When you think of self storage insurance, do you think of software?
It is important to make sure your self storage tenants have the right insurance coverage for their stored belongings. Not only does this help make your life easier, but it’s also part of being a good steward and ensuring they are covered in the event of damage to or theft of property.
Thankfully, there are a few ways to leverage self storage software to make the handling of insurance at your facility easier on you.
Tenant protection plans are a great alternative to traditional insurance plans.
A tenant protection plan is a plan provided by a self storage facility. The owner takes out an insurance policy, and tenants are charged a fee for coverage of the items in their units.
One benefit of a tenant protection plan is that the storage business can handle the sign-up instead of needing to validate coverage by a third party.
That’s where the self storage software angle comes in.
By this point, you should have online rentals available. Even when people come to rent a unit in person, you can oversee the process through online rentals by directing them to your website in the office—either via a device you provide or their own mobile device.
With the right software and website platforms, you can incorporate the tenant protection plan sign-up into your lease-signing/onboarding process! There are a number of places you can insert this into your onboarding steps: during sign-up, with the lease, or even an in-between step.
The important thing to remember is to find a time to offer this sign-up that fits smoothly in your entire rental flow. You can overwhelm a customer and turn them away from renting if you throw too many steps at them before they’ve signed their rental agreement.
Pug Pro Tip: Considering the advantages of a tenant protection plan over other insurance options, you might consider requiring them to sign up for your tenant protection plan. In these cases, you can skip the optional sign-up step and instead automate a follow-up text or email with information about the protection plan once they’ve signed a rental agreement. That’s easily done with your self storage software!
Not requiring (or offering) a tenant protection plan?
Well, you’re going to be dealing with tenants finding their own self storage insurance coverage. This might include their homeowner’s or renter’s insurance (you can answer the question "does homeowner insurance cover storage units" here), or it might be an insurance company that has self storage insurance plans specifically.
In either case, if you require insurance, then you need a way to verify the coverage exists.
You can do that with the right self storage software.
While there is little self storage insurance software specifically, your self storage software program can aid in verifying an insurance policy by helping to collect proof of insurance digitally or by enabling you to confirm with insurers that the policy is valid.
There is even some software on the market that will collect and verify the policy with insurers for you, although this is an extra cost that may not be right for all self storage facilities.
Ditch the filing cabinet: Self storage software will help you track your tenants’ insurance.
Rather than having to rifle through manilla folders or binders to find a copy of a tenant’s proof of insurance, your self storage software can allow you to type in a name or click on a site map to pull up the information you need.
Data storage is a massive part of the software world, with more and more people and businesses transitioning to on-site digital storage or cloud-based storage due to the convenience of accessing it anywhere via the internet.
Your self storage software probably even already includes a way to upload files and attach them to tenants.
If it does, you can take advantage of the functionality by attaching proof of insurance to the tenant in your system for easy reference down the road.
If you offer a tenant protection plan (but do not require it), you can even make notes on each tenant to quickly reference whether they have signed up for the protection plan or are using a third-party insurer.
Storage and quick reference are two areas where software shines, and self storage software can easily make your life better in these categories.
Pop quiz: A fire has spread from one of your tenants’ units and managed to damage the property of two nearby units before being extinguished.
Do you know what you’re doing next?
Similar to storing proof of coverage, your self storage software can also be used to track the stages following a disaster or theft at your facility.
In addition to tracking steps you’ve taken following damages, digitally storing any evidence that can help to reduce your liability is also exceptionally important in these cases.
More importantly, you have much more responsibility if you cover your tenants with a tenant protection plan.
Because the coverage is facilitated by your business, you will likely have more documentation to file away, more documents to send to/receive from your tenants, and of course, your own claims to file with your chosen insurer.
With any luck, your insurer also makes good use of software and offers an easy online portal for filing claims!
Check out some of my other favorite posts on running your self storage business!
At StoragePug, we build self storage websites that make it easy for new customers to find you and easy for them to rent from you.
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