Self Storage Insurance for Owners, Operators, & Management Companies
Self-Storage Insurance Specialist
Protection Plan Frequently Asked Questions
How much profit can I expect from my Protection Plan Program?
Margins are determined by the monthly fee’s charged to customers that are set by the facility.
The average monthly fee for a $2,000 Protection Plan is $12.00. The monthly cost to insure the risk of a $2,000 PP is approximately $1.35 per month. Cost is subject to underwriters approval. Facilities should yield $10.65 in monthly per PP profit, or an 89% margin.
Aggregate facility profits based on 600 units, 90% occupancy rate, and an 80% tenant participation rate, will yield monthly profits of $4,600 or $55,209 annually.
A lease compliant program (tenant provides proof of insurance or enroll in facilities Protection Plan Program), should result in 80% tenant participation rates.
How does a Tenant Protection Program increase the value of my portfolio?
Protection Plan revenue is counted as additional rent. A well-executed protection plan program can increase the rent roll of a facility by as much as ten percent at 85% plus margins, exponentially increasing the portfolio value based on the current market cap.
Why offer a Tenant Protection Program?
As well as increasing your rental income per square foot by as much as ten percent, offering a Tenant Protection Plan Program will help your facility remain competitive in your marketplace and can protect you from the potential of frivolous tenant claims.
By turning down your Protection Plan, tenants reiterate their understanding that the facility is not responsible for loss or damage to their property.
Tenants value their possessions. It is important to offer protection for their property as everything they own may be stored at your facility. Tenant Protection has evolved to be an essential added value product at reputable storage facilities.
Do you need a licenses to sell a Protection Plan?
No. You are not selling insurance; you are offering a lease addendum Protection Plan, with more favorable lease terms and conditions. You are not collecting premiums but rather additional rent for the more favorable lease terms.
Does the IOA Chubb Protection Plan cover catastrophic losses?
Our Chubb Contract Liability Insurance Policy (CLIP) offers enhanced coverage insuring your protection plans for wildfire, hurricane and tornado losses. (Excluding storm surge & flood) Not all contract liability insurance policies are willing to spell out specific protection plan coverages for fire and weather-related losses, but our Chubb policy does.
What types of tenant's property can the Protection Plan take responsibility for?
Almost any personal and business property a customer stores is eligible for the protection plan program.
The following goods are not covered risks and are automatically excluded: money, coins, bullion, deeds, bonds, stocks, securities, livestock, explosives and flammables.
Jewelry, watches, precious stones, stamps of all kinds exceeding $500 combined total.
Furs, garments trimmed with fur, fine arts, perfumery, mobile phones, tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, beers, wines, spirits exceeding $15,000 combined total. All this is clearly stated in Paragraph 3 of the Protection Plan lease addendum.
How do we promote the Protection Plan to our tenants?
Our self-storage operators are supported by custom counter marketing material, enhancing their brands and thorough comprehensive employee training. Your staff will quickly learn to up sell new and existing tenants to the facilities Protection Plan. The facility controls the pricing giving you complete flexibility to be competitive within your own market. We encourage the Protection Plan to be included in all move in specials to drive tenant participation. It is perfectly acceptable and encouraged to offer incentives for your staff to work on getting existing tenants to participate and enroll in the Protection Plan.
How do you convert your tenants to the Tenant Protection Program from other tenant protection plans or tenant insurance programs?
If your facility is currently offering a protection plan, our Chubb Policy Coverages are so generous, we can most likely cover the risk of your current program with no changes or tenant notices required. You will want to upload our Protection Plan addendum to your facility software so your new tenants can enjoy the benefits of the industries finest Protection Plan.
If you are currently offering a Tenant Insurance Program, a sample tenant notice will be provided to transition your current customers with tenant insurance to the facilities Protection Plan. With most tenant insurance programs, a 30-day notice is required.
Simply go to our claims portal to file a claim: https://www.wkwebster.com/ioatppclaims/
What is the claims process?
Do you provide a copy of your policy to your customer?
No, the tenant is not directly insured. The tenant only needs to know what the facility is accepting responsibility for their stored property under the terms and conditions of the Protection Plan Addendum. Details can be found in paragraph 3 of the Protection Plan addendum. The facility is insured for the new found contractual risk assumed in the Protection Plan addendum.
What software is the Protection Plan Program compatible with?
Our program works well utilizing the insurance modules of the industry leading software platforms. Although our program is not insurance, utilizing the available insurance modules will provide you accurate monthly reports from all your locations providing strong analytics to help yield more from the Protection Plan Program.
If you are using a closed system that won’t allow access to the insurance module; you should have the ability to set up a monthly reoccurring fee. With closed systems, we ask that you make sure you can accurately track the monthly Protection Plan exposure to assure the facility is only invoiced for coverage needed to insure the outstanding Protection Plans.
Does the Protection Plan protect our commercial tenants property?
Yes! Inventory, tools, as long as it is locked in a self storage unit, their business property is protected. Please refer to paragraph 3 of the Protection Plan for details.
You will be pleased to know that your document storage customers will be reimbursed for document recreation cost in the event of loss or damage.
Resources & Articles - Tenant Protection
The Advantages of Implementing a Self-Storage Tenant-Protection Program
Joseph Torrisi Published January 9, 2021 - Inside Self-Storage.
California Supreme Court Rules Self-Storage Tenant-Protection Plans Aren’t Subject to Insurance Code
Published April 28, 2018 - Inside Self-Storage.
Self-Storage Protection Plans: Helping Tenants and Facilities Manage Risk
Kay Miller Published April 15, 2016 - Inside Self-Storage.
Self-Storage Tenant Insurance vs. Protection Plans: Differences, Advantages and Risks
Josh Long Published August 8, 2014 - Inside Self-Storage.
