What to Tell Your Insurer
By Connor · Founder, ShiftFree · 843-894-0852
A lot of owners who've looked at extended hours stopped right here. They called their agent, said the word "unattended," and heard a pause on the other end of the line.
That pause is fair. For as long as this industry has existed, "unattended" has meant exactly what it sounds like: nobody there, nothing watching, and whoever walks in, walks in.
That's not what a SafeSpin24 store is. So the first thing to get right is the word.
Three words that don't mean the same thing
Attended. Someone on staff is in the building.
Unattended. No one's in the building and nothing is watching it. The door is open, or on a timer, and anyone can come through it. This is the word the industry has always used, and it's the one that makes agents nervous.
Unmanned. No one's on staff, but the store is attended by technology, with human backup. That's a SafeSpin24 store.
Your store isn't unattended. It's unmanned — attended by technology, with human backup.
What "attended by technology" means, in plain English
Our entry door is locked and secured. No one can get into the facility without a credential.
- Every person who enters has their own credential. No shared codes, no fobs passed around.
- Every entry is recorded, by person and by time.
- Live operational monitoring, with two-way audio for security events.
- A support path customers can reach when something goes wrong, and escalation to you or your manager when it needs a person.
- A person in monitoring steps in when there's a threat to property or to someone in the store.
What we hand you to hand them
Carriers make decisions on documentation, not on promises. So we give you a package you can send straight to your agent:
- A plain-English description of the system and how your store operates when it's unmanned.
- The install record for your door — photos, video of the exit test, and a signed installation certificate.
- Your entry records, whenever you need them.
- Your store's access rules and, if you run the Private Laundry Club, the member agreement and code of conduct.
- The procedures for power loss, network loss and equipment failure.
What we can't do
Agents write policies. They don't make them. We can't change how the insurance industry thinks about unmanned stores, and we can't tell you what your carrier will decide. Every carrier and every policy is different.
What we can do is make sure the person reading your file understands the difference between an unattended store and an unmanned one. That's a very different conversation than "I'm thinking about leaving the door open."
Questions worth asking your agent
- Does my policy define "attended" or "unmanned"?
- How would you classify a store that's unmanned but attended by technology, with human backup?
- Does secured, credentialed entry change how you look at my after-hours risk?
- What documentation would you want to see before I change my hours?
Ask before you change your hours, not after.