So, self-storage, then

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

Anyone on here able to offer useful tips on self-storage companies? Like, which have the most flexible terms, best value for money etc.? Any horror stories? I'll shortly be looking to store some furniture (couple of beds, wardrobe, dining table, chest of drawers) for probably 12 to 18 months, ideally within the M25.

[wingco]

So, self-storage, then

I think you're looking at about £40-£50 a month.

[HORN]

So, self-storage, then

They came to pick my stuff up from the house as part of the service.

I popped down to the unit later on to find they had stored my mattresses end-up, so they were flopped over and would (I assume) have been damaged had they been left in that position for any length of time.

[WOM]

So, self-storage, then

How? Like all the springs would've slid to one end?

[HORN]

So, self-storage, then

I don't know. Elastic limits being reached, I suppose.

[Felicity, I guess so]

So, self-storage, then

We did this for two years while in Spain, and the local removal firm's warehouse (with individual units, own padlock etc) was about half the price of all those shiny red and yellow franchisey companies that have opened on an ind.est. near you. The price went up after a while as the insurance law changed, but it never went above £30 a month for us.

So I'd shop around/don't use the big boys

[DCI Harry Batt]

So, self-storage, then

Be careful with the big trolleys they have, you can give your shin a nasty gash.

[SpanglyPrincess]

So, self-storage, then

I pay £60 a month for mine, about 25sq m if I remember rightly

the main tip is: shop around for insurance. you have to have it, but if you buy direct from the company they sting you massively, get it from somewhere else

[ad hoc]

So, self-storage, then

Why are they called self-storage companies? You're not storing yourself, and you're not storing stuff yourself. Why is it not just storage companies?

[matt j]

So, self-storage, then

I knew there was a joke here about closing coffins, but hell if I could see it.

[Evariste Euler Gauss]

So, self-storage, then

Thanks all for the various tips. I think I've heard enough to make a decision that I'll simply be saying "fare well" to the bits of furniture which can't be squeezed into the remaining space at my fiancee's gaff: 12 to 18 months of charges at £50 per month will probably add up to as much as the remaining stuff is worth, after making the extra effort to push what I can through the front door (no tasteless metaphor intended) of my Lucky Lady.

With regard to ad hoc's terminological query, I expect the answer is that, contrary to ad hoc's assertion that "you're not storing stuff yourself", actually in the case of some companies (obviously not the one HORN used, admittedly) that is precisely what you are doing. It makes a big difference on the VAT front: the letting of a defined space for a period is VAT-exempt (under the VAT exemption for supplies of land) unless the landlord opts to charge VAT (which it might do for perfectly rational reasons I won't bore you with), whereas if the company does the whole shabang of actually lugging the stuff around for you as well as providing the space, that is VAT-able (and under VAT case law about "composite supplies" the service provider would not be allowed to carve out the space-letting element and charge separately for it to save VAT). The storage co - Big Yellow or Selfstore, can't remember which - which has a big depot on Pentonville road was boasting recently on a banner in front of its premises that there was no VAT on its charges.