Storage Units: What to Know Before Storing Your Belongings

A self-storage unit is an ideal place for people to keep some of their items. 1st Stop Storage and other units are popular because renters can easily move things in and out of the unit on their own. However, a number of things can lead to damage in the storage units. Extreme weather conditions can cause water damage, mold, mildew or more. As a result, it is important to provide your renters with insurance options that they can use in the event that their items are damaged while in storage. Fortunately, there are a few tips that you can use to do this.

Require All Renters to Purchase Insurance

Insurance is not only designed to protect renters in case their items are damaged, but it's also designed to protect you as a business owner. If you do not require your renters to purchase insurance before renting a self-storage unit, then this can lead to a number of issues if your renters would like to hold you responsible. A standard storage insurance policy should outline what is covered by the insurance. This makes it clear that other items that are not covered by the insurance are the responsibility of the rental owner.

Establish Insurance Limits

Your self-storage renter's insurance should state up to how much damage you are willing to cover on a lost, stolen or damaged item. This is considered to be the insurance limit. If the renter decides to store items that are above that limit, then they will be responsible for any out of pocket costs if the item is damaged. If you fail to establish insurance limits, then renters can try to recover the amount that they consider to be fair. This can result in you paying out a large amount of money on insurance claims.

Allow Renter's to Increase their Limits

Standard rental insurance is usually fairly low. It is designed to only cover small costs. However, if you have renters that would like to store high-value items, then you should offer them the opportunity to increase their insurance limits. The amount they pay for insurance will be more than a renter who has a standard insurance policy, but this will allow them to store additional items in their self-storage unit.

It can be difficult to monitor what goes in and out of a self-storage unit. Therefore, it is important to have insurance policies that stipulate what is covered in the event that items are damaged. Use this as a guideline to provide your renters with insurance for their self-storage unit.