built for that situation. It is faster than a regional valuer, posted from anywhere in the UK, and priced fixed at £195 (not per-item). The report is laid out to match the IHT407 schedule that accompanies an IHT400, so the figures can be transferred straight across.
What is in a probate report
- Executor cover letter on the front page, addressed to the named executor, identifying the estate and the testing date.
- Photo inventory, every item photographed individually and as a group shot, each with a numbered tag.
- Twenty individual XRF reports (or up to 20), each with the full elemental table, hallmark cross-check, plating screen, and a plain-English summary line.
- Individual indicative scrap-equivalent values at the spot rate recorded on the test date, clearly labelled as not an offer and not a reinstatement valuation.
- Total scrap-equivalent value for the estate, with the methodology footnoted.
- Items flagged as potentially above £1,500 individually, with a recommendation to obtain a separate open market value at the date of death (IHTA 1984 s.160) from a RICS-registered or SoFA valuer for those items.
- The not-a-hallmark disclaimer on the front page, in plain English.
- A unique report number, verifiable on goldpaid.co.uk, so HMRC, the solicitor or a beneficiary can confirm the report.
How this compares with a local valuer
Traditional probate jewellery valuation runs at £50 to £150 per item by local valuer, with the testing usually limited to visual inspection and an acid touch test. The probate pack runs at £195 for up to 20 items (under £10 per item), uses XRF rather than acid, and is posted from anywhere in the UK without a home visit.
The pack is not a replacement for a reinstatement-value valuation on a single high-value item. If a piece is genuinely worth more than £1,500, the report flags it and recommends a separate written valuation from a qualified independent valuer before any IHT figure is finalised.
The process, step by step
- Start with a photo. A clear WhatsApp photo of the item is enough for us to tell you which pack fits, what the report will show, and what the price will be.
- Pay and get your label. Once you order, a free Royal Mail Special Delivery label and a QR code for the counter are emailed straight back.
- Send it in your own time. Use any padded envelope. The label stays valid until used. There is no time pressure on you.
- Tested by handheld XRF. Each item is scanned at multiple points with a Thermo Scientific Niton XL2 precious-metal analyser. The full elemental table goes into the report.
- Report inside 48 to 72 hours. A written PDF report arrives by email, and your item is dispatched back on the same day by tracked Royal Mail Special Delivery, with cover that may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used.
Insurance and tracking
Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used, and if a parcel may be worth more than that we split it across more than one prepaid label at no charge, each with its own tracking number and cover.
The label is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm next working day, with full tracking and signature on receipt. The tracking link is emailed to you the moment the label is issued.
If something cannot be tested
Now and then an item will not give a reliable reading. When that happens you get the whole testing fee back, plus a short note setting out what defeated the analyser and what an alternative test would involve. The item goes home the same day.
That is the exception rather than the rule. Ordinarily your item leaves here by Royal Mail Special Delivery on the day the report is signed off, with postage and its cover already included in the fee you paid at the start.
Testing is testing
Plenty of gold buyers will offer a "free test" if you send your item in. That is a sales tool, not an independent service. This page is the other way round: you pay for the test and the report stands on its own. Whether you sell anything afterwards is a separate decision, and one we do not get involved in unless you ask.
The full reasoning is on the dedicated independence pledge page.
What this report is, and what it is not
The report identifies the elemental composition of an item to the accuracy of the analyser. It does not replace a UK hallmark, an Assay Office fire assay, or a written valuation from a qualified valuer for insurance reinstatement purposes. We say so in plain English on the front page of every report.
If a report leaves any doubt, we will tell you what the next step would be, typically a UK Assay Office fire assay (destructive but definitive) for high-value disputes, or a written insurance valuation from a qualified independent valuer for reinstatement cover.
Built to be trusted, not just believed
- Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
- Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
- Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation is genuinely no-obligation
- Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
- No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site
Common questions
Is the probate pack acceptable to HMRC?
The pack is built for the jewellery schedule (IHT407) that accompanies an IHT400 inheritance return. In Scotland the equivalent process is Confirmation using form C1 (see gov.scot Confirmation guidance and HMRC IHT for Scotland). HMRC does not approve or accredit any particular valuation format; its guidance asks for the open market value of each item, with any single item worth more than £1,500 listed individually and a professional valuation recommended for those pieces. The pack provides the documented composition, weight and photographic evidence behind the figures an executor enters, and whether the return relies on it is a decision for the executor and the estate’s solicitor. The report includes a recommendation to obtain a separate open market value at the date of death (IHTA 1984 s.160) from a RICS-registered or SoFA valuer for any item individually likely to exceed £1,500.
Who should order the pack, the executor, the solicitor or the family?
Any of them. The report can be addressed to the named executor and copied to the solicitor. Tell us at order time who needs the report and who needs the copy.
How long does the probate pack take?
48 to 72 hours from receipt. Slightly longer than a single-item test because the item count is higher and the report format is more detailed.
What about items that are not gold (silver-plated, costume, base metal)?
They are reported with their actual composition. Costume jewellery and silver-plated items have value to an estate audit only as evidence of composition; the report says so plainly.
What if the estate contains a single item that is clearly worth more than £1,500?
The report identifies it and recommends a separate written open market value at the date of death (IHTA 1984 s.160) from a RICS-registered or SoFA valuer for that specific item. The XRF report still provides the composition record, but it does not replace an insurance reinstatement valuation.
Can I add a written insurance valuation to the probate pack?
Yes. The Insurance Valuation Add-on is +£25 per item, and we can add it to selected items rather than the whole pack.
Can I see a sample probate report?
Yes, the sample report page links to an anonymised three-item probate sample so you can see the format before paying.
Are diamonds and coloured stones graded in the probate pack?
No, XRF does not test stones. For diamond grading or coloured-stone identification on a probate matter, the in-house gem service runs alongside (see the gem triage and diamond grading pages). Most estate jewellery does not need this; we will tell you straight if it does.
Not the question you had? The full GoldPaid FAQ covers the rest, from postal cover and ID checks to what happens if you decline the offer.
Request a prepaid Royal Mail label for your XRF test
Two quick steps. Tell us which pack you want in the box below and we will confirm the price and how to pay before anything is charged. The label itself is prepaid and costs you nothing, and your items are returned to you free once the report is issued. Testing is a separate, paid service: if you are here to sell rather than to have items tested, the assay is free as part of selling and how it works is the page you want.
Two things worth knowing before you start, rather than after. Everyone sends a photo of a UK passport or driving licence, whatever the parcel is worth — it applies to every seller, so it is never a comment on you. And the parcel is handed in at a Post Office counter rather than dropped in a postbox: the receipt they give you is the proof of postage any compensation claim depends on.
Would you rather ask a question first, or send a photo? Message us on WhatsApp. It is the fastest way to get a sense of what something is worth before you post anything.
Related pages
- How testing works
- Pricing: all tiers
- Independence pledge
- Sample report
- XRF vs hallmark vs acid test
- Trade accounts
- Gold price today, UK rates
- Silver price today, UK rates
- UK gold hallmark guide
- How we value gold
- Sell inherited jewellery by post, in your own time
- Sell Pandora Jewellery and Charms
- Sell silver
- Towns and counties we serve by post