Are Your Belongings Protected While In Self Storage?

You’ve spent a lifetime or at least a small portion of your paycheck buying and collecting every piece of furniture, knick-knack and family hand-me-down and now you’ve got it in storage while you’re dealing with whatever transition life has thrown at you. Did you think about their safety when you were choosing which facility to store them in? Sometimes renters go to finally pull their items out of storage only to find that some of their items have been ruined by water damage, damage to the building or even rodents – eek! But don’t fear, there are ways to protect yourself and we’re here to tell you them. When searching for self storage be sure to ask these questions to keep your belongings safe:

1. Do you have a pest control system on-site?
2. Are you liable if there is any damage caused to my belongings while they are in storage?
3. What is your security like or what is the procedure if someone were to break into my self storage unit?
4. Do you offer additional protection to replace my items if they are damaged while in storage?
5. Is there a sprinkler system in the event of fire? And how safe are my belongings while the sprinkler system is not in use?

Here at Guardian Storage we work hard to try to protect your items as best as we can while they are being stored.  Our partnership with PestCo, a pest control professional service , mandates monthly visits to our storage facilities to spray and check for rodents. We have strategically built our storage properties above flood plains and in areas where flooding does not generally occur. Security is our name – and we offer 24 hour video surveillance throughout our entire properties. Our sprinkler systems run on a dry system so water is never housed in the pipes until there is a fire. This way it protects your items in case of fire but also there is a very small chance of water leakage either.  We also offer our own protection plan to keep you covered. The Guardian Protection Plan is a very low cost, no deductible plan that covers you in the event of loss of your items. The Guardian Protection Plan has been put into place in order to protect our renters from unexpected and unanticipated accidents. Most tenants will have renters or home owners insurance that should transfer to cover your items while in storage but with the coverage comes a couple hundred or thousand dollar deductible. With the Guardian Protection Plan you can be covered with no deductible for as low as $5/month. Coverage plans cover up to $5000 in damage in PA and up to $7000 in damage in CO. The plan covers:

• Fire, explosion or smoke
• Theft, vandalism or malicious mischief
• Roof leak or water damage
• Windstorm that first causes damage to the building
• Impact of aircraft, missile or vehicles

It is important to know that there are situations that most self storage companies do not protect you against. These items are generally mold, mildew, mice and bugs. The reason for this is because it is highly difficult to determine the cause of these events. If a storage facility is knowingly at fault they should generally work with you to resolve this issue. More importantly there are ways to protect yourself:

• Store bay leaves in your boxes to ward of insects
• If you move during a rainy day or have wet appliances use a moisture absorbing product like DampRid to suck moisture from the air and prevent mold or mildew build up
• Never store food or candy in your unit. Food is the only thing that attracts mice and rodents and not storing these should keep you safe.