Do You Need a Safe Deposit Box?

Nov 28
04:44

2019

Nancy Whitman

Nancy Whitman

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

In an era where cloud computing, electronic money, and digital investments are slowly becoming the norm, is there still room for a safety deposit box (SDB)? Some banks, profit-centred financial institutions, and finance experts often unanimously say safe deposit boxes are obsolete, unnecessary, and burdensome to operate.

mediaimage

However,Do You Need a Safe Deposit Box? Articles when you think about it, people still store their wealth in physical objects including bullion, jewellery, art, and heirloom along with irreplaceable objects. These priceless objects need utmost protection that typical home alarms and locks just cannot cover. What’s more, there are copies of personal and financial documents that are better stored in a remote location where they aren’t exposed to flood, fire, theft or damage.

So, do you need a safe deposit box in this modern time? The answer, quite simply, is YES! Let’s go through some of the key reason why an SDB is still relevant today. Let’s get started!

Burglaries are Commonplace

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines home invasions or break-ins as “an act of unauthorised forced entry into a home or other place where a person permanently resides.” In a report the ABS published in 2018, they found that that between 2016 and 2017, a total of 228,300 Australian households experienced at least one incident of attempted break-in. 

Moreover, many of these households, or a total of 169,000, had property stolen with 66,900 households reporting that personal items were taken from them during the break-in.

Can you afford to lose those Irreplaceable items in the Event of a House Fire or a Flood?

According to the Country Fire Authority, were 1,588 preventable house fires that caused more than $42 million in property damage in 2018. The top causes of these preventable fires include the kitchen, followed by lounge rooms, bedrooms, chimneys and then garages. ABC News reported in March of 2018 that 18 homes were damaged in Victoria during the worst bushfire of the season.

Australia has always been vulnerable to floods with the earliest recorded notable flooding happening in 1806 in Maitland, NSW. In recent history, the costliest flood happened in Ipswich and Brisbane in January 2011. Geoscience Australia notes that “this flooding resulted in a cost of 6.64 billion Australian dollars, including deaths and injuries but excluding most indirect losses.”

Storing Priceless items at Home Drives Up Your Home Premium

The cost of the items you store at home affects insurance valuations significantly. If you keep items like paintings, jewellery, bullion, and investment certificates at home, your insurer will add the cost of insuring these objects on top of your base premium.

Your Wealth is Better Protected at a Dedicated Facility

Safe deposit boxes, unlike home safes, offer the best security for your valuables. The locking mechanism of a home safe can be easily cracked and bypassed. On the other hand, a safe deposit box located in a private vault is almost impossible to get to.

The typical “waterproof” home safes are only rated for 24 hours in just 15cm. of water. This means that if you store your valuable and documents at home e.g. stocks and bonds, you could end up losing the lot in the ever present risk of tropical cyclones and a floods.

When it comes to fire, did you know a home safe also only offers minutes to a couple of hours of protection before your possessions are reduced to cinders or ash?

People are Moving Out of Bank Safe Deposit Boxes and You Should Too

Safe deposit boxes used to be a standard offering for banks. However, in recent years, big banks have stopped offering safe deposit box accounts to their customers. The good news is you can still keep your valuable possessions safe through private safe deposit box providers.

This information should be a good guide as to why you do need a safe deposit box:

At private custodial vaulting facilities, you can have peace of mind 24/7/365 for a very reasonable outlay. Private owned facilities offer purpose-built safe deposit boxes with state-of-the-art security, so your personal assets are protected against all types of threat.  You are also safe from government (Bank Bail in Law) or third parties so you can enjoy complete peace of mind and confidentiality.