“After many years of living in a big house, we have finally sold it, and we are down-sizing to something much smaller. This means that we simply do not have the space for lots of pieces of furniture, several pieces of sports equipment, like golf clubs, and a running machine and certainly no space for our piano.
We have decided that the best thing to do is to put a large amount of furniture into storage. Do I need to take out insurance and how exactly does that work?”
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SELF-STORAGE MARKET
Let’s take a look at the self-storage industry, how and why it has developed, and how to make the best possible use of it. Most people are probably aware that self-storage has been a very fast-growing sector of the real estate market over the last twenty years or so.
Why do you think that is? Particularly in Israel, which is a small country where space is at a premium, people are always looking to make better use of the space they have available overall, and better use of the area they have at home. We all accumulate furniture and equipment that we may not use as regular as we thought we would. So, it ends up taking up space and gathering dust. You were sure you would use that big treadmill every day, but you don’t. Now you must get rid of it and grab back the space it took up in your sitting-room. But you don’t want to sell it and lose money on it. Maybe one of the kids will want to use it in the future. What’s the solution? Obviously, put it into self-storage.
Sometimes there are changes in people’s circumstances which necessitate short-term decisions – people have to move unexpectedly, they get divorced and property and belongings have to be divided up, sometimes there may be a family death, all of which can cause the need for short-term property solutions where their belongings will be looked after until they can find a long-term solution. Self-storage can do just that.
But let’s take a look at the question that was asked at the top of the article, whether you need to insure the items that you put into storage.
You can never have too much insurance. We believe that even though Ribua gives you the best possible cover, you should still ask them to organise individual insurance for your items and your particular space. Especially if you are storing high value items or items which are not replaceable. To give you an example, if you are storing a piano, a high-value item which is very susceptible to changes in temperature and particularly damp. Even though it was perfectly wrapped, perfectly stored and well looked after, just imagine how you would feel if you took it out of storage after a year and found that it needed considerable expensive re-tuning or other repair work in order to restore it to its former glory. If you had been sensible enough to take out insurance cover – no problem. If you weren’t, you might find yourself facing a large bill for re-tuning and repair work.
The simple fact is that you need a storage unit insurance program to help you repair or replace any of your property which gets damaged or destroyed while in storage.
Perhaps your existing home insurance policies cover items stored in a self-storage unit, but perhaps not and it is essential that you check this item. So read the small print carefully to find out whether you need to pay an extra amount to cover self-storage, or whether it is included. If not, you must certainly turn to Ribua to organise extra insurance according to your needs
If you are moving within the same city or even within the same country, you probably will not find it difficult to have your insurance policy transferred to your new location. However, if you are leaving the area totally or even the country, you may have to take out a completely new policy, so you will need to check and make sure that in includes self-storage. If it doesn’t, you know what you should be doing. Talk to Ribua.
HOW DOES INSURANCE WORK AT RIBUA STORAGE?
At Ribua Storage, all items are insured against fire, theft, and flooding. Ribua has 24-hour CCTV security, so that your belongings are protected 24/7. Ribua has a state-of-the-art sprinkler system, so that your belongings are protected against fire and they have early warning systems set in place for any kind of eventuality so that Ribua staff are alerted instantly if there is a problem.