This week's tip for storage:
Insurance or not?
The easy answer is yes, take the insurance unless you don’t value what you are storing. Loss can happen for many reasons, tornado, flood, high winds, break-ins, and many people in the United States can attest to recent flood damage. Some lost a lot not being insured, and some, even thought they were insured, but did not understand their home owner’s insurance policy.
You should ask your home owner’s insurance policy agent the following questions to understand it completely:
“Does my home owner’s policy cover my contents in a storage unit at a public storage facility?”
“Is the deductible amount the same as a loss at my home? $1,000.00? $1,500.00?”
”Are there two deductibles if my home and the storage are hit at the same time?”
“Does the insurance pay replacement value or current market value on used or aged content?”
Think about it . . . If the contents of your storage is less than that $1,000.00 or $1,500.00 deductible, then you don’t recover a dime. This kind of loss although minor in some cases, can just be hitting you at the wrong time.
Storage insurance with us has no deductible. This means even your smaller items (like TVs, furniture, appliances, décor and tools) could be covered as well. But again ask questions . . . know the procedure by which the storage insurance will determine value and ask the storage insurance company directly. The storage manager is not an insurance agent and although he/she may know the common features of the insurance, you should talk to the insurance company about specifics. There are some things such as personal memorabilia that insurance can’t cover, like baby photographs, or a wedding album.
Bottom line . . . Ask the storage insurance agent questions and get the insurance. You will have peace of mind, knowing you have secured what you've stored.
