Jewelry. Heirlooms. Important documents. If you keep any of these things in your home, then you no doubt worry about what would happen to them during a burglary, flood or fire.
Your homeowner’s policy might compensate you for your loss – but not right away, or without requiring you to jump through the hoops of bureaucracy. And even if it does, it still can’t restore your one-of-a-kind treasures.
You might choose to keep your valuables inside a personal safe in your home, but even that won’t fully protect them. No safe is fully fireproof, and a competent machinist can break into one with relative ease. And when thieves can’t break into a safe, there is little to stop them from stealing the entire safe.
Safe Deposit Boxes: The Securest Solution for Storing Valuables
Many banks include special vaultlike rooms containing hundreds of individually secured containers. These are safe deposit boxes, which the bank offers for lease to any of their patrons who would like the securest solution to safeguarding their valuables. Items stored in safe deposit boxes are doubly protected: by the boxes themselves, and by all of the bank’s security systems.
Unless it is operated via keyless entry, a safe deposit box has two keys: the one its lessor receives, and the guard key kept by a bank employee. In addition to their key, the lessor must present proof of identification before accessing their safe deposit box.
If the lessor chooses to give another individual access to their safe deposit box, then their co-lessor will have the same exclusive right of access to its contents. Some banks offer the option of requiring all lessors to be present before any one of them can access their safe deposit box.
It is important to note that safe deposit boxes aren’t infallible. Their contents are not covered by FDIC deposit insurance (although banks may take other measures to insure them; likewise, a renter’s or homeowner’s policy can cover the contents of a safe deposit box). No bank is totally immune to natural disasters. And although its locks, alarms and surveillance system are all state of the art, no bank is totally impenetrable to burglars. Even so, a safe deposit box is substantially more secure than any safe the average private citizen could install inside their home.
What Do People Store in Safe Deposit Boxes?
It is not recommended to keep cash in a safe deposit box. Cash is more secure in a checking or savings account, where it is covered by FDIC deposit insurance (and will also earn interest). Likewise, it is advisable to keep passports and original copies of important legal documents (e.g. living wills) in a home safe.
This may go without saying, but you should not store illegal items in a safe deposit box. If a bank representative becomes aware of illegal activity on their financial institution’s premises, they are obligated to report it to the authorities immediately.
Those exceptions aside, the following items are suitable for storage in safe deposit boxes:
| Birth certificates | Citizenship papers | Adoption papers | Marriage licenses |
| Legal documents* | Military records | School diplomas | School transcripts |
| Real estate deeds | Vehicle titles | Stock certificates | Bond certificates |
| Hard drives | Jewelry | Collectibles | Heirlooms |
| Any other small, valuable and irreplaceable objects | |||
*Backup copies only
Keep It Safe at Community First Bank
If you live in Central Minnesota and want to keep your important valuables and documents safe but always close at hand, then we welcome you to contact Community First Bank or stop by one of our locations in Menahga or Sebeka today. Our safe deposit boxes are available for lease right now!