What You Can and Can’t Store

While storage, either with a self-storage or moving storage company, is recognised as a practical and easy solution to the problems that moving can sometimes throw up, it is worth noting that not everything can be locked away for another day. There are strict rules regarding what you can store in a storage facility, rules are that prompted by health, security and safety concerns.

Of course, this is important to everyone concerned. Accidents can happen and in light of the possibility of someone getting hurt or your property and others’ being destroyed, these rules are strictly enforced. It also counts for a lot when it comes to insurance matters, with claims relating to damaged property often failing to be accepted because of the presence of hazardous items among the items being stored.

It is equally important to label and organize everything properly once they are brought into storage. Everything should remain in their boxes, although there are some items that you may wish to bring away with you from time to time. However, a storage unit is not a bedroom and it is crucial that it remains organized.

But what can you store and what can’t you store? There is a long list of items that you are permitted to store but an equally lengthy list that you cannot, both for legal and security reasons. Those items that are permissible to store include all of the common items that you’d expect, as well as a few that you might not have expected at all. Those which are not permissible hardly come as a surprise as they are inflammable or very dangerous.

Some Permissible Items to Place in Storage

Furniture/Antiques
Clothing
Toys
Documents
Books/Records etc
Vehicles
Musical Instruments
Medical Equipment
Canned Food

Some Non-permissible Items to Place in Storage

Hazardous/Combustible Materials
(includes gasoline, charcoal, acid, lighter fluid, bleach, aerosols, fertilizer, car batteries, paints, fireworks, chemistry sets, pesticides, propane or oxygen tanks, kerosene)
Illegal/Stolen items
Weapons/Ammunition
Explosives
Narcotics
Radioactive Substances
Toxic/Biological waste
Perishable Food
Animals/Plants

Extraordinary Items

There some items that fall into the category of extraordinary items. These may not be illegal or dangerous but perhaps it is not advisable to store them along with your furniture and old toys. They could be particularly sensitive items, like legal or business documents, or have extremely high value that regular insurance policies cannot cover.

In each case it would be better to find a more secure place to store these items. While the price may be higher, it would probably be justified. Despite every attempt to keep their contents safe, storage units are not designed to keep eager jewellery thieves out.

Examples of extraordinary items would be: High Value Items like expensive jewellery, works of art, paintings, sculptures and rare antiques; Personal/Security Documentation like business documents, legal documents, security information or personal letters or communication.

Keeping your property secure and safe is a priority for every storage service provider, regardless of whether it is a self-storage or moving storage company. That’s why abiding by the rules of what is permissible and not is important. If you have any further questions on this area, you can contact our customer service desk, where our personnel will be only too happy to fill you in.