When you're between homes, upgrading, or downgrading your living situation, there are often times when you need the aide of a storage unit to help ease the transition and desist the clutter the clutter that can make any move more difficult. Acquiring a truck large enough to transport your belongings and pricing various storage businesses seems fairly simple, but when you get to the counter and the person in charge begins hard-selling you added services, you may begin to question what's going on – as well you should.
There are storage chains all over the country, as well as mom-and-pop places that don't always offer the introductory specials, but are usually quite fair and upfront about their prices. However, if you have ever had to deal with Public Storage, one of the nation's largest storage unit businesses, you may have found that your experience was less than convenient. In fact, over the past decade, so many consumer complaints have added up about failure to warn customers of rate hikes and faulty insurance practices that lawsuits have begun to mount against what may be one of the most angering insurance scandals in recent memory.
The scam is pretty simple. You are lured into Public Storage and its "$1 for the first month" introductory fee. Before you leave, however, the booking agent will attempt to sell you stronger locks, a heated unit, or perhaps storage unit insurance. Public Storage uses or has used three different third-party insurance companies for its customers and the result is a profit-sharing scam among them that has proven lawsuit-worthy on a growing number of occasions.
When a customer files a claim with an insurance company, an agent is generally sent out to inspect the damage and assess what may have happened. But with storage insurance at Public Storage, the agent asks you to send pictures and any broken locks. The agent then decides if there was "forced entry" and renders a decision. What customers found is that rarely was a decision ever made in their favor; and when they requested to have the locks sent back to them, the insurance companies refused.
At that point, many consumers cut their losses, or string out a back-and-forth battle and eventually settled for a fraction of what their possessions were originally worth. The insurance companies involved – Willis Insurance, New Hampshire Insurance, and Perfect Solution Storage Insurance – all have bad reviews from Public Storage customers, with Willis proving to be the most fraudulent and ineffectual. What customers should understand is that this is more than just an isolated incident, but that these faulty business practices have been going on for several years, throughout the country.
If you are the victim of a Public Storage and one of its third-party insurer's scams, you may have the opportunity to be part of a class action lawsuit. Please call the insurance bad faith attorneys at Dallas W. Hartman, P.C. at 800-777-4081 today for a free consultation. Do not let Public Storage and its poor business practices get the best of you and your family. Call today.