Tag: house clearance

Builder starts Monday and the room’s still full — too late to sort it?

The kitchen fitters need a clear run from Monday. The dining room is still full. And somewhere between signing off the builder’s quote and now, nobody sorted the furniture.

If that is where you are this week, take a breath. It is not too late. This is exactly the situation local self storage is built for, and you can have it sorted in a matter of days.

Here is everything you need to know, in the order you need it.

[TRIAGE BLOCK – mobile-first, visible above fold on small screens]

Quick answers if you are short on time

• Can I start this week? Yes. Find your nearest location and get a quote at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk
• What is the minimum stay? Two weeks. If you leave early, unused days are refunded.
• Is there a deposit? Yes, refundable. It is returned after a 14-day notice once you have vacated and your account is settled.
• What are the access hours? Smart entry, 6am to 10pm, seven days a week.
• What size do I need? See the sizing section below, or put your details into the quote tool and it will guide you.

When the work is booked and the room needs clearing now

If the builder is booked and the room is not clear yet, you have not left it too late. Most Wigwam customers in your position have a unit sorted within the week, and the booking process is straightforward enough that you can have it agreed and confirmed in a single day.

The anxiety is understandable. You have a fixed start date, a contractor expecting an empty space, and a house full of furniture that has nowhere obvious to go. What you need is not a complex logistics plan; you need a calm, workable solution close enough to be practical. That is what a local unit does.

Why trades need an empty room, not just a tidy one

Tradespeople do not need your furniture moved to the corners. They need it gone. A plasterer working on a Victorian chimney breast needs unobstructed access to all four walls. Painters need floor-to-ceiling coverage. Flooring fitters need every stick of furniture out so they can work edge to edge and not carry the risk of scratching your pieces while they manoeuvre boards.

Beyond access, there is the question of protection. Construction dust travels further than you expect. It settles into fabric, coats timber, and finds its way through wardrobe doors. Paint overspray has a way of landing on exactly the piece you thought was safely covered. For period furniture, a dining table your grandmother bought in 1962 or a set of hall chairs with their original horsehair, the right answer is not a dust sheet in the corner. It is a clean, dry, individually alarmed unit with the door shut.

The most common avoidable mistake: clearing too late

The thing that catches most renovators out is not a failure to plan; it is leaving the clearance to the morning of. The van is booked for Sunday evening. The kitchen appointments start Monday at eight. Everything takes twice as long as expected, and the builder is already at the door when the last box goes in.

Book the unit a few days ahead of when you think you need it. Move things in on the Friday or Saturday. Arrive Monday morning knowing the room is clear, the furniture is safe, and one item on the list is already done. Storage should not be a scramble. If you book it this week, it will not be.

Where your things go while the work happens

The options for a renovation clear-out are broadly four: a self-storage unit, a portable container in the street, a borrowed garage, or a room elsewhere in the house. Each suits a different situation, and for a period-property clear-out, they are not equally good.

Indoor unit vs container in the street – which suits a period-property clear-out

A portable container dropped on your driveway or the road outside is a workable solution for some things. It is convenient for bulky building materials, rubble sacks, or garden equipment you need nearby. It is less ideal for the furniture that matters.

A metal container in the street is exposed to condensation and temperature swings. It offers no individual alarm. You are relying on the container’s lock and not much else.

An indoor unit at a Wigwam site is a different proposition. The units are clean, dry and secure. Each one is individually alarmed. Your grandmother’s sideboard is behind a locked unit door, within a secure building, with its own alarm. That is the honest answer to “what about dust and damage,” and it does not require any claim about climate control we cannot make. Clean, dry and individually alarmed is what we offer. For most period furniture and household goods, that is enough.

What to do with the things you cannot move

Very large pieces are a real consideration. A floor-to-ceiling bookcase may need to come down in sections. A grand piano is not going in a transit van for a six-week stay. For genuinely immovable pieces, you have two options: disassemble them where you can (most Victorian sideboards come apart at the back panels and legs), or stage them within the house in a room that is not being worked on, properly sheeted and away from the dust.

What Wigwam units are for is household goods: furniture, white goods, boxed personal effects, garden tools, stored clothes. We do not take vehicles, caravans, or leisure craft. If the project van needs somewhere to sit while the drive is ripped up, that is a conversation for a different type of storage.

How to protect what stays behind

Everything that cannot go into storage needs to be treated as if it might get dusty, knocked, or splashed. That means proper dust sheets (not bedding), sealed doorways with plastic sheeting taped at the frame, and anything fragile moved to the highest surface available and wrapped. Mirrors and picture glass should come off the walls entirely and go either into storage or flat-wrapped somewhere out of the work zone.

The contrast is worth naming. Everything in the unit has a locked door between it and the dust. Everything left in the house needs you to be its protection plan. The more you can move out, the less work the sheeting and taping has to do.

What size unit you need – one room or a whole house

A single furnished room typically fits in a 25 to 50 sq ft unit. A full four-bedroom house clear-out needs 150 sq ft or more. Here is a rough guide, though the quote tool at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk will give you a more accurate steer once you list what you are moving.

Sizing for a single room

A bedroom or study, cleared of bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers, and the usual accumulation of shelving and boxes, generally fits into a 25 to 35 sq ft unit if it is packed well. A living room with a three-piece suite, coffee table, bookshelves, and television typically needs 50 sq ft, sometimes more if the shelving is deep or there is a desk. The trick is to disassemble what you can. A wardrobe in three sections takes half the space of a wardrobe standing upright.

For a rough check before you call, see the pricing and size guide on the website. It walks you through the common unit sizes and what they hold, without locking you into a price before you are ready.

Sizing for a kitchen clear-out

Kitchens generate more bulk than most people expect. You have the appliances (fridge-freezer, washing machine, dishwasher), the wall and base units if they are being replaced, loose items from the drawers and worktops, and often a collection of things that have lived in the kitchen cupboards for a decade without anyone noticing. A kitchen clear-out frequently fills a 50 to 75 sq ft unit.

White goods and packaged goods store well in a clean, dry unit. The units are not temperature controlled, but a fridge in a dry, secure unit for four to six weeks is not at risk. Pack it empty, leave the door slightly open, and it will be fine.

Sizing for a full clear-out during a whole-house project

A whole-house renovation is a different scale of operation. The practical approach is to stage it: start with the room being worked on first, then rotate as each space is handed back. If you need to store a substantial portion of a house simultaneously, expect to need 100 to 150 sq ft for a three-bedroom house, more for a four-bedroom with loft contents. Again, the quote tool takes the guesswork out of it, and there is no cost for getting a quote.

Packing and protecting furniture before the trades arrive

Disassemble what you can, label every piece by the destination room, and move things out the day before the builder arrives, not the morning of. That one change reduces the stress of a renovation start day more than almost anything else.

What to disassemble, what to leave whole, and how to label it

Flat-pack furniture is straightforward: break it down to its boards and bag the fixings together with a label. Period joinery is a different matter. A solid-wood dresser from the 1920s often comes apart at the back panel and the feet. Do not force joinery that has set over decades; instead, wrap it in moving blankets and move it whole on a sack truck.

Mirrors and picture glass need to be wrapped individually in cardboard or bubble wrap, marked as fragile, and stood upright in the unit, never laid flat with weight on top. Label everything by the room it came from, not just by what it is. “Kitchen” on a box is useful. “Kitchen – right-hand cupboard above the sink” is more useful when you come back for one specific thing mid-renovation.

Packing blankets and stretch wrap are worth buying rather than borrowing. They go back into the unit with the furniture and protect it throughout the stay.

What not to store – and the contents-protection check

Wigwam units are for household goods. Prohibited items include anything flammable or hazardous, perishables, living things, and any vehicle including motorbikes. If you are clearing a loft, check the boxes before they go in: aerosol tins, old paint cans, and fuel canisters need to be disposed of before the move, not stored.

Contents protection is mandatory at Wigwam. You can take the Wigwam policy (RSA-backed, New-for-Old), or you can prove your own cover is in place. Either way, you will need to declare the full replacement value of what you are storing, not the purchase price or a conservative estimate. Under-insurance is settled in proportion to the shortfall. For antiques, period pieces, and anything that would be expensive or irreplaceable to replace, take the time to value it properly before you book.

Worth knowing: the policy covers theft after forcible entry to the unit, and excludes damage from atmospheric conditions. Read the detail at wigwamstorage.co.uk/contents-protection/ before you make a decision. We will point you there; the advice is yours to take.

The move-in logistics – van hire, timing, and using your smart entry access

Your unit is ready from the start date on your booking. Smart entry means you can arrive from 6am, seven days, and go straight to your unit. No need to call ahead, wait for a member of the team, or arrange a handover.

If you are hiring a van, book it for the day before the builder starts and move things in the evening or the following morning. This gives you a clear site by the time the trades arrive without a panicked same-day scramble.

One important note on deliveries: Wigwam sites are unmanned. We cannot sign for courier deliveries or builder drop-offs on your behalf. If a courier is sending something to your unit address, or a contractor is dropping materials, someone from your household needs to be there in person to receive it. Plan deliveries around your own access windows, not around a staffed reception that does not exist.

Short stays – the two-week minimum and what happens to unused days

The minimum stay is two weeks. If you leave before your billing period ends, the unused days are refunded. That is the straightforward version. Here is what it means in practice for a renovation stay.

How the two-week minimum and refund of unused days works

Renovation timelines slip in both directions. Trades finish a week early and hand back the keys on a Friday. Or a delivery runs late, the tiles have not arrived, and the kitchen fit pushes back by ten days. The Wigwam terms are built to flex around both.

If the project finishes sooner than expected, you clear the unit, give notice, and any unused days on your billing cycle are refunded. You are not paying for storage you are not using. If the project runs over, you simply continue. There is no penalty for a longer stay and no need to renegotiate. Just keep using the unit until the room is ready, then clear it when you are done.

The two-week minimum is the starting point. For most renovation projects, the actual stay is four to eight weeks. The pricing page at wigwamstorage.co.uk/how-much-is-self-storage-in-the-uk gives you a cost framework without binding you to anything.

The deposit, the 14-day notice, and what comes back to you

There is a deposit to take the unit. It is refundable. Once you are ready to vacate, you give 14 days notice, clear your belongings out, and once the account is settled, the deposit is returned. Nothing complicated, nothing that disappears into administration.

The 14-day notice is a separate step from clearing the unit. Give notice, then use those final days to make your last collection trips, then vacate. The deposit returns after you have left and the account is confirmed clear. Full terms at wigwamstorage.co.uk/terms-conditions/.

Ready to get a quote this week? Start at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk. Free, fast, and no commitment until you are ready.

What you can and cannot store with us

We store household goods. Not vehicles, not leisure equipment, not business stock arriving on pallets. Here is the full picture, because knowing the limits in advance is more useful than finding out later.

Household goods, furniture, and the contents of your renovation

For a home renovation clear-out, Wigwam units cover virtually everything you will be moving: furniture, soft furnishings, white goods, boxed kitchen contents, tools, garden equipment, clothing in boxes or on rails, books, and personal effects. If it came out of a house and it is not hazardous, it almost certainly qualifies.

White goods store well in a clean, dry unit for the duration of a typical renovation stay. Pack them empty, defrost the fridge-freezer before it goes in, and they will come out the other side in the same condition they went in.

What we do not take – vehicles and the climate-control question

We do not store vehicles of any kind. No cars, no motorbikes, no caravans, no boats. If the renovation means the garage is out of commission and you need somewhere for the car, that is a specialist service. What we offer is for household goods only.

We also do not offer climate-controlled storage. The AI Mode summaries and some competitor pages recommend “climate-controlled units for electronics and artwork.” Our honest answer is this: the units are clean, dry and secure, individually alarmed, inside a secure building. That combination protects furniture, electronics, and stored goods from dust, humidity and opportunistic damage throughout a typical UK renovation window. What it does not do is maintain a set temperature or humidity band. If you are storing a museum-quality oil painting or a humidity-sensitive instrument, that is a different conversation for a specialist storage provider. For Victorian sideboards, kitchen white goods, boxed personal effects and solid-wood furniture, our units do the job.

Contents protection – what it means for period pieces

This is worth reading carefully if you are storing anything you could not easily replace. The Wigwam contents-protection policy is underwritten by RSA and operates on a New-for-Old basis. You can take it directly or prove your own equivalent cover is in place.

Declare the full replacement value. Not the price you paid in 1995, and not a cautious underestimate to keep the premium manageable. If you under-insure and make a claim, the settlement is reduced in proportion to the shortfall. A sideboard valued at £1,000 for insurance purposes that would actually cost £3,000 to replace is insured for one-third of its value in the event of a total loss.

The policy covers theft following forcible entry to the unit. Atmospheric damage is excluded. For the specific terms, exclusions, and what you need to provide to prove your own cover, see wigwamstorage.co.uk/contents-protection/. We point; the decision is yours.

Getting in and out – smart entry, 6am to 10pm, and handling deliveries

You can access your unit any day between 6am and 10pm using smart entry. No need to call ahead, arrange a time, or wait for a member of the team to let you in.

How smart entry works and when you can use it

Smart entry means you use your access credentials to open the site gate and your unit directly. If you need to grab a specific tool the builder mentioned he will need tomorrow morning, you can be there at 6am and back before the work starts. If a final load comes in after an evening trip to the house, you can drop it in at 9pm. The hours cover the working day and either side of it, which for a renovation project is usually enough.

What smart entry does not mean is 24-hour access. The site operates from 6am to 10pm and not outside those hours. Plan your collection and drop-off trips accordingly.

The sites are self-service. You access your own unit; you manage your own belongings. Team members at specific locations, such as Selina and the team at our market-town sites, are available for customer enquiries through the normal channels, but the site itself is accessed independently.

Deliveries, couriers and builder drop-offs

This is the one area where a clear understanding prevents real frustration.

Wigwam sites are unmanned. If a courier is delivering to your unit, or your builder wants to drop materials or equipment at the site, someone from your household must be there in person to meet them. Wigwam will not sign for deliveries, take packages on your behalf, or receive goods from contractors. There is nobody on site to do so.

If you are planning to use the unit as a staging point for renovation materials, coordinate the delivery timing so that you or someone you have authorised can be there to receive it. It is a simple arrangement once you know to plan for it.

Accessing your unit safely during the renovation period

Each unit is individually alarmed. The site is secure. The combination gives you the confidence to know that what you have put in is protected when you are not there.

A useful habit for a renovation stay is to plan your retrieval trips rather than make them on impulse. Make a running list of what you are likely to need during the renovation and retrieve in batches: tools on the Friday, specific boxes mid-week, and so on. It keeps the number of trips manageable and reduces the chance of needing to make an unplanned journey outside your usual schedule.

Find your nearest Wigwam and get a quote this week

Wigwam Self Storage has locations across UK market towns. If your renovation is in or near one of them, you can have a unit agreed and ready before the builder arrives, often within the same week you enquire.

Our market-town locations – and how to find the nearest one

Two locations with confirmed pages are Wigwam Self Storage Bath in Somerset and Wigwam Self Storage Lincoln in Lincolnshire. For the full list of our UK market-town locations, including Cheltenham, Tewkesbury, Marlow, Reading and others, see the locations hub and find the one nearest your renovation.

The pattern is consistent across the network: clean, dry and secure units, individually alarmed, smart entry 6am to 10pm, same short-stay terms wherever you book. The nearest Wigwam is the right Wigwam.

What the quote covers and what happens next

Getting a quote is free and takes a few minutes. Have ready: the address or town of the renovation, a rough list of what you are moving (one room, a kitchen, a whole house), and the likely move-in date. The quote tool at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk walks you through the rest.

For cost context before you get to the quote stage, the pricing page sets out what units cost by size and stay duration. No prices are listed on this page, because the right number depends on your location, your unit size, and your dates. The quote gives you a real figure, not a range.

Once the quote is agreed and the paperwork is done, the unit is yours from the start date. Smart entry credentials are set up before you arrive. You turn up, you go in, you start filling the unit.

The builder starts Monday. Get the quote sorted today at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk.

The things you move out of the room are not going far. They are in a clean, dry, alarmed unit a short drive away, waiting for the work to finish. When the plasterer hands back the keys and the paint dries, everything comes back to where it belongs. The renovation is not about clearing your home. It is about keeping what matters safe long enough for the house to catch up with it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How quickly can a unit actually be ready if I only sort it the weekend before?

In most cases, fast enough. The booking itself takes minutes through the quote tool, and once the paperwork is agreed and the smart entry is set up, the unit is yours from the start date. Plenty of customers in your position have a unit confirmed and ready to load within the same week they enquire, and a Friday booking for a weekend move is a common pattern rather than a tall order. The sites run on smart entry, so there is no reception to coincide with and no key handover to arrange in person.

Two things speed it along. First, get a quote with your details ready: the town of the renovation, a rough list of what you are moving, and your likely move-in day. That lets us confirm the right size and location quickly. Second, sort the contents cover at the same time, because cover has to be in place before goods go in, and it is the step people forget in a rush. Take the Wigwam RSA policy or have proof of your own ready.

The one thing not to leave to the actual day is the setup. Get the booking and the smart entry credentials sorted before the weekend, so everything is live when you arrive with the van. Then you simply turn up within the 6am to 10pm window and start loading. The access does not depend on the calendar, a Saturday or Sunday move-in is the same as any weekday, but the booking admin is best done in advance rather than in the car park.

What if I genuinely cannot clear the whole room before Monday?

Clear what you can, and prioritise by what the trades actually need gone and what is most at risk. Tradespeople need an empty room, not a tidy one, so the first things out are whatever blocks their access to the walls and floor they are working on. After that, the priority is anything you would hate to see damaged: period furniture, anything with a polished or upholstered surface, mirrors and picture glass. Those go to the unit even if some lower-value bulk has to stay behind under sheeting for a day or two.

If a full clear is not possible by the start date, talk to the builder about a phased start. Many jobs begin in one part of a room or one room of a larger project, which buys you a day or two to move the rest. A staged clear is far better than a panicked one: smart entry runs 6am to 10pm, seven days, so you can add loads in the evenings after the first day’s work and over the following days as you free things up. The unit does not have to be filled in one go.

What must not stay is anything fragile or valuable left in the active work zone. The contrast holds: everything in the unit has a locked, alarmed door between it and the dust, while everything left behind depends on your sheeting and taping to survive. So if you are short on time, get the irreplaceable things out first and let the robust, easily cleaned items wait. You can always bring them across on a later trip once the first rush is over.

Can the builder hold access or a key so they can move things for me?

No, and it is worth being clear about why before you make any arrangement. Access is by smart entry tied to the account holder, and the sites are unmanned, so there is no spare key to hand over and no member of staff to let a third party in. Wigwam does not hold keys, does not open units, and does not sign for or receive deliveries. The unit is yours, and access to it stays with you.

If you want a builder, a removals crew or anyone else to bring goods to the unit or move things in, the rule is simple: someone from your side must be there in person to let them in and oversee it. You cannot leave a contractor to load the unit unsupervised, and you cannot arrange for materials to be dropped at the site while nobody from your household is present. There is no reception to take them in. Plan any delivery or move-in around a window when you, or someone you trust from your household, can be on site.

This is not a Wigwam quirk; it is how almost all self storage works, and it is what keeps your goods in your control rather than anyone else’s. State it plainly to your builder so they do not assume otherwise and turn up expecting a staffed site. If the builder needs to retrieve a specific item mid-renovation, the practical answer is to arrange to meet them at the unit, or fetch it yourself and take it to the house.

What happens if the renovation over-runs and I need the unit longer than planned?

You simply keep it, with no penalty and nothing to renegotiate. The two-week minimum is the starting commitment, not a fixed term, and after that the unit continues for as long as the job needs. Renovations over-run more often than they finish early, so the terms are built to absorb that: you carry on using the unit, the billing continues at the same rate, and there is no awkward conversation about extending. For most renovation stays the real duration ends up being four to eight weeks rather than the two-week floor.

There is no need to predict the end date when you book. When the work finally finishes and the room is ready to receive its contents again, that is when you act: give 14 days notice, clear the unit, and once the account is settled your refundable deposit comes back. If you happen to finish earlier than your current paid period, the unused days are refunded, so an over-run that then resolves quickly does not cost you a part-period you did not use.

The practical upshot is that you should book around the start date, which you know, and not worry about pinning the end, which you do not. Smart entry from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, means you can keep using the unit on your own schedule throughout, however long the build drags on. When the house finally catches up, the exit is clean: notice, vacate, settle, deposit back.

What if I get to the unit and realise I have underestimated the size?

It happens more than people admit, because a room of furniture takes up more space than it looks, and it is usually fixable. If you find on the day that the unit is too tight, speak to the support team about moving to a larger size at the same location, subject to availability. They handle sizing and availability, so they can tell you what the next size up holds and whether one is free. In a busy season availability is not guaranteed, which is the argument for booking a size up if you are genuinely unsure.

You can also often win back space with better packing before you conclude the unit is too small. Disassemble what comes apart: a wardrobe in sections takes half the floor space of one standing whole, table legs come off, bed frames break down to flat boards stood against the wall. Stand sofas and mattresses on their sides. Use the full height with stable, uniform stacks rather than spreading everything across the floor. A surprising amount of an apparent overflow disappears once the unit is packed properly rather than piled.

The general guidance, a single room in roughly 25 to 50 sq ft, a kitchen clear-out in 50 to 75, a whole three-bedroom house in 100 to 150, is a starting point, not a promise, because contents vary. If you are between two sizes and the move is last-minute, the safer call is the larger one: you can consolidate later, but you cannot conjure floor space that is not there when the van is already loaded. The quote tool gives a steer once you list what you are moving, so the fewer surprises on the day the better.

The ground floor has to be cleared before the walls can dry — but to where?

The loss adjuster has been. The schedule of works is sitting on the kitchen table. The builders are coming Thursday, and the instruction is clear: the ground floor has to be cleared before they can start drying the walls. Standing in the hallway looking at a room’s worth of furniture, the paperwork question matters far less than the physical one. Where does it all go?

That is the question this guide answers. Not the theory of home insurance, not the small print in general terms. Just a calm, plain walkthrough of what typically happens when a property has to be emptied for repair, what your insurer may cover, what the real limits are, and how a local self storage unit fits into the picture without adding another complication to an already complicated week.

If you are mid-claim and need to act now

• Speak to your loss adjuster or insurer before you book storage. Get written approval and confirm what your policy covers.
• Check your time cap. Many policies limit off-site storage cover to 30 to 60 days. Ask explicitly.
• Check your value cap. Stored contents cover is often limited to around 10 percent of your total contents sum insured.
• When you are ready to book, start a quote at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk.

When the house has to come out for repairs

The practical reality comes first: after a covered loss, the goods often have to leave the property before the builders can start. Understanding the typical order helps you stay one step ahead of the schedule.

The order of events after a covered loss

After a flood, fire, storm or escape of water, the insurer typically appoints a loss adjuster to assess the damage and issue a schedule of works. That schedule will usually define which areas of the property need to be cleared, and for how long. Drying out walls after water ingress can take weeks. Structural work may follow. The builders cannot safely work around furniture, and some remediation processes actively require the space to be clear. The loss adjuster or insurer’s project manager will advise on timing, but it is worth asking them explicitly: how long do you estimate the property will need to be vacated, and does the storage cost fall within the claim?

What goods typically need to move, and what can stay

A partial decant, one flooded room cleared while the rest of the house remains liveable, is simpler than it sounds. The affected room comes out. Everything else stays put. A full house decant, where the whole property has to be emptied, is a bigger job and a bigger unit. What your builders actually need clear will depend on the scope of the works, so ask them directly before you commit to a unit size. It saves paying for more space than you need, or making two trips because the first unit was too small.

When self storage is the right answer, and when it is not

A purpose-built, individually alarmed storage unit is not the only option, but it tends to be the one insurers are most comfortable approving. Informal arrangements, a friend’s garage, a spare room at a family member’s house, may not count as commercial storage for the purposes of your contents cover. Some insurers will specify that goods must be held in a licensed commercial facility for the stored-contents extension to apply. A monitored, alarmed unit with a proper rental agreement also gives you documentary evidence for the claim. That matters when you are submitting invoices and receipts to the loss adjuster later.

Will my insurer pay for the storage?

The honest answer is: often yes, partly, subject to the cause of the damage and your specific policy, but not automatically and not without conditions. The conditions are the bit worth understanding before you book.

Where storage sits in your policy

Most buildings and contents policies that include Alternative Accommodation cover will extend to off-site storage of household contents when the property has to be vacated following a covered event. Some policies handle it under the Alternative Accommodation clause directly. Others treat it under a Personal Possessions or contents extension. The mechanism varies by insurer and policy. What matters is that it only applies to a covered event: flood, fire, storm damage, escape of water. It does not apply to goods placed in storage for other reasons. Your policy wording will specify the clause and the limits. If you are not sure which clause covers you, your loss adjuster should be able to tell you.

This guide reflects general practice in England and Wales. Insurance policy terms and the claims process may differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Check with your own insurer, and for disputes contact the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Speak to your loss adjuster or insurer before you book

This step matters more than any other in the sequence. Prior approval from your insurer or loss adjuster is almost always a condition of the storage cost being covered. Booking first and asking later risks being told the cost is not reimbursable. Get the approval in writing before you sign a storage agreement. Ask specifically: does the policy cover the full cost of a commercial storage unit, or is there a cap per week or per month? Is there a list of approved storage providers, or can you choose your own? Wigwam’s terms are plain and shareable: refundable deposit, 14-day notice period, pricing referenced at how much is self storage in the UK, and a formal rental agreement available to pass to your loss adjuster.

Ready to book a unit? Start a quote at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk. The quote is free, there is no obligation, and the team can advise on size and your nearest location.

The caps that catch people out: time and value limits

Two limits sit inside most home insurance policies on this, and neither one is prominently labelled. They are worth knowing before you book, not after.

Time caps on off-site storage cover

Most policies that cover off-site storage during a repair will impose a time cap, often 30 to 60 days, sometimes less. If the repair overruns, which it frequently does, you may find the insurer stops covering the storage cost before the builders have finished. Ask your insurer or loss adjuster for the exact figure, and then compare it against the schedule of works. If the schedule says 10 weeks and the policy covers 8 weeks of storage, you are planning to self-fund the gap. Better to know that now. Wigwam operates a two-week minimum stay. If the repair finishes earlier than expected, unused days are refunded. That flexibility matters in a claim where the timeline shifts.

Value caps on stored contents

Alongside the time cap, many policies impose a value cap on contents held off-site. It is often expressed as a percentage of your total contents sum insured, and figures around 10 percent are not unusual. If your total contents sum is £40,000, that cap may limit the policy’s coverage of stored goods to £4,000. If the contents of your home are worth significantly more than that, you may need additional protection. Wigwam’s contents protection policy sits alongside your buildings claim, not instead of it, and is designed to fill that gap. Check your own policy schedule before assuming the full value of your household goods is covered in storage.

What storage costs if you are paying yourself

If the insurer does not cover storage, or only covers it partially, it helps to know what you are looking at. Wigwam does not quote prices on this page because the cost depends on unit size and the length of stay. A full guide to what self storage costs in the UK is on the Wigwam site. The two main variables are how much space you need and how long you need it. The two-week minimum applies, and unused days are refunded if you leave before your planned end date.

Choosing the right unit size for a house decant

A rule of thumb, and it is only a rule of thumb: a 25 to 35 sq ft unit will take the contents of one or two rooms. A 50 to 75 sq ft unit works for a larger partial decant or a modest full house. A full house clearance with furniture typically needs 75 to 150 sq ft, depending on how much furniture you have and how carefully it is packed. If in doubt, the team at Wigwam can help you work through the estimate before you commit.

Matching unit size to the scope of the repair

The most important input is the schedule of works. If the builders are drying out one flooded room, a smaller unit may well be enough. If the whole ground floor is coming out, or the property needs to be fully vacated, factor in beds, sofas, white goods and everything from the kitchen and reception rooms. Packing efficiently, using boxes rather than loose items where possible, stretches the space further and protects the goods better. Fragile or sentimental items should go in early, clearly labelled, and be accessible if you need to retrieve something mid-repair.

Planning access during the repair

You may need to get in and out of the unit during the works, to retrieve a document, a piece of equipment, or something a family member needs. Access at Wigwam runs 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, by smart entry. That is a long enough window to work around most builder schedules. Wigwam sites are unmanned. That means Ian himself, or someone from his side, needs to be present if a removals company is dropping off goods. Wigwam does not receive goods on your behalf, sign for deliveries, or accept items from a third party without you there. Plan the move-in day accordingly, and brief your removal firm.

Keeping your goods covered once they are in the unit

Getting your belongings into a dry, individually alarmed unit is step one. Making sure they are insured while they are there is step two, and it is a separate question from the buildings claim itself.

Your contents cover in storage, and the Wigwam RSA policy

Contents protection is mandatory at Wigwam. Either take Wigwam’s RSA Self Storage Customers’ Goods policy, or provide evidence that your own policy extends to goods in commercial storage. The RSA policy operates on a New-for-Old basis with a £50 excess. You declare the full replacement value of your stored goods; if you understate the value and need to claim, the settlement is proportional to the shortfall. Theft is covered, but only where there is evidence of forcible entry. Atmospheric and climatic damage is excluded from the policy.

That last exclusion deserves a plain note. If your home has just flooded and you are moving goods into a storage unit, the exclusion applies to the unit, not to the event that brought the goods there. Your goods are going into a clean, dry, secure unit. The RSA policy covers them against loss or damage in that unit. It does not retroactively cover flood damage that occurred at the property. The buildings claim handles that. The two sit alongside each other and cover different things. Your insurer or loss adjuster can advise on how they interact. For full details of the Wigwam policy, see the contents protection page.

Clean, dry and secure: what that means in practice

Wigwam’s units are individually alarmed, clean, dry and secure. That is the real claim, and it is the one that matters most to someone moving goods out of a flooded or fire-damaged property. The units are maintained to stay dry. They are not marketed as climate-controlled, temperature-controlled or humidity-controlled, because Wigwam does not make those claims. What they are is solidly built, consistently maintained, and monitored. For household goods coming out of a damaged property, dry and alarmed is what counts.

How Wigwam works, in plain terms

The terms are not complicated, and they are not hidden. Here is what you actually sign up for.

Deposit, notice and refund of unused days

There is a refundable deposit. After your stay, when you give 14 days’ notice to vacate and leave with your account settled, the deposit is returned. The notice period and the unit vacated are both required before the deposit comes back. There is a two-week minimum stay. If the repair finishes earlier than planned and you want to leave before your contracted end date, unused days are refunded. That matters in a claim context because repair timelines often shift. Full terms are at wigwamstorage.co.uk/terms-conditions.

Smart entry, access hours and what unmanned means for deliveries

Access is 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, by smart entry. The sites are unmanned. There is no on-site manager to meet you, but access is straightforward once you are set up. If you are arranging a removals company to bring your goods in, you or someone from your household needs to be there. The removals crew cannot simply drop off the goods and leave; a responsible person from your side has to be present. Wigwam does not hold keys on your behalf or sign for goods.

Finding your nearest market-town location

Wigwam operates across our UK market-town locations. Wigwam Self Storage Lincoln in Lincolnshire and Wigwam Self Storage Bath in Somerset are two examples. For the full list, including locations closer to other parts of the country, the locations hub is the place to start. When you are clearing a household at short notice, a local unit makes a practical difference.

What to do this week: a simple checklist before you book

If the loss adjuster has been and the builders are coming, here is the order of steps.

The pre-booking steps

1. Confirm with your loss adjuster or insurer that storage costs are covered. Get written confirmation. Ask for the time cap, the value cap, and whether they require you to use a specific provider or just a commercial facility.

2. Check your own contents cover. Does your policy extend to goods held in commercial off-site storage? To what value? Is there a time limit separate from the Alternative Accommodation clause?

3. Work out how much needs to move and roughly how long for. A partial decant of one room is a small unit. A full house clearance is a larger one. Match the unit size to the scope of the works, not to an optimistic estimate.

4. Book the unit before the builders arrive. Reserve at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk. Starting a quote is free and takes a few minutes.

5. Arrange contents protection for the unit. Take Wigwam’s RSA policy or provide evidence of your own cover. Declare the full replacement value of what you are storing. Details at wigwamstorage.co.uk/contents-protection.

6. Keep all receipts. Storage rental agreements, removal invoices, any related costs. Your insurer may reimburse them, but they will need the paperwork. Wigwam can issue a formal rental agreement for the claim file.

A note on jurisdiction: This guide reflects general practice in England and Wales. Insurance policy law and the claims process may differ in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Always check with your own insurer and solicitor, and for disputes, contact the Financial Ombudsman Service (verify current contact details at financial-ombudsman.org.uk before publishing).

Who to call if you have a claim dispute

If your insurer refuses to cover the storage costs and you believe they should, the Financial Ombudsman Service is the free, independent escalation route for UK consumers. Wigwam cannot adjudicate claims, advise on policy interpretation or represent you in a dispute with your insurer. What the team here can do is provide documentation of your storage agreement and costs if your insurer requests it. The Financial Ombudsman Service can be found at financial-ombudsman.org.uk (verify current URL before publishing).

Ready to book? Start with a quote

The one thing left to do is reserve the unit before the builders arrive. Everything else in this guide is preparation. The booking is the decision that sorts it.

How to get a quote and what to expect

Start at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk. The quote is the starting point. Once you have it, the team can advise on the right unit size and confirm your nearest location. Wigwam’s terms apply from day one: refundable deposit, 14-day notice to vacate, refund of unused days if you leave early, two-week minimum. No surprises mid-claim. Pricing is referenced at wigwamstorage.co.uk/how-much-is-self-storage-in-the-uk. Full terms are at wigwamstorage.co.uk/terms-conditions.

Keeping the paperwork your insurer will need

Once the unit is booked, keep the rental agreement somewhere accessible. The same goes for removal invoices and any other costs connected to the decant. When the repair completes and you move back in, your insurer or loss adjuster will want the receipts to settle that part of the claim. Wigwam can issue documentation at any point during your stay. It is the last administrative step before the house is yours again.

When you are ready to book, start at quote.wigwamstorage.co.uk.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I photograph my belongings before they go into storage during a claim?

Yes, and do it before anything moves. A dated photographic record of each item as it leaves the property is one of the most useful things you can create during a claim, and almost nobody thinks to do it until later. Take a clear shot of every significant piece of furniture, every box once it is packed, and anything fragile or high in value. Note any pre-existing marks or damage so there is no confusion later about what happened where. This serves two separate purposes. First, it supports the buildings claim itself, because the loss adjuster may want evidence of the condition and contents of the affected rooms. Second, it protects you under the contents protection policy on the unit. If you ever needed to claim for loss or damage that happened in the unit, a before-and-after record makes the position plain. Keep the photographs somewhere backed up, not just on a single phone that could be lost in the upheaval of a move. A simple folder in your cloud storage, with the date in the file name, is enough. Pair the photographs with an itemised list and the replacement values you have declared on your contents cover, and you have a complete record that works for both the buildings claim and the storage policy. It costs nothing and takes an hour. In a process that can run for months, that hour is well spent.

What happens to the storage cost if my insurance claim is rejected?

If the claim is rejected, the storage cost falls to you, which is exactly why the written-approval step matters so much before you book. An insurer can decline to cover storage for reasons that have nothing to do with the storage itself: the cause of damage may fall outside the policy, a condition may not have been met, or the claim may be disputed entirely. None of that changes your agreement with us. Your unit is yours on the same plain terms whether the insurer pays or not: a refundable deposit, a two-week minimum stay, and a refund of unused days if you give your notice and leave early. So if a claim is rejected partway through, you are not locked into a long contract. You can give 14 days’ notice, clear the unit, and recover your deposit and any unused days once the account is settled. If you want to keep the unit and self-fund it, the rolling arrangement simply continues at the same rate. What we cannot do is advise you on the rejection or argue the claim on your behalf. The team here handles storage matters only: sizing, access, pricing and invoicing. For a disputed decision, the Financial Ombudsman Service is the free, independent route for UK consumers, and we can supply your rental agreement and cost documentation for that file if you need it.

Can I rent a unit before the loss adjuster has confirmed cover?

You can, but think carefully about the order. There is nothing stopping you booking a unit today, and sometimes the builders’ schedule forces your hand before the paperwork has caught up. The risk is purely about who pays. If you book and move in before your insurer or loss adjuster has confirmed in writing that the storage cost is covered, you may find later that it is not reimbursable, or that you have chosen a provider or arrangement that falls outside what the policy allows. Some policies require a licensed commercial facility, some cap the cost, and a few specify approved providers. So the safe sequence is to get the written approval first. Where that is genuinely not possible because of timing, our terms work in your favour: the two-week minimum is short, the deposit is refundable, and unused days are refunded if you leave early. That means booking ahead of confirmation carries limited downside on our side, even if the worst happens and the insurer later declines the cost. If you are in that position, keep every document from day one: the rental agreement, the move-in date, removal invoices. The moment cover is confirmed, you want the paperwork ready to submit rather than reconstructed weeks later.

What if the repair finishes earlier than my insurer’s approved storage period?

Then you stop paying for storage you are not using, and that is straightforward here. Insurers often approve a block of storage time, say eight weeks, but a repair can wrap up sooner than the schedule of works suggested. With us, you are not tied to that approved block. We operate a two-week minimum stay, and beyond that the arrangement is rolling. When the house is ready and you want your belongings back, you give 14 days’ notice, clear the unit, settle the account, and any unused days you have already paid for are refunded. So if your insurer approved and paid for eight weeks but the repair finished at week five, you are not stuck holding an empty unit to the end of the approved period. One point worth raising with your loss adjuster: ask how the refund of unused days interacts with what the insurer has reimbursed. If the insurer paid the storage cost directly and you then receive a refund of unused days, the insurer may expect that refund to be passed back or accounted for. That is a question for them, not for us, because we settle the refund to whoever paid the invoice on the account. Keeping the loss adjuster informed of your actual move-out date keeps that side of the claim clean.

Can I store goods from a room while still living in the rest of the house?

Yes, and that partial arrangement is one of the most common reasons people come to us during a claim. A flood or an escape of water often affects one or two rooms while the rest of the house stays liveable. There is no requirement to empty the whole property. You clear only the affected rooms, move those contents into a unit sized for them, and carry on living upstairs or in the unaffected part of the house while the builders work. A 25 to 35 square foot unit will usually take the contents of one or two rooms, so a partial decant tends to mean a smaller, cheaper unit than a full house clearance. Access is 6am to 10pm, seven days a week, by smart entry, so you can retrieve something from the unit if you realise mid-repair that you need it. A couple of practical notes. Pack and label by room, because when that room is finished you will want to restore it in one go rather than hunting through everything. And keep anything you might need during the works near the front of the unit. If the scope later grows and more rooms have to come out, you can move up to a larger unit. Speak to the team about availability before you assume the bigger size is free.