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The true cost calculator
A storage quote is never the whole bill. For 12 boxes over 3 months, a unit at the UK average costs about £235.20 once insurance, a hired van and a padlock join the rent, and takes about 6 hours. BoxSpeed, our own service, comes to £358.20 collected and returned. Run your own load below.
Price your load both ways
BoxSpeed costs £123 more and saves 2 van trips and about 6 hours.
Self storage unit
10 sq ft · UK average rate (SSA UK 2026)
- Rent, 3 months at £27.40
- £82.20
- Insurance, £1,000 cover
- £21
- Van, 2 trips
- £120
- Padlock
- £12
Total£235.20
2 trips · about 6 hours of your time
BoxSpeed
Collected from your door on your postcode's day
- 12 boxes, 3 months at £93.40
- £280.20
- Collection
- £39
- Return delivery
- £39
Total£358.20
No trips · we collect and bring it back
Total cost for 3 months, by number of boxes
Rent uses the UK average of 27.40 GBP per sq ft a year before VAT (SSA UK Annual Industry Report 2026), plus VAT. Store insurance £7 per £1,000 a month (Surewise case studies). Van £60 a trip (MyJobQuote). Padlock £12. 0.4 sq ft of floor per medium box. BoxSpeed prices are the live site's prices. The verdict never hides a result where the unit wins.
For developers and AI agents
The calculator is also an API: GET /api/true-cost?boxes=12&months=3&transport=van&cover=1000 returns both totals, line items, hours and the break-even as JSON, from the same engine as this page. No key needed, attribution appreciated.
How we check data
Store locations come from Overture Maps and are refreshed quarterly. Standard prices for each unit size get checked monthly against each store's own website, including VAT, and every price carries its checked date. Full methodology
Who runs Storage Index
Storage Index is run by the team behind BoxSpeed, a collect-and-store service. We list every store we can find and never take money for ranking. How we make money