Insurance designed for self-storage lot owners

Our self-storage lot insurance can help protect you from the unique risks that come with renting and maintaining self-storage units.

Why self-storage lot owners trust us

If you’re a self-storage facility owner or manager, your customers trust you with their possessions, from valuable documents to family heirlooms. And you need to protect them — and your business — from threats such as fire, water damage, and theft. Our customizable insurance solutions are designed to have your back, so you can protect your business from a wide range of liabilities and risks.

We’re industry experts

We’ve been around a long time — since 1890, in fact. In 1920, our Canadian division was born, and today we’re 100 per cent Canadian owned and operated. We’re proud to be recommended by more than 80 trade associations and buying groups in Canada, putting us in a perfect position to provide specialized knowledge for specific industries.

Insurance designed for self-storage lot owners

With more than 100 years of experience creating custom-built insurance solutions for Canadian businesses, we understand how to help mitigate the risks your business is exposed to on a daily basis. As a self-storage facility owner or manager, you can leverage our industry expertise to get a complete insurance solution for your needs.

At Federated Insurance, we provide:

  • Customized insurance solutions designed for self-storage lot owners
  • Dedicated advisors who work with you directly
  • Expanded coverage options
  • Flexible payment and deductible options
  • Quick, no-hassle renewals

Common claims for self-storage lot owners

A customer renting out space in your facility should have their own insurance policy to protect the contents of their storage unit. But if a customer claims that your negligence caused bodily injury or property damage, then you could be held liable. Self-storage lot insurance helps to protect your business against these types of claims, including:

Property losses

Fire, wind, hail, and other weather-related events can damage your property, impact your customers, and even temporarily shutter your business. Though you have no control over the weather, if heavy rainfall causes water damage inside a customer’s storage unit, they could claim you didn’t make necessary repairs to the roof and sue you for damages.

Crime

Self-storage lots are an attractive target for theft, vandalism, and mischief, especially late at night when the property is deserted. Theft is the second-most common claim after water damage, according to a whitepaper from the Canadian Self Storage Association (CSSA).

Liability losses

Common liability risks include slips, trips, and falls, which can happen on uneven, wet, or icy surfaces on your property. Injuries can also be caused by the roll-up doors on storage units if they’re not properly maintained.

Mechanical failures

If a mechanical failure causes your climate-controlled storage units to heat up or freeze, resulting in damage to some of the contents in your customers’ units, you could be held liable for any resulting damages.

Cyber

Even if your business isn’t highly technical, you still store personal information about your customers, such as credit card numbers. If your business is the victim of a cyberattack, you could face a loss of revenue, stiff regulatory fines, and reputational damage.

Pollution

Tenants might store (or leave behind) hazardous or environmentally sensitive materials that can damage your property, other customers’ property, and/or the environment. You could be responsible for the cost of safely removing and disposing of these materials, as well as environmental clean-up.

What type of insurance do self-storage lot owners need?

Protecting against liability starts with commercial general liability (CGL) insurance, which is designed to protect your business from bodily injury or property damage claims. Commercial property insurance provides coverage for loss or damage to your property from events such as fire, theft, and vandalism.

In addition to these coverages, our toolbox is filled with customized policy options to ensure your self-storage lot business is properly protected. Some of these options include:

Business Interruption:

Protects your business from a loss of income in the event of an insured loss.

Equipment Breakdown:

Protects you against loss to property and revenue resulting from breakdowns to equipment such as air conditioning systems and electrical equipment.

Crime:

Protects you from employee dishonesty, credit card forgery, and other types of theft by employees and others.

Cyber:

Protects you with coverage for data recovery, customer breach communications, and e-commerce threats.

Company Vehicles:

Protects your commercial vehicles, whether you have just one or a whole fleet.

Pollution:

Protects you in the event environmental damages lead to costly clean-up expenses.

Managing risk

Our insurance for self-storage lot owners is designed to deal with a wide range of risks. So, whatever your needs, we’ll tailor an insurance solution that fits. Our Risk Service Specialists can work closely with you to provide the advice, support, and training you may need in order to analyze the potential risks to your operation. Knowing the exposures your self-storage lot business could face can go a long way in helping you avoid future losses.

Our Risk Services Specialists are available to help you create a customized action plan that will address those issues and help you improve your bottom line. Whether it’s sharing our risk management observations on your current business or providing you with timely tools and resources, we’re here to help you be as successful as possible.

Value-added services for your self-service lot business

Once you become a customer, you’ll have access to an array of value-added services for your self-storage lot business that include:

Superior claims handling:

When it comes to handling claims in the self-storage lot industry, our expert claims professionals are there for you. With 24/7 claims support, we can resolve your claim and get your business back up and running as quickly as possible.

Dedicated advisors:

With industry training and experience, our Commercial Insurance Specialists can design tailored insurance programs to fit the unique needs of your self-storage lot business, while also providing expert advice and support along the way.

Loss prevention expertise:

Our team of highly-trained loss prevention consultants can answer your questions and provide you and your employees with valuable risk management advice.

Safety programs:

We offer complimentary safety programs that can help keep your business and employees safe.

Trauma assistance:

We can provide confidential one-on-one counselling services to help you through an insured traumatic loss.

Risk management tips for self-storage lot owners

1. Liability issues can result from poor lighting or malfunctioning rollup doors that lead to bodily injury. Regularly inspect and service equipment to help prevent accidents — and make sure you have the right coverage to protect your business if an accident does happen.
2. Since self-storage units are self-service in nature, there may be no one around if a security incident occurs, which makes it more difficult to investigate. That’s why, in addition to CGL insurance, it’s well worth investing in video surveillance, alarm systems, secure access controls, and remote monitoring services.
3. If you already have an insurance policy for your self-storage lot business, it’s a good idea to review it annually with your broker. If you’ve made any changes to your property, such as purchasing new equipment or expanding your facility, be sure to let your broker know so your policy reflects your updated replacement costs.