Avoid Self Storage Nightmares: You Shouldn’t Store your Important Records There.
3 dozen units broken into in two hours.
And an Oklahoma man faces up to 90 years in prison for breaking into just 10 units west of Oklahoma City. (There must be something he likes about storage units—he’s also linked to break-ins at nearly 70 more.)
As shocking as that sounds, however, a Montana man may have wished he was put in jail for a century after being ordered to pay $1.18 million in restitution in recompense for his 2019 storage-related crime spree.
When it comes to self storage, though, break-ins aren’t the only nightmares that should be keeping you up at night. If you think you’re safe storing records in one of these insecure facilities, think again.
Self storage break-ins make great local news for two reasons: they usually involve big numbers, and they happen all the time.
A Florida facility, for example, saw nearly Insurance Just Doesn’t Have You Covered
You might think that an insurance policy or even just a “protection plan” purchased from a public storage facility will protect you in case anything happens to the things you keep there. There are two problems with this protection, however. First, a self storage company’s “protection plan” isn’t actually considered to be insurance by the state of California. Second, even a more traditional rental insurance policy can have some massive coverage holes. Take New Jersey resident Scott Packwood. Packwood had a rental policy that covered damage to his belongings caused by fire or theft. When his unit was flooded, he was informed that this policy didn’t actually cover water damage. The bottom line? Flooding, landslides, and fire are big problems that every California company must prepare for. Unfortunately, public storage facilities are often ill-equipped to handle this kind of damage.Public Storage Security Goes Unattended
Security at public storage facilities is often limited to locks and cameras—and even those aren’t much of a deterrent, according to numerous local news reports. This lack of “security” offered with a traditional self storage unit can result in huge losses. For example, in the Chicago-adjacent neighborhood of Lincolnwood, a man storing a case of $1,200-a-bottle wine found his investment totally wiped out after a 2017 theft. That’s a loss of $14,400. (Not to mention some primo vino.) This weak security makes self storage facilities an easy target. In California alone, one study conducted by CBS 5 a decade ago showed 56 break-ins at 38 franchised self storage locations in just two years! The problem’s not going away any time soon, either. In fact, just this summer in Glendale, thieves made off with $150,000 worth of self-stored property.Want 3 months of free record storage?
Protect what matters most, all year round, with California’s most trusted storage company. It’s like saving 25% your first year. New customers only. Type “Q4 storage offer” in the (optional) box.
Yes, I’m ready