Insurance Cover for Storage

what is storage insurance?

Life isn’t always fair and sometimes accidents do happen! If something does go wrong while your things are in storage it’s important to know that you’re fully covered and that you’ll be properly compensated for any loss or damage.

Self storage insurance works in a similar way to how contents cover works for residents living in an apartment;  the building would normally be covered by a third party’s buildings insurance and residents pay for their own insurance to cover their contents. In the same way our buildings insurance covers our building and your storage insurance policy covers the items you keep in self storage.

We’re often asked if it’s possible to take out storage without having insurance because ‘I don’t need it’ or ‘the things are hardly worth anything’. Unfortunately that’s not possible. It is mandatory to have insurance while you store in one of our facilities. We believe this is the case for the entire UK storage industry.

choosing insurance

You are welcome to either take our bespoke storage insurance policy or arrange your own cover. Most customers choose our policy as it’s competitively priced, comprehensive and simple to arrange. If you do want to get your own cover you must please email us a copy of it before you move in so we can check it over. Make sure your insurer adds on the policy our name and the address of the branch you’re storing at, as well as the value of cover.

inventory

When you move your things into one of our units you’ll be asked to provide us with an inventory of the things you’re storing. The inventory is there to help both you and us know what’s in the unit at any time. You’ll need to do this even if you decide to take out your own policy.

When writing your inventory you certainly don’t have to put down every single item in every box! Please mention all the largest and high value items, and then give a brief description of what’s in the bags and boxes.

If you have any questions about insurance please either check out our FAQs page or give your local branch a call.

How much should I insure my goods for while they’re in storage?

The amount of cover you choose should accurately reflect the full replacement* value of all the items in your unit. When deciding how much cover to go for it’s important to bear in mind that in the event of a claim the insurance company may reduce your claim for under-insurance if you do not declare the full replacement value. This is called the average clause. Have a look at the example below which helps to explain how the average clause works:

Scenario: You’ve insured all the goods in storage for £2,000, but in reality their full replacement value is £10,000. You have therefore only insured your things for 20% of their true value.

Claim: Unfortunately something has leaked into your unit from the one above, damaging your sofa. To replace your sofa would cost £1,000, so you make a claim for that amount.

Inspection: The insurance underwriters inspect your unit and determine that you’ve insured for only 20% of the true replacement value of your goods.

Compensation: In this scenario you would only be compensated 20% of the £1,000 you’ve claimed for, which would be £200. Subtract the £100 policy excess and the final compensation figure would be £100.

We advise against under-insuring your goods! If you have any questions about insurance please either check out our FAQ page or give your local branch a call.

* Replacement value means what it would cost to purchase your items from new.  Apart from for a few types of items (household linen and clothing), your insurance valuation and cover will be based on replacement value, so you’ll need to declare replacement value. Don’t take into account the age of an item, or how well used it is.

summary of insurance

If you would like to read our full Summary of Insurance for either regular self storage or click+store click here.