Self Storage- Customer Insurance

Well it rained, so that is great. We were bone dry. Can't do any dirt work at our new Self Storage site today. Here are some notes on Customer Self Storage Insurance. Enjoy sharing our experiences whenever we have down time. Building our last location and none of you will be our competitor so want to share the info, before I forget it. Moving on to another type of investment and enjoying life more. Another 5 years we will be picking our own coconuts off our 100 trees. Living the life of Jimmy Buffett.

1. CUSTOMER INSURANCE COVERAGE

Storage insurance is recommended for all tenants. Since the Storage Facility owners have no ownership in the contents and are not performing as a warehouse, our insurance does not cover any contents or impact to the tenants valuables.

We supply access to Storage Insurance through XXXXX Insurance company. This is automatically billable and payable through our Self storage management software.

The following is a summary, but is not all inclusive of the coverage:

1. Why insure your stored goods, because it is your responsibility.

2. Coverage: Fire, Hurricane, Tornado, Wind, Earthquake, Vandalism, Vermin, Lightning, smoke, hail, building collapse, Explosion, Leaking water, burglary.

3. Not covered: Jewelry, furs, watches, money, securities, documents or motorized vehicles, loss from war/flood/climate conditions (rust/mildew). Burglary is only covered if there is a sign of forced entry and a police report has been filed.

Coverages and Monthly Premiums (07/2020):

$ 1,000 $ 7.95/month

$ 5,000 $10.95/month

$10,000 $20.95/month

$15,000 $35.95/month

with $100 deductible.

The Storage facility is collecting and transferring the insurance premiums as a courtesy and is not representing the insurance company in any capacity.

Should you have a claim:

a. Take photos of damaged items.

b. Use the online claims filing system at xxxxxxx.com

c. Speak to your claims handler before discarding damaged items.

Storage tips:

a. Make an inventory list and/or take photos of your stored items.

b. Use a cylinder lock.

c. Store items on shelves or pallets, and cover them to protect against dust/moisture.

Should you have a question or claim, call 800-xxx-xxxx Insurance company.

2. Facility Owner points:

a. Note to the customer they are responsible. Since you have no ownership of the stored goods, you can't insure their loss.

b. By offering insurance you are creating one more reason they can't sue you, if they have a loss. They had the chance to insure.

c. You can make some money selling these policies, but it is like $2 on a $10 premium per month.

d. When you pick your Storage Management software, see if it has a suggested Customer insurance policy tied to it. Makes it easier to process the payment and bookkeeping. Otherwise you have to operate another payment method outside your storage software for the insurance and also another tracking system.

e. Currently we have 54 out of 494 tenants (10%) using our insurance. At one of our locations, we started putting the information pamphlets with the contract and we are at 33% usage.

We had a flood last year. Only 1 of the 70 tenants used our insurance, which covered them. If your in a flood plain, which we were not, make sure your customer contract notes that, otherwise you will be liable.

Update

Our newest location we decided to put the insurance brochures in the unit along with the contract. Does a far better explanation and sale on the policy than we do. These units are at 33% renters buying insurance policies versus about 0% at our other locations. You make very little money on this, but the major point is to both inform the customer they are the ones who must insure and that you have no insurable interest or coverage for their belongings.