Overlocking is when a storage operator fits its own lock to a customer's unit so that the customer can't get in, usually because storage fees are overdue. Nothing is taken or sold: the goods stay where they are, locked away, until the debt is settled. Some units have a separate fixing point kept for the operator's lock, called the overlocking position.
At Wigwam
Clause 6 of our terms says that if any sum owing is "not paid when due", you authorise us "without further notice" to "refuse You and Your Agents access to the Goods, the Unit and the Facility and to overlock the Unit until the Debt has been paid in full" (clause 6(a)).
Separately, clause 15 lets us refuse you access to the unit or the whole site "where moneys are owing by You to Us, whether or not a formal demand for payment has been made".
Put plainly: under these clauses a single missed payment is enough for us to stop your access, and the terms give no grace period.
Clause 21 keeps the overlocking position for our lock: "You are not permitted to apply a padlock or other device to the Unit in Our overlocking position and We may have any such padlock or device forcefully cut off at Your expense." If your unit takes your own padlock, check which fixing point is yours before you fit it. Where your unit opens by smart entry, ask us how an overlock works at your site.
Overlocking vs lien
Overlocking is the step you'd see first: you can't get in, but nothing has been sold. The lien is the right behind it: our right under clause 6 to hold the goods as security and "ultimately" to sell them, after written notice directing you to pay (clause 8). Paying the debt in full ends the overlock (clause 6(a)).
If you know a payment will be late, or you find your unit overlocked, call us on 0800 2545585 as soon as you can.
Related terms: Lien · Late payment fee · Padlock · Deposit
Related questions: What happens if I pay late or can't afford this month's storage? · How do storage unit auctions work in the UK?