Shurgard Self Storage theft

jamadaia

Hi

Sorry I did not know where to post this, but am in right pickle and did not know where to turn.
Basically my unit in Shurgard has been broken into and quite a large value of stuff stolen (to the tune of about 4K's worth.
The problem is the stuff that was stolen is not covered by insurance as its electronics.
Now while I was there, I was party to the conversation with the Police and staff, as well as viewing the CCTV footage. And what I found was the following:

- the codes used to enter the facility and use the lift were Staff codes and NOT customer codes

- the CCTV cameras in there were inadequate as the main was obscured by netting just in front of it (there by causing it to focus on the netting and not the actual view of the vehicles.

- the thieves had specifically target two units in the whole storage and even the Police said that there could only be two possible reasons for this (especially given the code was a staff's). Either they were targeted and thus more insider knowledge or they made use of the poor locker design which has several inches of gap between the top of the locker and the ceiling, thus allowing the thieves to have a look into the units and hand pick them.

- finally, the door on the unit was simply force open by kicking it in, with very little resistant. It was easy and do able that it rendered the Barrel locking mechanism effectively redundant.

Given all of this, does anyone have any ideas about where I would stand in terms of holding Shurgard responsible for this ?

googler

That would depend on your/their insurance and the T&Cs, surely?

G_M

I cannot see that you have any case against the company, unless you can point to some specific clause in your contract with them that they have breached.

Have you reviewed your contract?

It is possible, though I suspect unlikely, that the company has insurance that covers your possessions. Again, read your contract.

If not, then insurance was up to you to take out if you wished. I am surprised you believe it could not be covered because it was electronics. Or did you deliberately exclude electronics from your selected cover?

Whether it was an inside job or not is something the police investigation will doubtless consider. But if they cannot prove it, and identify the staff involved, there will be little they can do.

AdrianC

jamadaia wrote: »

Basically my unit in Shurgard has been broken into and quite a large value of stuff stolen (to the tune of about 4K's worth.
The problem is the stuff that was stolen is not covered by insurance as its electronics.

You chose to store the property without insurance. Your risk. Their insurance may well have not covered you, but I refuse to believe there is no policy on the market which would cover you.

- the codes used to enter the facility and use the lift were Staff codes and NOT customer codes

Easy to obtain via shoulder-surfing.

Either they were targeted and thus more insider knowledge

How did the staff know what was being stored?

or they made use of the poor locker design which has several inches of gap between the top of the locker and the ceiling, thus allowing the thieves to have a look into the units and hand pick them.

Yes, I can see how that may have come as a surprise to you, as nobody could possibly have expected you to notice that beforehand...

- finally, the door on the unit was simply force open by kicking it in, with very little resistant. It was easy and do able that it rendered the Barrel locking mechanism effectively redundant.

Was there no provision to add your own padlock?

Given all of this, does anyone have any ideas about where I would stand in terms of holding Shurgard responsible for this ?

If you can prove contributory gross negligence on their part, then you may be in with a chance. But... realistically? Zero. It would certainly cost you more than £4k to produce anything approaching a credible case.

m0bov

Most storage companies (if not all) will provide insurance, if you don't take it out you have to prove it. So, I can only assume your theft cover was not enough to cover the value of the item.