Contents insurance whilst in storage?

Alleycat

Hi all,

We are moving in the new year and will be living with family for around 10 months and so have begun the search for a reasonably priced storage facility. I think we have settled on Safestore as their prices are good and they have a lot of useful offers (prepayment discount, 6 wks free storage, lowest price guarantee) but when I queried their insurance they quoted £6.25 per week. Now being the moneysaver that I am, I am trying to find out if that is a good deal or if I can get it any cheaper elsewhere. Our current contents insurance is roughly the same amount and I haven't checked the policy yet to see if it includes goods in storage units but just wondered if there were any companies that specifically deal in storage insurance and if they are any cheaper. Can anyone advise if there are such companies or can they recommend one that would be a better price? The quote covered up to £5000 and we would need roughly £2000 cover (high value items will be with us or stored at my MIL).

Thanks!

Alan_M_2

For £2,000 worth of stuff I wouldn't bother, £20,000 worth sure.

Alleycat

The storage companies do not let you rent from them without insurance cover so not an option I am afraid.

Bargain_Rzl

I was going to post the same as Alleycat but the site crashed :mad:

Yes, I used to rent a Safestore unit, and if you don't take their insurance they require evidence that you have got your own.

Alleycat

Bargain, did you manage to find insurance elsewhere or did you go with them? Also, from your location it might be that we will be using the same place, Feltham? If so, how did you find the facilities?

Thanks,

Alleycat

Bargain_Rzl

I went with the in-house insurance - it was in my pre MSE days and I was too lazy to shop around!

I used the Deptford branch as it was the most convenient location at a time when there werenn't a lot of options for self storage in SE London. Since then, a branch has sprung up in Charlton which would have been much handier. I can't speak for all the branches, obviously, but the Deptford one was clean and well-kept with friendly staff, and the only irritating thing was that the lights were movement-sensitive so if you went in there for a couple of hours for a big sort out, every so often all the lights would go out and you'd have to dash down to the nearest movement sensor to get them back on again :rotfl: Also, it was always freezing so wear a sweater.

shroffn

We have just taken out a storage contract with Safestore in London. Their Whitechapel branch did a price match with Big Yellow at £75 per 4 week period (is this a competitive rate?) which was about half the price they originally quoted to us. We did not want any contents insurance at all but Safestore insisted that we need to take cover. As our Halifax policy does not cover items in storage we were 'forced' to take the cover at at Safesore for £10.80 per 4 week period (very expensive for £2000 of cover)

Having read the T&C of the contract very carefully, it does not say that insurance is cumpulsory either legally or as part of Safestore's terms of business. The word used is 'recommended' (point 19 of T&C)

We will be contesting this with company. Does anyone out there have any views/experience in this matter and on the rates we are being charged? Thanks

owned_by_2_Siamese

check you home contents insurance - you can usually extend to all risks for example £5-6k for as little as £30 for the whole year. When you speak to then tell them that its going into storage - if you have moved out of the house you may have to keep the policy going - but could be cheaper?

shroffn

Thanks -but as I said, my Halifax policy does not cover contents going into storage - all risk or otherwise.

I spoke to Jane Massey at Self Storage Association (UK) which is the trade association in the UK for the industry. Safestore is a member. She told me that there is no legal point on which insurance is required for items placed in storage - which is exactly as I thought. As with all possessions, the owner needs to make a decision on whether to insure or not. However, it is a stipulation of SSA that members (ie. self storage providers) ensure that customers' goods are insured. As we know, this is either by subscription to storage providers' block policy (extortionate) or by providing evidence from your own insurer. I have yet to find an insurer who will offer individuals insurance for storage. So it appears that you have no real choice. This is surely an issue for the Office of Fair Trading as it looks like a cartel.

Within Safestore's T&C (item 19.4) it states 'We....may require you to provide evidence of such insurance cover prior to granting you access to the unit'. So it appears that you could be refused access to your goods once in storage if you cannot demonstrate that they are insured. Almost certainly you would not be permitted to place your items in storage in the first place without insurance. This stinks. I am being given no choice in the matter of insuring my own possessions. :mad:

I will be writing to Safesore with my findings. I don't see how a company can insist that I take insurance for my goods when there is no legal requirement to do so and only a stipulation of membership from their trade association enforces this (which is not legally enforceable)

I would welcome any other views on the matter

Biggles

Equivalent of >£300pa to insure £2,000-worth of goods? Robbery. Many household insurers do cover your goods in transit and in storage, though taking out a new policy purely for that purpose may not be so easy.

If you do end up having to take Safestore's insurance {thinks: if it really is 'Safe store', why do they need it to be insured? .....}, check that they they really have a policy with an actual insurance company.

The reason I say that is that, some years ago, we stored our furniture with a well-known national removal firm and paid them for insurance, only to find, when we needed to make a claim, that they were 'self-insuring', so instead of dealing with an insurance assessor, we had to argue every little thing with their own man, and they only paid up for what they thought they would. Which wasn't much :-(

muskoka

I sold my house & put all my furniture , etc in storage & transferred my household policy to my effects in storage. No problem and SO MUCH CHEAPER than using the Yellow Box storage insurance. Just a quick phone call to my household insurance & job done