Does My Homeowner’s Insurance Cover Storage?

Protecting yourself financially, whether your belongings are safely stored in your home, in transit, or in a storage facility or container outside of the home means you need to understand what’s covered under your insurance policy. 

While many providers will cover belongings in transit or storage, the details in the fine print can make filing a claim against lost or damaged items a little more complex. 

So, whether you are decluttering your living space, storing valuables or antiques, or transitioning to a new home, here’s everything you need to know about insurance for stored items and if your regular homeowner’s insurance has you covered. 

What Does Home Insurance Cover?

The answer to whether your home insurance policy covers your items in storage is, it depends. Not all insurance includes terms to ensure you are reimbursed for items damaged, destroyed, or lost while in storage. Even policies that will, include limitations, such as the following:

Coverage for stored items: Home and contents insurance will generally cover you for belongings kept inside your home, garage, and other structures around your property up to the policy limits. 

Limited Coverage:  Your insurance may cover you for some of the items you keep in a separate storage unit away from the home, but it may only be a fraction of your overall personal property coverage. Off-premises coverage is usually capped at 10% of your total content’s insurance. This could mean you may not have adequate protection if your items are high-value or you have a large quantity in storage. 

Exclusions: Most home insurance policies will include exclusions or have lower sub-limits for certain types of items placed in storage, such as valuable wines, stamp collections, antique furniture, or jewellery. 

Ensuring You are Covered

Standard home insurance coverage often does not cover items stored off-premises. Consider the following options to ensure you are fully protected.

Increase personal property coverage limits: If you need more coverage than what is included in your home insurance policy’s off-premises coverage, you can raise the overall personal property coverage limits. This will increase the amount your insurer will pay for damaged or stolen items at your home and in storage. 

You can also schedule high-value items like jewellery, art, or antiques on your policy. This “scheduled personal property” coverage provides higher limits and may not require a deductible for those specialised items.

Purchasing separate storage unit insurance: Many storage facilities offer insurance policies you can buy directly. These standalone storage insurance policies can provide additional protection for your items in the storage unit. 

The coverage offered by storage facilities may be more limited than your home insurance policy, so it’s essential to review the details carefully. We highly recommend comparing the storage facility’s policy to your home insurance to determine the best option. 

Storage Insurance Best Practices

The first step is thoroughly reviewing your existing home or renter’s insurance policy. Pay close attention to the percentage of your overall personal property coverage that applies to items stored away from your home.

Many home insurance policies, such as Suncorp, cover items in transit or storage and will pay for damages or losses caused by fire, flood, or vehicle accident. Still, these terms may not accommodate all your insurance needs. 

Your insurer or storage facility may also recommend additional endorsements or separate storage unit insurance policies to fill gaps.

Create and maintain detailed documentation and inventory of your stored items, including photos Whether you rely on your home insurance or purchase a separate storage unit policy, it’s crucial to maintain a detailed inventory of the items you have in storage.