If you have our Contents Protection, photograph the damage before you move anything, keep the damaged items, and write to us asking us to notify a claim (clause 48 of our terms); we pass it to our insurer, and what the insurer pays for your goods comes to you, less anything owed on your account. If you have your own insurance, take the same first steps, tell us, and claim with your insurer directly.
Contents Protection is Wigwam's own policy, underwritten by RSA under its "Self Storage Customers' Goods" scheme. The Summary of Insurance isn't published online; you're given it when you take the cover, and you can ask for a copy on 0800 2545585. How soon a claim must be made isn't published, so ask us as soon as you find the loss.
What to do first, in order
- Photograph everything before you touch it: damaged items, gaps where stolen things stood, the door and lock, the floor, walls and ceiling.
- Keep everything, and stop it getting worse. Move dry items away from the wet area and off the floor. Keep the damaged items, keep any cut padlock, and photograph damage to the door or latch: it's evidence of forced entry. Ask us (on our cover) or your own insurer before cleaning or throwing anything away; if something has to go for hygiene reasons, photograph it and keep a sample.
- Ring us on 0800 2545585. Our terms require you to tell us about any damage "immediately it is discovered" (clause 24). If anything was stolen, report it to the police too and get a crime reference number. Ask us for a written record of the incident, whether CCTV footage is available, and whether the unit's alarm or the door access system recorded the entry.
- After a break-in, ask us about securing the unit, and ask us and the insurer before moving what's left (see what happens if your unit is broken into).
- Start the claim: in writing to us for our cover, or with your own insurer. A phone call alone doesn't start the claim; the written request does.
For water damage, photograph the source of the water, any tide marks and the whole wet area. Burst pipes and water leakage are listed as covered on our Contents Protection page. Flood isn't settled: two of our guides say flooding is excluded and one says flood damage is covered, so ask on 0800 2545585. Wigwam's policy excludes atmospheric or climatic damage, so damp isn't something it pays for (does contents protection cover damp and mould?).
If you only find damage when you move out, tell us "as soon as is reasonably possible" (clause 42).
Claiming on our Contents Protection
To claim, write to us asking us to notify a claim (clause 48). Email counts as writing: clause 39 takes notices by email to info@wigwamstorage.co.uk, or by hand or post to the address on your Cover Sheet. Ask us whether it should go there or to your site.
We then notify our insurer "promptly", and you give us, the insurer or its loss adjuster the information and evidence reasonably needed. What the insurer pays for your goods comes to you, less anything owed on your account; what we pay is limited to what we recover.
Wigwam's guides describe the policy like this:
| Policy point | What it means for your claim |
|---|---|
| New for old | Settlement is at the cost of replacing items as new, with the exceptions under proving value below. |
| £50 excess | £50 comes off the claim. |
| Theft | Our Contents Protection page lists "Theft involving forcible entry or exit", so keep the evidence of the break-in, such as a forced door or a cut padlock. |
| Underinsurance | If you declared less than the true replacement value, the settlement is cut in proportion: declare half the true value and you recover half the loss. |
| When cover runs | From the moment your things go into storage until you take them out. |
For goods on the way in, see are my belongings covered while moving into storage?; for limits on a single valuable item, see how much contents cover do I need?. How long a claim takes, and who contacts you next, aren't published, so ask us when you report it.
The cover only runs while its charges are paid: if they become overdue, it stops from that date (clause 48).
If you're unhappy with how the insurer handles the claim, the ombudsman's rules include "a person for whose benefit a contract of insurance was taken out" (FCA Handbook, DISP 2.7.6R(5)), so you may be able to take it to the Financial Ombudsman Service once the insurer has given its final response.
Claiming on your own home or business policy
You claim with your insurer directly. Citizens Advice suggests you contact your insurer as soon as possible, ask for a claim form, check the policy's time limits and excess, and never exaggerate, since that could lead to the whole claim being rejected.
If your insurer turns the claim down or offers too little, complain to it first. If you're still unhappy, or it hasn't replied within 8 weeks, you can go to the Financial Ombudsman Service, within 6 months of any final response.
If another customer's goods or the building caused it
Ask us what we know about the cause, for your insurer. Our terms make each customer answerable for losses their goods cause us or others (clause 32), and your insurer may pursue whoever was responsible once it has paid you.
Where the building caused it through our negligence or breach of contract, clause 30(b) limits our liability to "the sum of £100 in total"; for consumers, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 makes such a term not binding if it "would prevent the consumer in an appropriate case from recovering the price paid" (section 57(3)): that's the storage fees you paid, not the value of your goods. If the term doesn't prevent that, section 57(3) says the Act's rules on unfair terms (Part 2) may still apply to it. Disputes with us go first to an independent mediator (clause 47).
Business stock or tools
Stock is declared at what it would cost you to replace it today, not its selling price or what you originally paid. Tools count at the current cost of replacing them new; only clothing, motorised vehicles, things you can't buy new and documents are valued differently. Our terms exclude our own liability for "lost profits or business interruption" (clause 30(a)), and nothing we publish says Contents Protection pays for them; that's for your business insurer. How a stock claim is settled isn't published, so ask us, and keep your purchase invoices.
If it's someone else's unit
The written request comes from the customer on the agreement (clause 48 says "receipt from You"). Where more than one contact is named on the agreement, notice from any one of them is enough (clause 39). If the customer has died, ring us on 0800 2545585 before anyone visits the unit; we'll need evidence of your authority as executor or administrator. See what happens to a unit when the renter dies.
Proving what you had and what it was worth
Keep receipts, or copies, away from the unit; photograph things as you pack them, including serial numbers; and keep an inventory with rough replacement costs. If receipts are gone, ask the insurer what else it accepts, such as photographs or bank statements.
Your goods must stay insured for the Replacement Value on your Cover Sheet (clause 31). That's the cost of replacing everything as new, though some goods, such as clothing and antiques, are valued differently (see how do I calculate a full replacement value? and how much contents cover you need). If what you store goes up in value, raise your declared value to match; how a change is made and when it takes effect isn't published; ring 0800 2545585 before you bring the extra goods in. Our terms require the declared value to cover everything in the unit.
Talk to us
Found damage or a break-in? Call us on 0800 2545585. For free, impartial advice on a dispute with an insurer, call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 0808 223 1133 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).
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