How secure is self-storage?

Read on for a fully comprehensive self-storage security checklist to make sure your chosen storage centre ticks all the boxes.

Padlock

A padlock is essential to ensure your storage unit is secure and all your items are kept under lock and key. When enquiring about taking out self-storage, find out whether you need to provide or buy your own padlock, or whether a padlock is included in the price you pay for storage.

At Store First, we provide a free high-security padlock worth £12.99 to every customer, so there are no additional expenses later down the line after your initial quote is provided. 

When you receive your free padlock from us, it will come with two sets of keys, which are both given to you. This makes you the sole keyholder to your storage unit, providing extra peace of mind and reassurance that nobody else can access your unit without your permission, making it fully secure.

Contents protection

Protecting the contents of your self-storage unit provides you with extra reassurance that your belongings are looked after when they are in storage.

Contents protection can be a confusing issue and many companies charge an additional cost for insurance or protection after you have received your initial quote, so be sure to ask the question to ensure the price you have in mind covers everything you will ultimately need to pay.

To make life easier for you and to keep costs minimal, we include £15,000 contents protection in our storage costs, so the price you are given or see online will be the price you pay, with no extras added on at the last minute.

The contents protection service fee is to safeguard your storage unit and your possessions against risks like fire, explosion, insect or vermin and theft involving violence or the use of force. 

Providing you have paid your storage fee, which includes the contents protection service fee, you will be entitled to receive up to £15,000 if we fail to prevent damage or loss as a result of any risk which is deemed to be within our control.

CCTV and alarms

Surveillance equipment like closed-circuit television and alarm systems is a crucial element of making sure your things are safe when kept in self-storage. Self-storage security is an essential item for your checklist when approaching different storage companies, so make sure you enquire about monitoring systems and alarms.

All Store First centres are fitted with digital CCTV systems which are encrypted with a time and date stamp to ensure full monitoring is carried out at all locations.

Each of our storage centres also has full perimeter alarm systems, which are monitored 24 hours a day.

Fire and smoke protection

In order to prevent fire, storage units should be fully protected by the necessary systems, so when you are researching how secure your self-storage unit is, make this a priority to discuss with your self-storage provider.

All of our storage centres are equipped with fire and smoke detection systems, which are regularly inspected by independent assessors.

What's more, we ban the storage of any items which could cause fire, for example, combustible or flammable materials like gas, paint, petrol or oil. Naturally, we don't allow customers to store firearms, explosives, ammunition or weapons of any kind, nor chemicals, toxic waste or compressed gases. 

Secure out-of-hours access

You may need to access your storage unit out of hours, so when choosing a storage centre, be sure to enquire about 24-hour storage units or out-of-hours access. Sometimes this will be unavailable, or available at any extra cost, so it's important to weigh this up at an early stage if 24-hour access is going to be a dealbreaker for you.

All of our storage centres offer 24-hour access to each and every customer free of charge, so if this is something you require, we will provide you with a fob to gain entry at any time you need to get into your unit. 

Staffed storage centres

Finding the time to get to your storage unit may be difficult during the working week, so if you are likely to need to visit your storage centre at weekends and you'd rather have a member of staff on-site to assist you with any queries or advice, it's a good idea to check the opening hours for your chosen storage provider. Many customers feel safer accessing their storage unit when a member of staff is there, so if that's crucial for you then you will be looking for a storage facility which opens daily.

To help our customers and keep our storage centres safe and secure, we have staff on-site seven days a week. From Monday to Saturday, our storage centres are all open from 8am until 6pm, enabling customers to pop in before or after work and be greeted with a friendly face.

On Sundays and bank holidays, our centres are open from 10am until 4pm, giving you ample time to access your storage unit securely and tap into any help or advice you may require from our knowledgeable and friendly team members.

Having staff on-site seven days a week provides extra peace of mind and security to our storage customers, many of whom are going through stressful or difficult periods and rely on the support and assistance our staff provide.

How secure is self-storage really?

Hopefully, we've given you the tools you need to find out whether your chosen storage provider offers the level of security you want and need for your precious belongings, and reassured you that when it comes to secure storage, we tick all of the boxes (and more!)

Our approach to self-storage has already been centred on simple, honest pricing, so the price you see when you first search online or receive a quote from a member of our self-storage teams is the whole price you will pay. This covers all security measures, up to £15,000 contents protection and even a free padlock, to help you manage your budget and keep things simple.

If you have any more questions about how secure self-storage is, feel free to call a member of our storage centre teams to talk through your questions and provide answers and reassurance. Find your nearest centre to contact here.