• September 29, 2023

15 Aug, 2023

Pre-Planning & Managing Disasters To Minimize Loss And Stress

Fires, floods, hurricanes, burglaries and finding hazardous chemicals in storage units are just some of the disasters you may have – or will encounter – running a self-storage facility. 

“Unfortunately, I’ve had the misfortune of experiencing about...

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7 Aug, 2023

Look Who's Talking – Chris Betteridge, Deans & Homer

Within the retail industry, protection plans are not new. It’s likely that a sales associate or online shopping cart has prompted you to purchase a protection plan for anything from a television to a carpet scrubber. These protection plans, which vary...

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26 Jul, 2022

The Price Of Protection: Coverage Challenges Climb For Carriers And Policyholders

Insurance is one of the highest costs for self-storage facility owners. While it’s always subject to increases, this is especially true with costs rising for construction materials, facility replacement, and many other related goods and services,...

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1 Sep, 2021

An Eye For Danger: Mitigating Risk In Self-Storage

When you hear the term “risk mitigation,” what comes to mind?

“Mitigating risk is really about being aware of your surroundings and if you notice something could be a problem, taking quick action to correct it,” says Ella Tayrien, vice president of...

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4 May, 2021

Recipe For Disaster: Extreme Weather, COVID-19, And Rising Construction Costs

Natural disasters, COVID-19, and rising construction costs are proving to be the perfect storm, frustrating owners of new self-storage facilities under construction and those trying to rebuild their businesses following a season of disastrous storms and...

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13 Jul, 2020

Insurance for Weather Disasters & More | Mini-Storage Messenger

While the 2019 California wildfires caused less damage than the two previous seasons, a total of 253,354 acres burned last year. That compares to 1.8 million acres that burned in California in 2018 and 1.3 million acres in 2017, according to AccuWeather.

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1 Dec, 2019

Ella Tayrien, Insurance Expert, on Preparing for Bad Weather Conditions

December is here, bringing with it the possibility of wintry precipitation. And that possibility may be high, as meteorologists and farmer’s almanacs have already predicted harsh winters for much of the Northern United States. Chances are you’ve already...

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1 Oct, 2019

Single-Source Insurance Protection

Inside MiniCo’s New Workers Compensation Program

An employee tries to fix a stuck roll-up door and cuts his hand, requiring a visit to an urgent care center.

A worker falls from a ladder while replacing a light bulb and medical attention is needed.

A...

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1 Mar, 2019

The Importance of a Good Business Owner’s Policy

Recovering from a financial loss arising from a lawsuit or property damage can make it difficult for business owners to find the financial resources to get back up and running as quickly as possible. Fortunately, insurance can help mitigate risks by...

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1 Mar, 2019

The Importance of a Good Business Owner’s Policy

Recovering from a financial loss arising from a lawsuit or property damage can make it difficult for business owners to find the financial resources to get back up and running as quickly as possible. Fortunately, insurance can help mitigate risks by...

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1 Sep, 2018

MiniCo Insurance Agency Publishes Tenant Insurance Best Practices

To better differentiate the various financial products targeted to self-storage customers, Phoenix-based MiniCo Insurance Agency has published a list of best practices for offering tenant insurance. MiniCo’s best practices address regulatory...

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1 Apr, 2018

The Road To Recovery

Recuperating From 2017’s Natural Disasters

Hurricanes Harvey and Irma inundated the Gulf Coast region in 2017, causing billions of dollars in damage. Wildfires indiscriminately scarred scenic areas of California and ruined portions of the Wine Country....

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2 Jan, 2018

Profitable Protection

Tenant Insurance Boosts Bottom Line

It took the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas to impress upon residents the value of having insurance to protect their belongings. While flooding caused much of the devastation from that storm, which is only...

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1 Dec, 2017

James Appleton, MiniCo Insurance Agency, LLC, Director of Sales, Special Risk

When it comes to customers’ stored belongings, industry professionals jest that tenants store junk but lose heirlooms. In other words, the items they place in storage don’t seem to have any value to them until there is an event in which those...

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1 Aug, 2017

Think Outside The Box!

Competing With On-Demand Storage Businesses

While the concept of on-demand storage is not a new one, as PODS (Portable On Demand Storage) was founded in 1998, over the past few years there have been numerous valet storage businesses popping up in large...

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1 May, 2017

Why Offering Tenant Insurance Is Good Customer Service

James Appleton, Director of Sales, Publishing & Special Risk, MiniCo Insurance Agency, LLC

There’s a reason people choose to store their belongings in a self-storage facility. Most often it’s an important life event, positive or negative, that drives...

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1 Feb, 2017

Insurance Update

Coming To Terms With Aging Storage Facilities

As the self-storage industry matures, the 50,000-plus facilities that house customers’ contents are showing their age.

These storage buildings—many of them well past 30 years old—withstand weather extremes...

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1 Nov, 2016

It’s Raining Claims!

Obtaining Adequate Roof Insurance

The recent cycle of extreme weather has created havoc for residents, businesses, and insurance companies all over the country. Severe wind and hail storms in particular have left large swaths of destruction, especially...

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1 Oct, 2016

Protect From Peril

Fire Safety Improvements For Self-Storage Facilities

In 2015, a website called Becoming Minimalist posted 21 statistics that exposed how materialistic the average U.S. citizen has turned out to be. Three of them are particularly interesting:

  • There are...

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1 Sep, 2016

Thinking Outside The Box

Insuring The Most Challenging Properties

We have all seen the news reports of businesses and homes damaged by hail, wind, tornadoes, and other severe weather events. You may be thinking that it seems like we have heard about this type of damage more and...

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1 Sep, 2016

Risk Management: Maintaining Roof Integrity

A focal point of self-storage facility maintenance is the integrity of the roof, especially with respect to preventing water damage claims resulting from roof leaks.

Beware Of The Risk The counterpoint is that self-storage business operators have...

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1 Sep, 2016

Insuring Profits

Tenant Insurance Flows New Revenue Stream To Bottom Line

As self-storage occupancy reaches all-time highs nationwide, operators are eagerly fishing for new revenue streams that can boost profitability. If you’re lucky enough to have the space and...

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1 Sep, 2016

The Price Of Safety

Fire Code Sparks Costly Change

In Charleston, S.C., a memorial, appropriately called the Charleston Nine site, protects the sacred ground where the Sofa Super Store, a commercial furniture showroom and warehouse facility, once stood. On June 18, 2007,...

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1 Aug, 2016

Training Is The Key To Tenant Insurance Success

Tenant insurance is one of the oldest insurance products in the self-storage industry. Once viewed as a novelty, the product has evolved over the years, and perceptions have changed. Today most self-storage professionals acknowledge the value of...

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1 Apr, 2016

Are You Protected?

Industry Specific Policies Safeguard Owners Against Mishaps, Litigation, And Disasters

A manager at a self-storage facility noticed an odd wobble in a roll-up door as she cleaned out a unit after a tenant had vacated the space. But she already had a new...

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