Usually not in your name. Our storage agreement is with "the customer named in this Agreement", and when you book online, that's the person who books, verifies their own photo ID with a selfie and signs the agreement we email them. That customer takes on the fees, the deposit, the insurance and everything else the agreement asks. If you want someone to handle it for you, three routes work: they rent the unit in their own name and store your things; they act for you under a registered lasting power of attorney for your property and financial affairs; or, if the problem is only time or distance, you book and sign yourself online and let them do the moving.
Why the signer matters
What the customer takes on under our terms:
| Our terms say | What it means for the person who signs |
|---|---|
| "You are responsible to pay" the storage fee (clause 5) | The fees are theirs |
| "You must pay the Deposit on signing this Agreement" (clause 4) | The deposit is theirs to pay at booking |
| The goods must "remain adequately insured by You" for their replacement value (clause 31) | They arrange cover |
| They "warrant that You are the owner of the Goods" or entitled to deal with them for the owner (clause 1(c)) | They promise they have your permission for everything the agreement can do with your things |
| We have a right to seize and sell goods as security for unpaid fees (clause 6) | If the account falls behind, your things are at risk, whoever owns them |
| "Only You or Your Agents may access the Unit" (clause 14) | They decide who gets in, including you |
You pay a refundable deposit of two weeks' rent at booking; see Do I have to pay a deposit?.
Ending the agreement also falls to the customer, by written notice (clause 41); how to give notice says where to send it.
The customer can't hand the agreement on (clause 46(i)): they "may not assign or transfer any of Your rights under this Agreement". So choose the right name at the start.
The routes that work
They rent the unit in their own name
Your son, daughter, friend or partner books the unit as the customer, and your belongings go in it. Our guide to storing a parent's belongings when they move into care says: "We simply need a named account holder who is responsible for the unit." They can then authorise you to access the unit. Our terms call that person an "Agent": "persons who you authorise, or who accompany you, to access the Unit". That lets you get in; it doesn't make you the customer or let you sign. See storing someone else's belongings for what the customer promises.
They act under a lasting power of attorney
If someone holds a registered lasting power of attorney for your property and financial affairs, our guide for solicitors says the attorney can be the account holder: "The attorney is the contracting party, the unit is in their name in that capacity." The same guide says the attorney can get a quote online "and proceed exactly as any account holder would", so they verify their own ID and sign. GOV.UK says this type of power "can be used as soon as it's registered, with your permission". It can't be used before it's registered, so if there isn't a registered one yet, renting in their own name is the route open now. It ends when the donor dies (GOV.UK); see "After a death".
We don't check what an attorney's power covers; whether storage is within it is for the attorney and their solicitor. If someone has lost capacity and has no registered lasting or enduring power of attorney, the usual route is a deputy appointed by the Court of Protection (GOV.UK).
Can two of you be on the agreement?
It doesn't have to be joint: one of you can be the customer and authorise the other as an Agent. The customer then answers for them too: clause 14 says "You are responsible for and liable to Us and other users of the Facility for Your own actions and those of Your Agents."
Our terms also allow joint customers: each of you is liable for everything the agreement asks, we can pursue either of you (clause 46(k)), and notice from one of you counts (clause 39).
If the customer dies, shared access ends and a joint customer remains a customer; see FAQ 45.
Online booking takes one person's ID; ask before you book.
You sign yourself, from wherever you are
Booking is online: you enter your details, verify your photo ID with a selfie, and we email the agreement for a digital signature. Our guide to managing a unit from overseas says "You do not need to be in the UK to start your account." Once the unit is yours, someone you authorise can move your things in.
If you can't do the identity check online, because your ID isn't to hand or the check fails, choose "Reserve a Unit" in the booking and our team will contact you. A helper can sit with you at the keyboard, but the identity check matches the photo ID to the person taking the selfie, so that step has to be you.
Common situations
A parent paying for a student's unit. An adult student can book, verify their ID and sign for themselves; our parents' guide to student storage says from 18. Otherwise the parent books in their own name and authorises the student to get in.
Booking for a business. Whoever books signs, and an employee who books is the customer and decides who gets in (clause 14). Ask us about a company name before you book. A director who is away can sign online and authorise a colleague. What documents you need lists what to have ready.
After a death: executors and family. Our solicitors' guide says "An executor can rent a self storage unit from day one, on behalf of the estate", and "The contract is signed in the executor's name, in their capacity as executor of the estate." If there's no will, whoever is going to apply to be administrator can still book a unit now, in their own name, like any customer. Until the letters of administration arrive you're renting as yourself, not for the estate: agree with the family who pays, keep every invoice, and ask a solicitor whether the estate can repay you and what you can move before the grant.
If the person who died already had a unit, nobody can sign in their place; what we need before access, including where no probate is needed, is in FAQ 45.
Keeping a relative in the loop. Name them as the emergency contact when you book: our terms let us discuss any missed payment with that person (clause 28), and if we can't reach you at your last notified address, a notice we serve on them counts as notice to you (clause 39). It doesn't make them the customer or give them access.
What to ask us
Call us on 0800 2545585 before you book if you want:
- two names on one agreement;
- the agreement in a company's name;
- an existing unit moved into someone else's name;
- someone else, such as a parent, paying the fees;
- to use a passport or driving licence issued outside the UK for the online check;
- to use an expired or older passport or driving licence;
- to sign without a computer or smartphone.
Ready to book
The person who'll be the customer can get a price online with their photo ID, a recent utility bill and their phone to hand; what documents you need has the full list. Or call us on 0800 2545585.
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