14 August 2019
 Categories: , Blog

Sometimes people store valuable items in their storage units, and it can be scary to store these items away from home. Understanding how to insure these items will protect your valuables and put your mind at ease.

Who Insures Items In Storage

When looking for an insurance provider to cover items in storage, you should check out your home insurance policy first. Often these policies will provide protection for items outside of the home as part of the policy. However, this coverage may come at a higher cost.

Likewise, if you're not a homeowner, many rental insurance companies also provide similar coverage. Each policy may differ but the coverage provided to your stored items is typically a percentage of your personal property protection. Based on the value of the items in your storage unit, you may want to increase the limit on your personal property coverage.

In some cases, your storage facility may directly offer coverage for your belongings. Some storage companies will also want to see proof of insurance before renting a storage unit.

Be sure to check the policy limits and exclusions for each type of insurance to decide which policy is right for your belongings.

How To Keep Track Of Your Insured Belongings

Once you've figured out what entity you want to insure your belongings, you should do your best to catalogue them. This includes gathering any relevant information about the item and keeping it together in a binder. A spreadsheet is another easy way to keep track of this information and can easily be backed up in several different locations. It's important to keep more than one copy of your storage records in case you lose one copy.

To properly document your belongings, you will want to take pictures of the items and include receipts. You can also include the current costs and values of each item for your records. When documenting your items, be sure to include key information such as model numbers and serial numbers.

A good rule to follow is to be more specific about documenting more expensive items. However, you should take pictures of all items going into the storage unit, even if it's a group photo of the items.

Reach Out To Your Storage Provider

If you have questions about whether your belongings are insured by your storage company, you should reach out to your storage provider. They may offer coverage, or they may be able to point you in the direction of an insurance company that does.

For more information, contact a company like National Self Storage - Denver.