Whether you’re relocating or simply renovating a few rooms in your home, taking your belongings to a safe storage unit is a great option. However, people rarely talk about whether storing items this way is as safe as they say. The answer isn’t as black and white as you’d expect. This is where storage insurance comes into the picture. In the spirit of getting the best possible care for your items, we’re here to discuss everything you should know before renting out a storage unit and ensuring your items.
It’s better to be safe than sorry
No matter which type of insurance you end up choosing for your storage, know that this is the right move. Storing all your items in a single room can be risky. Take this into consideration while you look for a self-storage unit since some storage renters can choose not to support this course of action. Once you’ve found a suitable unit, choose the right insurance policy that’ll keep your items safe.
What is storage insurance exactly?
If you’re not familiar with storage insurance and what it entails, worry not. It’s not complicated at all. This type of insurance is meant to cover all your items that are locked away in a storage unit. Although it cannot physically protect your belongings per se, this policy serves as a safety net. If anything were to happen to your valuables while they’re there, you’d get their previously agreed-upon value. This rule applies whether your items have been damaged, destroyed, or stolen. Remember to check if your insurance provider demands that you have another type of insurance already. If not, there might be a few additional steps ahead.
How to get it?
Now that we’ve gone over what this insurance entails, let’s see how you can get it.
- Homeowner’s or Renter’s Insurance
This type of insurance covers around 10% of the maximum value that your policy has. There is, however, a tremendous little loophole. If your property cannot logistically store all your belongings, you can get up to 100% coverage of your belongings. Consider that you can add specific endorsements to your current deal and get fuller coverage this way.
- Storage Facilities
If you wish to dig a little deeper and go directly to the source, you can get insurance from the storage facility you’re using. You can do this directly or through a third party. You need to keep in mind that the maximum will possibly be lower than if you were to get the previous type of insurance. If you choose to go this route, pay extra attention to all the rules. There’ll usually be a long list of items and scenarios that they won’t cover.
- Independent Provider
Thirdly and finally, you can purchase insurance from an independent provider. Although it takes more effort and research, you’re most likely to get a good deal. Be very careful, vet your companies as thoroughly as possible, and get a free quote early on.
How much should you expect to pay?
Although the prices of insuring your storage unit vary, there’s a certain standard that you could expect. The costs usually range between $10 and $40 monthly if you wish to cover about $10.000 worth of items. This will hugely depend on the type of policy you’ve chosen.
Be sure to thoroughly research the value of all the items you’ll store before contacting your insurance provider. Also, taking premium offers doesn’t usually amp up the costs by a lot, but it’ll bring you peace and help you focus on other things. Compared to the cost of storage and everything else that relocating entails, this price will be insignificant.
Remember that any deviation from the standard policy can cost more. Take care to research what insurance usually covers in your area and see whether there’ll be any additional charges on that account. Whatever the overall costs come to, they’ll surely be far less than if you were to lose everything and not have coverage.
The most common damage types that are covered
Universally, some types of damage are usually covered, and some that you’ll need to pay extra for. These are some of the most typical accidents you’ll get reimbursed for.
- Burglary
If your items were to get stolen, any storage insurance should cover them right away.
- Fire
Especially if you live in an area where fire hazards are frequent, you shouldn’t worry about this type of damage. It goes without saying.
- Tornado, wind, hail, lightning
Natural disasters on the extreme side such as these are almost always covered.
However, be wary of the fact that most insurance policies don’t cover some scenarios even though you’d expect them to. Smoke damage, pests, mildew, molding, and other water and flood damage are often dismissed. If these frequently happen in your area, you might want to discuss putting them on the table before signing anything.
Read the fine print
As we’ve stated before, there can sometimes be surprises where you least expect them. Once you’ve chosen your insurance provider, have a long conversation with them. What’s more, you should take your time with signing any deals and read through the fine print. Even if they don’t intend to do so, mistakes can happen, and it’s better to be safe than sorry.
Insure your belongings at all times
Aside from insuring your storage unit, you’ll also need to make sure that your items are safe regularly. If you’re relocating, the chances that your belongings get stolen, damaged or destroyed go up. According to strongassmovers.com, insuring your items during moving (especially transportation) is something that everyone should do.
What should you keep in your storage unit?
Depending on what your storage insurance covers, it might be wiser to take all your bulky items to the storage unit and leave those valuable with you. However, not everyone has this luxury. If you’re in-between homes or have a lot of contractors coming and going from your house, storage might be your best bet. In this case, you need to get the best and safest storage unit and a premium insurance policy and check on your valuable items as often as time allows. Be wary that there are some items that you can’t keep in a unit, such as food, unregistered vehicles, illegal items, hazardous materials.