In 2018, Telegraph Money published an insightful article shedding light on the astronomical prices consumers are paying for self-storage insurance directly through self-storage operators as opposed to what they would pay shopping with a third party provider.
The article, using data from ProInsight commissioned by Surewise, found that storage facilities tend to use dubious tactics to persuade consumers to buy their insurance directly. The research found that 1 in 6 consumers asked felt under pressure to take out insurance from their storage provider, and didn’t have time to shop around.
Customers Charged Up To Seven Times More When They Shop Direct
Shockingly, the research uncovered examples where customers had been charged up to seven times as much as they would have paid with an independent insurance provider, and in other cases, found that consumers had been told that they could not shop around for a better deal – and were charged more for their insurance policy than for the storage itself.
Surewsie director, Richard Hannan, said “We were amazed to find that storage companies were charging an average of three times more for the same or very similar policies.
“Some of the prices that were being charged were highly alarming and in fact, we struggled to find a single self-storage company that was selling insurance for less than their online competitors.”
The Mandatory Storage Insurance ‘Trap’
Many storage facilities make having self-storage insurance a mandatory requirement of their contracts, but rely on the fact that many customers will not realise that they can find separate storage insurance for much cheaper prices.
For example, 13% of consumers questioned said they hadn’t realised independent cover was available when taking out their policy, while 16% said they simply couldn’t be bothered to shop around – and ended up paying far more for insurance with their storage provider.
What We Can Learn From This Data
What is abundantly clear from this data is that convenience does not always equal the best value. Shopping around for a third party quote from a trusted insurance provider is often the best course of action both in terms of cost and in terms of quality.
Not only does shopping around give you a better idea of the right price you should be paying for your insurance policy, but it also helps you gain a better understanding of exactly what you are covering.
If you are a business buying self-storage for your archives, stock, or equipment, you will want to insure those items for the correct value should anything happen to them. Shopping around is the best course of action to do this.
Buying an insurance policy directly through your self-storage facility may be more convenient, but you’ll end up paying far more than necessary – and may discover that you don’t have the cover you need should something happen to your belongings.
Self-Storage Insurance For Businesses
Cover4Business provides specialist self-storage insurance for businesses, designed to provide cover for the accidental damage, theft, or loss of your property as a result of a number of incidents, from natural disasters to malicious vandalism.
Find out more about our policies and get a quote to cover the value of the items you are storing.