The popularity of self-store units is increasing rapidly, with more and more of us appreciating the benefit of renting a separate, secure space away from the home.
We can be between houses, or getting divorced, storing treasured collectables, sports equipment or Christmas decorations… the options are endless.
Whatever the reason, it is important to consider the insurance cover required for your possessions whilst they are in the self-store.
Your self-store operator will accept liability for your goods in the storage unit on a very limited basis which is explained in their standard trading conditions. These should be available on their website, or they may be sent to you by email or post, but in any case you should read through them and ask questions if you are unsure of any of the clauses.
Many self-stores are members of the Self Store Association (SSA) and trade under the SSA conditions. These conditions limit the store owner’s liability to a maximum of just £100, and only if the self-store operator is negligent in some way.
The conditions also include a clause making you responsible for insuring your property for its full replacement value.
It is therefore important to think about how you will arrange your insurance. There are a number of options:
With a little research you can establish the current replacement value (the cost of replacing with an equivalent item), but bear in mind that if you will be moving goods in and out of store this value or ‘Sum Insured’ must be adequate to cover the most valuable combination of contents.
At Andrew Porter Ltd we operate under SSA standard trading conditions and can offer additional insurance cover as an option at our Adlington location. Our insurance is provided by Aviva Insurance Ltd.
We ask you to complete an inventory form the list what will be in your self-store unit(s) and to allocate a value against your property – this makes it easy to arrive at your total replacement value. We then apply a rate to this replacement value or ‘Sum Insured’ to arrive at your monthly premium. The premium will be subject to insurance premium tax at 12%. Ask our representative for more information when you enquire about self-store and they will be delighted to include this optional cost in your quotation.
