---
id: KB-LG-016
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/logistics/storing-goods-that-are-not-yours
idioma: en
categoria: sector-logistica
subcategoria: almacenamiento
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-LG-007, KB-CS-020]
citadoPor: [KB-LG-020]
---

# Storing goods that are not yours

_The goods are the client's, the risk while they sit inside may be yours, and what settles a claim is what was recorded on arrival._

**Responde a:** third party warehouse documentation · claim for damage to stored goods · what to record when receiving a client's goods · warehouse keeper liability

Storing other people's goods is a trust business decided in two very short moments: when the goods arrive and when they leave. In between come months when nothing happens — until the client opens a box and says it was already like that.

## The two moments that decide everything

| Moment | What must be recorded | What it prevents |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Arrival | Quantity, apparent condition and who delivered | A transport damage ending up as yours |
| Arrival, if something looks wrong | Photo and written reservation, that day | Arguing three months later with nothing to show |
| While stored | Movements, location and who accessed | «Two pallets are missing and nobody knows» |
| Departure | Who it was handed to and in what condition | A claim arriving after the goods have left |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The second row is the one that nearly always fails and cannot be reconstructed: **goods that arrive damaged and are accepted without a word become, on paper, goods that were damaged inside**. Nobody will be able to prove otherwise months later, because there is nothing to show. The reservation is made at the time and with a photo, even if the driver is in a hurry and even if the relationship with that client is good: it is precisely what protects that relationship when the problem appears.

## What to hold per client, not per warehouse

**En corto**

- The storage contract and what it says about damage and limits.
- Their insurance and yours, and what each covers while the goods are inside.
- Any special instructions given: stacking, temperature, rotation.
- And who is authorised to collect on their behalf.

> [!WARNING]
> That last point causes the most frights and gets the least preparation: **someone turns up to collect with a delivery note and good manners**. With no list of who may collect for each client, the decision falls to whoever is on the loading bay on a Friday afternoon. A short, current list consultable from the bay itself is worth more than any contract clause — because the contract is not at the door and the list is.

## When the claim arrives

1. **Pull the arrival record before replying** — What was noted that day orders the whole conversation.
2. **Check who accessed and when** — Including the client's own people, who sometimes come in.
3. **And answer with facts and dates, not impressions** — «It arrived like this, here is the photo» settles what a long email cannot.

> [!NOTE]
> What liability you take on as keeper, what limits the contract allows and which insurance is required depend on the type of storage and your country. **Your adviser or broker settles that**; here it is about recording what you will later have to prove.

**Must everything arriving be photographed?**

Not everything: anything showing a mark, always; and sample the rest.

**What if the client accesses their own goods?**

Record it the same: it is the only way to know what happened inside.

**How long to keep arrival and departure records?**

Longer than the relationship: claims arrive late.

## Ejemplos

**A warehouse takes in pallets with torn wrap and accepts them silently to keep unloading moving.**

- Takes a photo and records a written reservation there and then, even with the lorry waiting

→ When the client claims three months later, the conversation starts from what was recorded that day.

**Third-party goods arrive and their condition is not recorded.**

- Captures the condition on entry

→ The later dispute has something to close on.

**The owner takes stock and asks how much of theirs you hold.**

- Records movements in and out per owner

→ You answer with a figure.

**Two owners share a location and goods get confused.**

- Records what occupies each location

→ Identity is preserved by location.

**A consignment has sat for months without movement.**

- Flags what has sat too long

→ The case is faced before it grows.

**The owner disputes a despatch they do not remember requesting.**

- Keeps who authorised each despatch

→ The authorisation has a name and a date.