Home insurance didn't cover self-storage break-in

There was a break-in at our self-storage unit in Scarborough over the weekend and although nothing was stolen, it raised some issues about insurance.

I thought my condo policy would cover theft, but that wasn't the case. My insurance broker told me that a locker in my building would be covered by insurance, but not a self-storage unit on a different property.

She told me that my current policy would cover contents in storage for the first 30 days only. After that time, adding coverage for those items would cost $1.50 per $100 of insurance. The deductible would be $1,000.

The insurance wouldn't cost much, but it wouldn't be practical for me. We're using the unit to store some old children's clothes, toys, and furniture while we try to fix-up and paint our place to get it ready to sell.

I'm not even sure if I would go to the trouble of replacing the contents if they were lost or damaged, and if I did, it would probably only cost $300 or $400 -- much less than the deductible.

But my losses would have been covered by StorageMart’s premium lease. It costs about an extra $10 per month compared to the basic policy. It covers fire, building collapse, and theft up to $2,500 and water damage up to $1,250, if it’s caused by the company.

“When things happen, it’s really not good customer service to take out the lease and show the person we’re not responsible for any loss. It may be legal and true, but that’s a terrible thing to do to have to do to someone,” Tron Jordheim, marketing director for StorageMart said in an interview from the company’s head office in Missouri.

The break-in was a strange one. Locks were cut off about 200 storage units at the facility, located near Kennedy Road and Steeles Ave.

The manager says that no customers have reported anything missing. The company is giving customers new locks to put on their units. Police are still investigating.

“These kinds of things are pretty rare but they do happen once in awhile,” Jordheim said. “Somebody knows someone has something in there and they’re looking for the unit or they’re looking for something they can grab and run.”

Sometimes it’s an estranged spouse looking for things in their partner’s storage unit. Other times it’s someone who has something very specific in mind, such as electronics, cash or jewellery, he said.

“These new shows on TV, Storage Wars or Auction Hunters make people think there is a gold mine in every storage unit, which is pretty far from the truth,” Jordheim said.

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