Many business owners use self-storage facilities to store some excess inventory they do not have room for in their own facilities. But depending on the facility you go to, you might not have the protection for those items that you really need—in fact, about 73 percent of self-storage operators (according to a 2008 study) do not offer storage insurance to their tenants.

It’s always worth having property insurance for any items you have in storage in Plymouth, MA. On the customer’s end, this offers some extra peace of mind in the event that property somehow gets damaged or stolen. On the storage facility’s end, it adds extra value to the customer and makes the facility look more trustworthy and caring about the customer experience.

How does liability work in the self-storage industry?

The operator of a self-storage facility is typically well shielded from liability in the event of damage, accidents or theft. There are even regulations in most states that guarantee limited liability to the operator for any lost or damaged property in storage. Other laws have provisions the operator can include in their rental agreements that limit the operator’s legal liability entirely in the event of damage negligently caused to stored property.

That doesn’t mean these protections never get challenged in court. A storage facility may have agreements indicating they will not take responsibility in the event of lost or damaged property, but if that agreement is not fair or reasonable after a loss, there could be a legal challenge.

These issues all become less important to worry about when insurance for tenants’ stored property is available to those tenants. This is an idea that first became common in the 1980s, as self-storage operators found a way to more efficiently deal with some of these liability issues that frequently arose. It gave customers a way to get compensated for their damages without having to sue the owner of the self-storage facility to get the compensation they felt they were owed.

Therefore, one could consider the idea of rental storage insurance to be very similar to rental car insurance or insurance offered by phone service providers.

Some of the most common types of storage facility insurances include:

  • Pay with rent: One type of insurance program gives storage customers the option of purchasing insurance and paying for coverage as an add-on to their monthly rent. This makes it easier for these fees to be collected all at once, and is the most popular type of insurance among renters.
  • Limited liability: Another option is for the operator of the facility to act as a landlord in a sense, retaining some limited responsibility in the rental agreement. This is not an insurance plan, per se, but it does allow customers to get some limited compensation for losses as part of a rental agreement.

For more information about some of the most common types of storage facility insurance, we encourage you to contact A Plus Storage Corporation about our storage facility in Plymouth, MA.

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