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Moving Your Family To A New Place


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Moving Your Family To A New Place

When my boss gave me the option of moving my family across the globe, I was a little nervous about what it might mean. I had to prepare my kids for the idea of living in a different country, and pare down my belongings to fit inside a tiny apartment. However, I decided to take things one day at a time, and it made a huge difference for me and my family. We learned to embrace a different culture by finding out a little more about their customs. This blog is filled with ways that you can acclimate your family to a changing environment.

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Renting A Storage Unit? 2 Reasons You Can't Rely On Your Homeowner's Insurance Policy

By the time you finish moving out of your place and loading up a truck, the last thing you might want to deal with is worrying about add-ons like storage unit insurance. Instead of pondering your options and carefully weighing the benefits of an added insurance policy, you might curtly refuse the coverage—especially if you have homeowner's insurance. However, here are two reasons you need that insurance and why you can't rely on your homeowner's insurance policy:

1: Homeowner's Insurance Doesn't Cover Everything

If you are like most people, you might assume that your storage unit is protected under the umbrella of your costly homeowner's insurance policy. After all, since those stored belongings are simply an overflow of your basement or garage, why wouldn't they be covered? Unfortunately, homeowner's insurance policies are mainly designed to cover your home and its possessions, and they offer minimal coverage for off-site items.

In fact, most homeowner's insurance policies will only cover about 10% of your maximum coverage limit for stored goods. That means that if you have a $150,000 policy, your homeowner's insurance will only cover about $15,000 worth of damage to your storage unit. Although that might seem like a lot, that coverage limit might not be enough to cover your losses. For example, if you are storing vehicles, expensive equipment, jewelry, or priceless collections, that $15,000 coverage limit might be a drop in the bucket compared with the expense of replacing your things.

Although extensive storage unit damage is rare, it does happen. For example, a Connecticut man lost all of his expensive DJ equipment and other electronic accessories in a massive storage unit fire in February of 2015. The blaze affected all 118 storage units at the facility because the outer walls made it nearly impossible for firefighters to fight the blaze without potentially damaging the structural stability of the building.

Fortunately, you can protect yourself from devastating financial losses by signing up for a self storage insurance policy. Talk with your storage facility manager about which policies are available, and always read through the exclusions before you finish your paperwork.

2: Homeowner's Insurance Deductibles Can Be Pricy

After adding up the estimated value of your stored belongings, you might figure that your homeowner's insurance policy extension will be sufficient to cover your goods. After all, if you are only storing a few home décor items and some extra furniture, how much coverage do you really need? Unfortunately, even if that homeowner's insurance policy coverage is enough to cover all of your stored goods, you might have to deal with paying a pricey deductible before that coverage kicks in.

Although homeowner's insurance policies vary depending on your coverage limit and your carrier, deductibles typically range between $500 and $1000. Unfortunately, if you only have a few thousand dollars worth of belongings in your unit, you might have to spend half the total worth of the unit on your deductible—almost negating the benefits of the policy. When faced with this situation, some people choose to simply not report the claim, especially if they don't have the money to foot the deductible.

Because storage facilities understand that some people don't use storage to house cars or expensive possessions, most self storage insurance policies can be purchased without a deductible. This means that if you experience a loss, your insurance will kick in right away—without you having to scrape together a deductible first. If you are worried about the cost of self storage insurance, you shouldn't be. Policies usually cost between 50 cents and $2 for every $1,000 worth of coverage, which means that a $50,000 policy would cost between $25 and $100 per month.

By bolstering your self storage unit with a separate insurance policy, you might be able to kick back and relax while your things are in storage—without worrying about floods, fires, and thefts.

For more information, talk to a professional storage business, such as ABC Moving & Storage.