Whether you are a homeowner or renting a property, contents insurance will be a familiar term. Contents insurance will cover your household possessions in the event of any loss, damage or theft... but what if your household contents aren’t currently at home? Does household content insurance cover your goods when they are in self storage?
This is a valid question and one which, we at Store Insure, get asked a lot. So, in order to make life easier when sourcing self storage insurance we thought we would put together a list of five of the most asked questions.
1. Will my household content insurance cover my possessions when in self storage?
This is probably the most common question we get asked by our customers and you would be somewhat correct in thinking that this is the case. However, although some home content insurance policies offer additional cover for when your items are ‘away from home’, it will more often than not be on a temporary basis whilst your possessions are in transit (i.e when moving house) and will also only cover a specific short term period (often one to two weeks).
Insurance policies are intricate and whilst content insurance is great for insuring your high-risk items (jewellery, art, antiques etc) in your own home where you spend most of your time (especially overnight), they will most often NOT cover these items when in self storage as it will be deemed as too much of a risk. This is where Store Insure enters into the equation. We ONLY provide self storage insurance, making us specialists in this field and, because of this, we can ensure that all of our customers possessions are appropriately protected when in self storage, including many high risk and valuable items.
We offer an online quote and buy online service for both personal and business goods via our website. You will receive instant cover if accepted and all your policy documents will be accessible at the click of a button via our online customer portal.
2. Do I really need storage insurance?
“If they are worth storing, they are worth insuring.”
Self Storage Association UK
Yes, yes and yes! Any reputable storage facility will now not accept customers without any form of storage insurance and rightly so. Any self storage unit provider that does not require storage insurance is a huge red flag and should probably be avoided. A common misconception is that the storage providers insurance (we are not talking about insurance supplied by the provider with your agreement - more of that below!) will automatically cover your items, it won’t as there is no way they can accurately say what is in each and every unit.
Unfortunately accidents and incidents do happen and if you are in any doubt visit our resources and blog pages for advice on the storage insurance we provide or use our quote and buy online service.
3. Can i get storage insurance from the storage provider?
Most self storage facilities will offer a form of insurance for their customers. You are not obliged to accept this cover but in most cases you will need to prove you have alternative adequate cover before signing any lease agreements.
As tempting as it may be to accept the storage facilities offer of easy insurance, often it is minimal and laced with loopholes - leaving you with inappropriate cover and unable to claim in the event of an accident. Due to its broad nature it is definitely a ‘no’ from us if storing anything, especially valuables.
If you are not convinced already then perhaps research highlighted by The Telegraph may convince you, the study found that customers were being charged three times more, on average, for storage insurance from their storage provider, compared to specialist Storage Insurance providers like Store Insure.
Storage Insurance is our speciality and ensuring our customers have appropriate cover is our number one goal, quick and easy to use, our quote and buy online service provides instant proof of cover and quick access to documents via our online customer portal.
4. How much do I insure for?
This is a common query from our customers and we appreciate how difficult it can be - where do you start?
Since 2015 we have advised thousands and thousands of customers on self storage insurance, guiding and assisting them through policies and claims and when asked this question we always answer in the same way - before even finding a unit, work out exactly what it is you want to store by making an inventory of every item. Not only will this help work out what amount of cover you need by providing an accurate estimation, but it will make claiming easier in the event of loss or damage to those goods as you have a written record.
One thing to remember is the insurance quote will be based on the cost of replacing the items at the current market value so make sure your approximations are realistic and that you are not under or over valuing your items. Take into consideration whether your item has increased or decreased in value since you purchased it.
If you want to check what items are covered or whether there is a maximum limit, a full list and definitions are detailed in our online policy wording booklet.
For specialist items such as art and antiques, it is likely that you will need to present proof of value, this could be in the form of photos, instruction manuals, valuations or receipts/proof of purchase.
5. What storage units do you cover?
Unlike other storage insurance providers, here at Store Insure we offer insurance for all of the following types of self storage:
- Internal, individual secure lockable room
- Externally stored metal container
- Internally stored metal container
- Internal storage with external access
- Warehoused crates, internally stored wooden containers or 'Deep' storage.
If you are not sure what you might need, more in-depth information detailing each storage type can be found here.
When taking out self storage insurance with Store Insure you will not need to specify the storage unit as the policy can cover any number at your chosen storage provider’s facility. You will, however need to notify us of any changes - i.e if you move provider or if your goods have changed as this may have an affect on your premium.
If you have any questions which are not included in this article then please do get in touch via our website using the online chat. We are happy to discuss any queries you may have, who knows you may even make it onto this article!
Related Articles
This article is part of an ongoing series of Storage Insurance Quick Guides accesible via our blog - which is a great place for information, tips and advice surrounding self storage insurance. Listed below are some related articles which may be worth taking a look at.