Here’s What Happens to Abandoned Storage Units…

Here’s What Happens to Abandoned Storage Units…

Although the vast majority of self storage customers pay their bill on time every month – and let the company know when they’d like to cancel their membership – this isn’t always the case. From time to time, customers will either miss their payments for an extended period of time or simply go off the radar and stop paying altogether.

Eventually, if the customer can’t pay or the storage company can’t get hold of them, their storage unit will be classified as abandoned. In this article, we’re going to take a look at what happens to these abandoned units and where the contents end up.

Clearing out abandoned units

When sufficient time has passed, and it’s clear that the customer isn’t going to continue paying for their storage unit, the company will gain entry to the unit and clear it out. All of the items will be removed from the room, allowing it to be rented out to another customer.

Meanwhile, the contents of the unit will be inspected to determine their value. If there’s nothing inside of any value, the contents will either be donated to charity or simply disposed of.

If, however, the store manager thinks that there’s anything in the unit with any value, it will be sold. This is a welcome bonus for the company, as it helps them reduce their losses following the customer’s skipped payments.

Do storage auctions happen in the UK?

In the same way as you might see on TV shows like Storage Wars or Storage Hunters? Nope. Mystery auctions where you can bid on the entire contents of a storage unit – without knowing what’s inside – simply don’t happen in reality.

Generally, the contents of a unit will be auctioned off in its entirety via eBay, with each bidder being aware of the contents before they place a bid. If there are any single items that are worth selling on their own, this will also be done via eBay or any other online platform.