Help me set up a car storage business in Marlborough, Wilts

[Ray Singh]

I have found a fantasic location to store cars in a safe and secure environment in Marlborough.
The space could fit around 30 - 40 cars and has concrete floors and very high ceilings.

I am keen to store classic cars, but cant find an insurance provider who will cover me to look after other peoples cars

Can anyone here advise?

[flutterfeatures]

I know a place who insist on customers insuring the cars themselves or having them insured in some form.

You'd need a traders policy otherwise with cars stored at retail value and I'm guessing they'd want to assess the security at the 30-40 car level.

You could easy get a cheap policy but would it be there if you needed it? It's all about what you want and how much your willing to pay.

Think also about 40 cars the people coming and going meeting all the time its a difficult business to manage, a car could be behind 15 cars and the guy wants it, some won't start etc, be a nightmare and the paranoia would get to me, your looking at possibly 500k of cars easy. Think also People only want a week or two at a time storage. Not everyone will leave a car for 2 years and not pop in etc.

Good luck.

[Deleted]

I can put you on to a excellent motor trade policy insurer - certainly not the cheapest but very good at what they do and will not waste your time - and believe me from very personal experience avoid all the companies that state they specialise in motor trade polices - I use Arthur J Gallagher - there Luton office deals with the motor trade polices - link below

www.ajg.com/locations/?locationSearchString=luton

At all costs avoid a company called 'Tradex' - nothing but genuine hassle - will take your money and hide behind small print

A lot of the vehicle storage companies cater for high end vehicles and this is reflected in their pricing with prices of £40 - £50 per week - which is out of reach for quite a large majority of the market - if you could offer something that's secure with less glitz and fair pricing then you would have a captive market - even more so if you could offer some space has project storage and you could even expand this to project work bays - this is rarely available on the open market - team it all up with vehicle trailer hire or a sensible one man vehicle transport business and you could be on to something - I have a small restoration business just South West of Newbury and could probably put some client business your way if you get this off the ground.

[MkX]

I don't think it ever hurts to plan for a worst case scenario and, in your position, I'd want to be insured up to the eyeballs for all eventualities which will be expensive. Being realistic if you want this to be commercially viable you're going to need to aim to maximise your income which will mean E-Types not X-Types!

This is worst case scenario!

[slater]

I'm struggling to see how you would make much money off it tbh! Don't think I could do it for a price people could afford. Not unless it's peppercorn rent.

[Ray Singh]

I don't have to pay any rent!

The owner of the area owns this outright. He just wants the money for the storage with a small cut for me.

The area is now unused - so its free money to him.

[Roach]

So you're helping 'him' setup a business, not you?

you're just getting a cut for doing the donkey work?

[Ray Singh]

Roach - you are effectively 100% correct. What i get out of it is that I can store my fleet of German AutoBahn munchers in there for free. If it really takes off, he has promised me a full time role on annual salary to manage the business. Its my way out of my current job - so hence my interest is massive in getting this sorted.

[Roach]

Jul 11, 2018 12:10:19 GMT Ray Singh said:

Roach - you are effectively 100% correct. What i get out of it is that I can store my fleet of German AutoBahn munchers in there for free. If it really takes off, he has promised me a full time role on annual salary to manage the business. Its my way out of my current job - so hence my interest is massive in getting this sorted.

Well then good luck to you my man, hope it works out for you!

I'd kill for a fleet of German motors.... And a new job actually.

[moglite]

I've used a few storage places over the years, so I can offer a bit of advice from the eventual customers viewpoint.

Cleanliness is next to godliness. If the access to the barn is shared with tractors, or isn't paved, you'll be storing dirty cars, and the owners will be upset.

Like has been said, you'll need to shuffle cars around. The person doing this needs to understand dirty shoes and beige carpets don't go together - DAMIHK.

My insurance company wanted to see the storage company, set up a limited company with CCTV etc. They liked the idea of somebody living on-site.


There are a couple of spendy places around. But cheap storage would be a really good market, for cars that aren't in regular use.
I'd like to try and invest in a few classic cars, but if I'm paying ~£100 storage I'm not going to see any profit from it.
In return for a cheap monthly price, you could stack them in tight and high, and possibly ask for 30 days notice for access.

Other things to think about 
Parking for daily drivers - so owners can collect their classic for the weekend and not worry about a lift
Meet and greet service to local train-stations etc.
Jumpstart/battery chargers
Carcoons and covers

If you've got a tie in with a local garage so you can offer MOT/servicing etc that would be useful to some.

Hope it helps

[Ray Singh]

Spent most of the day phoning around for storage insurance.

One company has quoted. For storing 50 cars with a value of no more than £100k per single vehicle and a max total value of £0.5M - £8700/annum.
This doesnt include liability which has come in at £505/annum.

I am going to have to store a hell of a lot of cars to make any money.

R

[awoo]

divide it up in to contained workshops/storage units. then you'll be making money.

[tommymini]

Jul 11, 2018 18:51:41 GMT Ray Singh said:

Spent most of the day phoning around for storage insurance.

One company has quoted. For storing 50 cars with a value of no more than £100k per single vehicle and a max total value of £0.5M - £8700/annum.
This doesnt include liability which has come in at £505/annum.

I am going to have to store a hell of a lot of cars to make any money.

R

Max total value £500k? so 50 cars valued at/less than £10k??

More likely max value of £2m +.......

Welcome to business, doing it right isnt cheap.

Budget for £8k for alarm/cctv/fire system

Make the place presentable £££

Dust covers for 50 cars £££

Battery conditioners for 50 cars £££

etc etc etc...

[Ray Singh]

Even with my man maths - this isnt going to work.....

Any ideas?

[tommymini]

Do it right or not at all i'm afraid

People need to be confident there car will be safe

[Dez]

I doubt very much you'll get any insurance company that will touch you for such a scheme. It's just too much risk for them to be interested..

I have trade Insurance myself and even that is riddled with exemptions and caveats, and I have total control of all vehicles and the building they're in.

You just won't be able to offer a fully comprehensive service at a price anywhere near what anyone is willing to pay, it's why pretty much no one does it already. Only the super high end stuff is financially viable in that respect. As noted above, only way you could make it work is split it up into units and let people deal with insurances themselves. Even then the day to day running of such a scheme is a ballache, people are generally selfish dicks and will take the p1ss in one way or another, and their comings and goings can soon get very annoying very quickly. I know a few such schemes that have folded for such reasons.

[surprisingskoda]

People being "self insured" isn't viable. They'll not bother, or "forget" to renew, after all, it's in an enclosed safe place, so they think. Then when their car goes on fire and burns the next one, or vice versa, it will be all YOUR fault. Exponentially increase the risk and likelihood if you let anyone work on their car there.
You would also be requiring public liability cover regardless which I believe is the £505 quote. That's probably for a realistic £2M limit. You'll need some sort of cover for the building as well, in case of fire, damage or the roof caving in on top of all those cars - which will also be YOUR fault.
Then you need to factor in every conceivable issue. Non-start cars. Access. Oil leaks. Electricity. Security.


I'd go so far as to say, if you don't personally own the site, this is not a good idea. I would look at other options.


If you wanted low maintenance hassle free income, you could drop in a number of 20ft containers and rent those out - no vehicles. That'll be many percentages less to insure, and you can double stack them if the roof is high like you say. A big set of wheely steps and a central access corridor, £60 p.m. and no electrical work permitted inside and you're away.

[Deathrow]

Jul 12, 2018 0:43:35 GMT surprisingskoda said:

People being "self insured" isn't viable. They'll not bother, or "forget" to renew, after all, it's in an enclosed safe place, so they think.
If you wanted low maintenance hassle free income, you could drop in a number of 20ft containers and rent those out - no vehicles. That'll be many percentages less to insure, and you can double stack them if the roof is high like you say. A big set of wheely steps and a central access corridor, £60 p.m. and no electrical work permitted inside and you're away.

Just to add to this, I currently pay £90 a month for a 20' (actually a 40' with a divider in the middle) container. I've been at that place for just over 6 months and it's constantly expanding, they're even now stacking containers divided in to smaller spaces for document storage on top. I think containers as storage is where your money is.

If you wanted to do something special though, equipped workshops that you can rent on a daily/weekly basis would be incredible. However you would probably face the same issues you're encountering with vehicle storage.

[Ray Singh]

Thanks all.

The dream was to have a car storage area with a 4 post ramp to allow people to work on their own cars. The problem starts with liability and insurance. Its all just too costly.

I am now investigating the container storage market. Thank you.

Its so sad that due to insurance - its just not possible to start a business these days.

R

[flutterfeatures]

There was a rent a ramp business near me. Looked to be going well people left a few cars etc - didn't end well think of your clientele that's potentially the lower end of the market.

It could work by all means just saying what I've seen on one occasion.

Containers sound a good avenue. I suspect the insurance issue wold remain as they'd be inside.