Self-Storage: the cost-effective alternative to safety deposit boxes

What do you do with valuables you don’t want to store at home?

With the theft of circa £60,000,000 worth of valuables from safety deposit boxes in Hatton Garden still fairly fresh in the memory, and a large number of banks slowly phasing their safety deposit box services out, for a number of reasons, it can be difficult to know where to turn if you have valuables that you want to store outside of your home.

What other options are out there? Are they as secure as safety deposit boxes?

Self-storage, the cost effective alternative

Self-storage has something of a reputation. A reputation for being the territory of seedy love nests and peoples’ hoards; of stuff that is worthless and can no longer fit in their homes.

Although there have been occasions when self-storage has been used for these kinds of things, what people tend not to realise is that self-storage can be used for so much more, too.

If you have valuables that you want to store outside of your home, and the cost, or trust of a safety deposit box at a bank is an issue for you, I’ll explain why self-storage could be the cost effective alternative you’ve been looking for.

Security

Self-storage units, like those at Store First, are generally protected by state-of-the-art security measures.

Most self-storage units will be manned 7-days a week by professional and easily identifiable staff. They will have 24-hour CCTV coverage, sensitive alarm systems, highly secure storage pods inside well-secured and well-designed self-storage facilities.

With many self-storage providers offering the choice of a free high-security padlock to secure your self-storage unit, or the option to bring and use your own, security at storage units couldn’t be tighter.

When you rent a self-storage pod, you can be sure that its contents can be accessed by you, and only you.

Cost

With a safety deposit box measuring 10inches x 10inches x 21inches costing around £50 per month, the cost of self-storage is much cheaper.

Whereas a self-storage box, similar in size to a phone box, would cost in the region of £24 per month.

Granted, with a self-storage facility you don’t get the five-foot-thick steel walls and airlock doors that a bank vault would have, but equally, self-storage doesn’t provide the same temptation to criminals.

Less tempting to thieves

As touched on briefly already. The one major downside of a safety deposit box at a bank is that they are, by their very nature, hugely tempting to criminals. They know where these safety deposit boxes are, and although they don’t know the exact contents, they know that the likelihood that they could make off with as much as £60,000,000 worth of swag is extremely high.

The same is not true with self-storage facilities. Self-storage facilities, although potentially carrying a few very expensive items, are seen as more likely to have old furniture, record collections, and various other items of mostly sentimental value.

Not something that will entice a criminal to take a great interest in a self-storage facility.

Access and convenience

Safety deposit boxes at banks can, in general, only be accessed during the bank’s opening hours. However, Store First self-storage facilities provide 24-hour access to tenants, should they need it.

The occasions upon which you need to get to your valuables at 3am on a rainy Tuesday in February may be few and far between, but should such an occasion arise, then self-storage gives you the ability to do exactly that.

Sometimes, you can’t put a price on convenience. But sometimes, you can, and it’s still cheaper than many other storage options.

Contents Protection

When you store your valuables in a safety deposit box, it is usually left up to you to find contents protection for them. With self-storage at Store First, your contents protection is included in the price you pay. Which, in effect, is another saving, and provides you with added peace of mind.

Store your valuables at a self-storage facility

If you’re thinking of finding a secure and cost-effective option for storing your valuables outside of your home. Whether they’re valuable only to you or actually have fiscal value, you could do much worse than looking at self-storage as a serious, cost-effective alternative for storing your valuables.

The security, peace of mind, and relatively inexpensive cost makes self-storage an option worth considering.