My Friend Lost Everything Because Of A Storage Company’s Mistake—what Can She Do?

My older friend (F60s) has had a tough couple of years. After losing her job, she spent the last 18 months burning through her savings just to survive and care for her elderly mother. Thankfully, she recently got back on her feet, landed a good job, and leased an apartment.

Excited to move in before Christmas, she rented a U-Haul truck and went to her two storage units, where all her belongings were stored: clothes, furniture, and irreplaceable items like baby pictures of her five kids. But when she arrived, she found out the storage company had thrown out or sold everything.

Here’s the kicker: she never missed a payment and was never informed that this happened. The storage company admitted they made a mistake and cleaned out the wrong unit. They even sent her “before” and “after” pictures of the unit—it was packed full of her belongings before they trashed it all months earlier.

She’s devastated, especially about the sentimental items.

Now we’re trying to figure out: 1. Who should be responsible? Should this be handled by her renter’s insurance, or is the storage company fully liable? 2. Should she hire a lawyer? 3. How does restitution for sentimental items work? The baby pictures don’t have a monetary value, but they were her only photos of her children growing up.

If anyone has been through something similar or has advice, we’d really appreciate it.

Edit: The storage unit owner offered 80k verbally and said they would have to get a lawyer if she asked for anymore. This was everything she’s ever owned for last 60years of her life, five kids, and family heirlooms, which filled two large storage units. Waiting until office opens tomorrow to find out more.

*I used ChatGPT prompt: “I’m writing post on Reddit, correct for grammar, active voice, punctuation, and written to get attention.”