The SSOIA Story
When Paul Divis got in the storage business in early 2022 and purchased his first small “Mom & Pop” facility in Burleson, Texas, he was shocked to find out that the property insurance he was able to obtain for the facility was almost double the previous owners premium with less coverage. The insurance industry had been suffering major losses across the board and a small facility posed an outsized risk for an insurance company if even one claim was ever made. Paul decided there had to be a better way since REITs like Public Storage, Extra Space Storage & CubeSmart had significantly better premiums and coverage for the value of their facilities than what Mom & Pop facilities could obtain. That is how the concept of SSOIA came about to aggregate non-REIT facilities so that the risk would be spread across a large geographic area and we all could experience property insurance like a REIT.
Today, SSOIA is committed to providing the very best property insurance premiums with the best coverage options available. As a nonprofit, SSOIA has put together a purpose built master insurance program that only provides property insurance, general liability and umbrella coverage for storage facilities for members of the Alliance. With a focus on property insurance which is suffering significant rate increases, the program is specific only for storage facility owners.
Leadership Team
Paul Divis
Executive Director
As a first-time storage facility owner in 2022, Mr. Divis had a rude awakening when trying to obtain property insurance for his facility. The premium had doubled from what the previous owner had been paying. It was at that point that he decided that there had to be a better way for “Mom & Pop” owners to get premiums and coverage without breaking the bank. The idea to aggregate as many small to medium sized facilities across a broad geography as possible came to him. Insurance companies then would view the entire group as a much less risky proposition than viewing each facility on its own. The concept of the SSOIA nonprofit was born.
Outside of the storage business, Mr. Divis has a 40-year finance and business development background including co-founding and leading a boutique investment bank, to running international business development organizations for US defense contractors. He is married with 3 grown children and 8 grandchildren.
Ralph Hamm, CPCU CIC CRM
Deputy Executive Director
Mr. Hamm and Mr. Divis have enjoyed a longtime personal relationship via family, West Point Academy and SMU connections. Because of Mr. Hamm‘s success in his 45 year insurance industry career, Mr. Divis came to Mr Hamm with his concerns about the recent premium and coverage issues facing small self-storage owners.
Mr. Hamm’s insurance experience included work with other industries facing similar issues, including the energy and explosives industries.