Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Items in Storage Units?

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Andrew Lee is insurance content writer and editor for BudgetMethod.com. Andrew holds a Bachelor's degree from Ryerson University and has extensive experience of writing content for financial websites. His expertise is especially strong in home and auto insurance.

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Homeowners insurance does cover items in storage units off of your property’s limits, however, there are limits to this coverage. First of all, the coverage for your items in storage are discussed in the area of your policy which denotes personal property coverage. 

When it comes to items on your home’s property, there are already limits to the amount your insurance will cover. That being said, items stored away from your property are under an even lower limit as to what your insurer will/will not repair or replace. For example, if the coverage to your personal property at home is up to $100,000, the maximum for off-premises items may only be about $10,000. As with most home insurance policies and the questions that arise when dealing with damage to your home or property, it is always important to double-check your policy to be sure you know what level of coverage you have and what coverage you might need to feel confident that your belongings are safe.

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It may also be beneficial for you to look into what the storage company itself offers in terms of insuring your property. A lot of storage companies offer protection for items being held in their units which would come as an added charge to your rental of the unit.

Odds and Ends to Keep in Mind

While having off-premises personal property insurance may cover most of your items stored outside of your property, as mentioned previously, there is still a limit. This limit is where it would be smart to consider insuring your more expensive or precious items individually. This extra insurance will ensure that your one-of-a-kind pieces if damaged or stolen, will still be reimbursed fairly. It is also extremely important to consider keeping these particularly precious items with you in your home to be sure that they are covered as much as they possibly can be. 

Protecting these pieces is not typically covered completely by your standard home insurance policy but can be added to your plan to give you peace of mind. Although this type of add-on to your insurance is used to cover high-priced or rare items, it still has a maximum limit. If you are thinking of storing highly valuable items in a storage unit, you will want to consider purchasing what is known as a scheduled personal property add-on in order to get the most coverage for your most precious items.

There are also limits on your coverage when it comes to situations in which your items have been stolen. There are limits to every type of coverage provided for off-site storage of personal property and it is always important to check your specific policy before deciding your next steps. These limits also exist in circumstances of the theft. The typical coverage for stolen item reimbursement is around $2,000-$3,000 no matter how much the items were worth at the time of them being stolen. This issue is why scheduled personal property add-ons are important to consider.

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Andrew Lee is insurance content writer and editor for BudgetMethod.com. Andrew holds a Bachelor's degree from Ryerson University and has extensive experience of writing content for financial websites. His expertise is especially strong in home and auto insurance.