With more valuable belongings winding up in self storage nowadays, tenants are increasingly aware and interested in insurance for their belongings. Self storage operators must decide whether to offer minimal insurance for a fee or require the tenant to obtain outside insurance. It is an issue attracting more attention as space in people’s houses decreases and purchasing of goods increases. How tenants should be advised on insurance is often up to the self storage operator.
As we have seen on TV shows such as Storage Wars and Auction Hunters, valuable items such as stashes of rare guns and shoes worn by Marilyn Monroe, are found during storage auctions. More units than not, contain items of significant worth. People, overall, seem to trust self storage as a place to store items of value. The public’s positive perception of safety is a good sign for the industry. But little can be done about the threat of fire, flood, rodent/insect infestation, or theft. It happens. And that’s where insurance comes in.
Storage facilities typically do not insure a customer’s stored possessions or take responsibility for their safety. Although some rental companies will offer insurance for an additional fee, it is usually a basic policy that covers only a fraction of the belongings. Self storage companies that do not offer insurance usually require proof of outside insurance before renting space. There are several options for insuring stored belongings. Home insurance can be expanded at an additional price to cover items in storage. Many customers are not aware of this option and it is a viable suggestion storage operators can bring up with their clientele.
Companies like SafeStor specialize in insuring self storage customers. The company covers property losses due to fire, hurricane, tornado, wind, earthquake, smoke, lightening, hail, vandalism, building collapse, leaking water, burglary, and explosion. The cost of SafeStor depends upon the monetary amount of coverage desired. The company offers three coverage limits: $4,000, $10,000 or $15,000. And the premium per month breaks down to $6, $18 and $25, subsequently.
MiniCo offers both commercial and tenant insurance. One type of tenant insurance a self storage operator can suggest to a client is MiniCo’s TenantOne Direct program in which facilities receive free marketing materials with no administrative requirements. Operators can provide each tenant with an application during the leasing process and explain that obtaining insurance for stored goods is the customer’s responsibility. Customers can purchase coverage by phone, mail, or online www.tenantone.com. MiniCo’s Pay-With-Rent tenant insurance program offers several benefits for both the storage operator and the customer. The program includes greater tenant participation, easy administration on the operator’s part, broader coverage, and is available on most leading management software applications.
It is a good idea to suggest to customers that they make an inventory of everything they need covered under an insurance policy. And discuss how to manage changes to inventory as picking up and dropping off items at the unit might occur. The fact is people now purchase and own more things than they used to and valuable collections of
items and other assorted valuables wind up in storage. Tenants and operators need to be informed of the latest choices of insurance out there so they can choose the best coverage for their needs.
Sources Used:
Carter, Kevin. “Self Storage Solutions for Valuable Belongings.” ArticleSnatch.com. Feb. 1, 2011.
Self Storage Insurance. UShip. 2011.