When you come to insure your stored domestic goods, we’ll ask you for their value. But what do we mean by the value of your stored goods?

Consider the replacement cost of your stored goods

When we ask for the value of your goods, it is helpful to think in terms of how much it will cost to replace them.

When you insure domestic items in a self-storage unit with Store and Insure, it’s on a new-for-old basis. This means that in the event of a claim, we will pay what it costs to replace the damaged, destroyed or lost item. So if your stored mattress gets ruined in a flood, it doesn’t matter if you’ve owned it for three years, or three months. The insurance pay-out will be the cost of a brand-new equivalent mattress.

Bear in mind that the replacement cost would be what it would cost to replace the item in the UK. So if on your travels you bought a piece of furniture for next to nothing and had it shipped back here, the replacement value could well be higher than what you paid. Every traveller has a great haggling story, but when it comes to insurance valuation, we don’t need to hear it!

Keep good records for your domestic goods in storage

We ask our clients to provide us with an inventory for their storage unit, and your storage company may ask you for one, too. A self-storage inventory is basically a list of all the goods you have stored. We have a blogpost about maintaining a storage inventory that may be helpful.

You might already have collected some of this information about your possessions for your contents insurer. A quick check of your records could save you a bit of time in this admin task!

It’s important to keep your storage inventory up-to-date, and to let us know if you move anything into your storage unit – this will ensure it is included in your cover. Do this even if you only plan to store the item for a few days. And it’s just as important to let us know if you move anything out of storage, too, as this may reduce your premiums.

It is worth keeping hold of receipts for large domestic purchases. You can use these to help value items, and add this information to your inventory. Some people like to photograph or video items with a high value, too.

What is the value of my antique or collectable item?

The best way to get a value for insuring and antique or specialist item is to get a professional valuer to take a look at it. Find a reputable valuer through the British Antiques Dealers’ Association.

How do I put a value on stored sentimental goods?

Sentimental items are very difficult to value objectively. It can help to get a professional valuer

For things like photographs and diaries, you can insure the cost of the paper and notebooks, but not the images and content. If the content is very precious to you, you may want to consider creating copies or electronic images.

You may not even be able to replace sentimental one-of-a-kind items if they are lost or destroyed – but your insurance will at least compensate you if this happens. Get a quote from Store and Insure to make sure you are not overpaying for your self-storage insurance.