As a business owner, unexpected occurrences like natural disasters, theft, or other damage can set back your progress and profits. That’s why it’s best to be prepared against these circumstances with insurance. Protect your self-storage facility, offices, and tenants from unexpected loss through quality insurance policies. This article will detail what kinds of insurance you can explore as a self-storage facility owner and what they protect against.
Decide What Kind of Insurance You Want
There are two main types of insurance related to storage units: either insurance for self-storage businesses and facilities or rental storage unit insurance for individual storage renters and the items they store.
Insurance for Self Storage Facilities
If you would like to insure your self-storage facility or business as a whole, you should investigate a policy that combines property and liability insurance with add-on policies or other kinds of typical coverages. This kind of insurance protects the facility itself—most policies will protect the structure and any lawsuits or injuries that may come along.
Self-storage facility insurance covers different things depending on your personal preferences, business necessities, and where you’re located. Some common coverages to look for are:
- Damage to individual units
- Damage to offices or leasing buildings
- Physical damage to the facility
- Liability for things like lawsuits and injuries
- Business income in the case of interruption of income
- Crime insurance
- Equipment breakdown coverage
- Sales liability
The average self storage cost for insurance is around $400-$700 per year, which will typically give you approximately one million dollars’ worth of coverage. However, this number varies depending on factors like the number of employees you have, your deductible amount, and where your business is located.
Insurance for Individual Storage Units
The best way to think about storage unit insurance is that it is equivalent to traditional renter’s insurance. The belongings inside the storage unit are the items that are insured, not the storage unit itself. Usually, storage unit policies cover theft and vandalism, and they will have a maximum amount your insurance policy will pay for items that are affected, called a “sub-limit”.
Some renters may have homeowners’ insurance that covers “off premises” personal property, which accounts for items that are not located in their homes, such as at a storage unit. The coverage limit is usually up to 50% of the dwelling coverage limit, and the policies cover damage from fire, theft, vandalism, and lightning.
Renters’ or homeowners’ insurance exclusions usually include flooding and water damage, poor maintenance, loss of power, and mold, but your renters can get stand-alone storage unit insurance policies that cover those potential damages. Tenants should keep in mind that stand-alone storage unit insurance is used before renter’s or homeowner’s insurance policies.
The coverage through a renter’s or homeowner’s insurance policy varies in price since that coverage is sold in tandem with other coverage. On average, however, insurance purchased through a storage unit company can range from $15 to $30 a month.
How to Get Insured
When insuring your storage unit facility, research individual insurance companies and the policies they offer for self-storage commercial insurance. After you’ve chosen a provider, submit your business’ information either on the insurance company’s website or with an insurance agent directly to request a quote. Your agent will help you compile the best plan for your facility with any add-on policies you may require and a reasonable deductible.
Should You Require Tenants to Be Insured?
If you decide that renter’s and homeowner’s policies are too limited, you may want to require your tenants to purchase rental storage unit insurance separately. Usually, these plans are pretty affordable.
A great way to help your renters out is to prepare a policy ahead of time that your tenants can opt into when they sign a lease with you. That way, they don’t have to go out of their way to research and find a policy individually. This strategy also gives you more control over what kind of coverage your tenants will have, since you pre-approved the plan.
Conclusion
Insuring your self-storage business is a great idea. You never know what could go wrong, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. Research what kind of insurance works best for you, and shop around until you find a plan and deductible that suits your business’ needs.
