As I wrote in the Decluttering post, our downsizing plan put a lot of our things in storage. What wasn’t used to stage our house in Ohio was put in storage in Tulsa. When our house sold, the rest of our things were moved and everything was consolidated into one large storage unit. My wife and I began to consider the storage unit as a large, external closet.
When our house sold, we switched the homeowners insurance to renters. This was a good decision because the renters insurance has replacement cost, higher limits and better coverage than what we would have bought through the storage company. We may not have included mold/mildew coverage in a storage company’s policy. The storage contract reads two ways: if you take the storage company’s insurance then they are responsible. If you have renters insurance, then your insurance is responsible. It seemed the storage company was not responsible for anything, including their negligence. Your possessions are only as secure as the insurance you have.
In May of 2015 we took a few things out of storage for a trip to California. We were gone two months and when we returned to Tulsa, we went out to the storage unit. We noticed a strong musty smell and some of the stacks of boxes had fallen over. We didn’t see any standing water, nor water stains on the walls or ceiling. When I moved boxes on the floor, there was moisture underneath. Talking to the managers, we found that a storm with strong winds had lifted up part of the roof and water had come in. This happened about 25 feet from our unit. Management said they checked the empty units in the area and didn’t see water so they didn’t notify us. I talked with two other customers with damage and they were not notified either. I heard the storage manager say that their (standard) insurance would not have covered this damage.
More than two months had passed before we discovered the damage. By then the mildew and mold was full-blown. There were at least four different colors of mold (counting black as a color). We submitted a claim with our insurance carrier. The adjuster told me he had rejected a number of claims from this storm because the policies did not cover “groundwater” flooding. This explanation didn’t apply at the storage place because there were deep ditches around the buildings. It would have taken something like Noah’s flood to dump water faster than could be drained away. The next reason not to cover the damage was poor maintenance of the roof. If the adjuster could find that earlier roof damage was unrepaired, then the claim would be rejected. Fortunately the storage company had an invoice from the roofer who worked on the roof.
After our claim was accepted, the clean-up proceeded on track. ServPro cataloged each item and transported them back to its warehouse for evaluation and cleaning. Their workers did a good job cleaning the wood furniture and managing the project. Clothing and blankets were sent to CRDN of Oklahoma. They did an excellent job of cleaning our clothes.
When all of our things were ready, ServPro moved them into a new storage unit. This manager has been helpful and accommodating. He recommended keeping all items off the floor by placing boxes and items on top of pallets covered with sheets of plastic. Our water damage came from outside, but water can enter through broken water pipes or sprinkler systems. The manager keeps the storage building clean and well lit.
My wife and I are now buying a smaller house and hope to clear out the storage units by the end of May 2016.