Customer Goods Legal Liability
Customer Goods Legal Liability (also called Self-Storage Legal Liability, or SSLL) covers your legal liability when a tenant's stored belongings are damaged by a covered peril you're responsible for — such as a roof leak, water intrusion, fire, or pest infestation.
Customer Goods Legal Liability (SSLL) for Self-Storage
Your rental agreement almost certainly states that tenants store goods at their own risk — but agreements don't always hold, and a sympathetic claimant with water-damaged furniture or a mold-ruined heirloom can still pursue you. Customer Goods Legal Liability (Self-Storage Legal Liability) responds when you are found legally liable for damage to a tenant's stored property from a covered cause of loss.
This is a coverage unique to the storage industry and frequently missing from generic business policies. The classic claims it answers are roof leaks and water intrusion ruining stored boxes, a fire spreading across units, pest or rodent damage, and mold following a moisture event — situations where a tenant argues the facility failed to maintain the property.
SSLL vs. Tenant Insurance Programs
Customer Goods Legal Liability protects you, the operator, for losses you're liable for. It is distinct from a tenant insurance / tenant protection program, which the customer buys to cover their own goods regardless of fault. The two work together: a tenant program reduces the claims that reach you, while SSLL backstops your own legal exposure. We can structure both sides of the equation.
What's Covered
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. A 'store at your own risk' clause helps but is not absolute — courts can find a facility liable when a roof leak or maintenance failure damages goods. Customer Goods Legal Liability funds your defense and pays covered claims your lease language can't fully prevent.
No. A tenant insurance/protection program covers the customer's own property regardless of fault. Customer Goods Legal Liability covers YOUR legal liability for goods damaged by something you're responsible for. Most facilities benefit from having both.