Look Who’s
Business Development Manager, Cowan Insurance Group, Ltd
Talking Toby Struewin
By Erica Shatzer F
rom day one, risk is an intrinsic part of any business venture. Starting with site selection and the investors/lenders that assume risk by funding projects, it’s a risky endeavor to develop and operate a self-storage business. And nowadays there are more potential perils than ever before, with increased occurrenc- es of natural disasters, cyber-related crimes, and hardships that spur theft.
Kinds Of Claims According to Toby Struewing, business development manager for Cowan Insurance Group, Ltd., the top two threats self-storage facilities face are water-related damage and break-ins. From a volume perspective, the majority of Cowan Insurance’s claims are related to customer content insurance, a popular tenant insurance program that protects their stored belongings from covered risks. While Cowan Insurance pays more customer content claims than other kinds of claims, Struewing notes that
those claims are for smaller dollar amounts. On average, a single custom- er content claim payout ranges from $5,000 to $6,000.
Of those customer content claims, Struewing points out that water-related damage is the usual grievance. Customers’ stored be- longings are typically damaged from water that leaks into their units from the roof or the doors. Despite being the most common claim, not all insurance companies cover water damage. “Some don’t cover it because that would be the majority of their claims,” he says. Cowan Insurance Group covers water damage, but there are some stipulations. For instance, mold and mildew damage that results from knowingly storing wet items is not covered. However, a claim would be paid if mold and mildew damage occurred after stormwater penetrated the customer’s unit.
“The second most popular claim is break-in theft,” Struewing says. Unfortunately, some break-in thefts
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may go unnoticed if there are no signs of a forced entry. At single-story facilities in particular, Struewing mentions that burglars oftentimes cut the locks to gain access; the shrewdest criminals then replace the cut locks with new locks to delay detection of their dirty deeds. Some robbers actually rent units for insider access, climbing through the ceilings to swipe stored goods from the property’s other tenants. “They get a little more clever,” he says about thieves who target multistory self-storage facilities. As for the most expensive claims, fire damage smokes the competition. “There’s usually significant damage to the building and its contents,” says Struewing, who calls fire damage “ex- pensive and extensive.” What’s more, fires at self-storage facilities outfitted with sprinkler systems can generate additional losses when contents stored within units not directly impacted by the blaze are doused with water. “Everything else is far and few between,” Struewing says about the
October 2022
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