Choosing a Home Safe

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Choosing a Home Safe

Burglary and fire ratings, cash ratings and insurance, fixing it and what to store

Safes are rated for two separate things, and buying one that resists fire when you wanted one that resists attack is a common and expensive mistake.

Burglary and fire are different ratings

Security ratings describe resistance to forced attack and are the basis for insurance cash cover. Fire ratings describe how long contents stay below a temperature during a fire.

A safe can be excellent at one and poor at the other. Combination fire and security safes exist and cost accordingly.

Cash ratings and insurance

Safes carry a cash rating — the amount an insurer will typically cover inside. Valuables are usually rated at ten times the cash figure.

Check what your insurer requires before buying, since a safe below their specification means the contents are not covered.

Fire ratings and media

Paper chars at a far higher temperature than digital media is damaged at. A safe rated for documents will not protect hard drives, memory cards or photographs, which need a specific data rating.

Ratings are expressed in minutes, commonly thirty or sixty, which reflects how long a fire service typically takes to control a fire.

Fixing it down

An unfixed safe is carried away and opened elsewhere. Bolt it into concrete or into structural timber using the fixing points provided, and site it out of sight rather than in an obvious place.

Most insurers require it to be fixed for cover to apply.

Locks

Key, mechanical dial and electronic all work. Electronic locks need batteries and usually have an override; keep any override key somewhere other than beside the safe.

Siting it

Out of sight and away from the master bedroom, which is the first place searched. A floor safe set into concrete is the most secure option and the hardest to install later.

Do not site a safe where damp collects, since documents and valuables suffer over years.

Alternatives

A bank safe deposit box, or scanning documents and storing encrypted copies off-site, covers much of what a home safe is used for. Keep passports and wills where an executor can find them.

Keys and combinations

Write the combination down and store it somewhere entirely separate, or leave it with a solicitor. Safes are routinely drilled open because nobody could remember or find the code after a death.

Change any factory default code before use.

Size

Buy larger than you think you need, since safes fill quickly and A4 documents need more depth than people expect. Weight matters too, since a light safe is a portable one.

What to store

Passports, deeds, wills, spare keys, backup drives and jewellery. Keep a record of contents elsewhere, and tell someone you trust where it is.

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