How to Choose a Safe
We wanted to create a guide to selecting your safe. When choosing the right safe, the key is to know what you’re looking for. Find out the right questions to ask with our easy safe-buyer’s guide.
The first question to ask yourself is what do you need a safe for? What is going to be stored inside? Some possibilities include cash, jewellery, documents, electronics, and medical supplies.
That will then help you with the second questions, how big does it need to be for these items? Remember bigger does not necessarily mean better security.
To help work out what size you need you need to know what the maximum combined cash value of these item and then make sure that the safe has the appropriate cash rating
(x 10 valuables)
Another question you need to ask yourself is does any cash need to be deposited quickly or discreetly? If yes then you may need a top or front loading rotary drum.
Once you have decided what is going to be stored inside and how big you need it to be the next question to answer is where will it be installed? Look at the area around and see if the floor can handle the weight, will it be in a public area or require baser rear fixing. In addition make sure you check that the safe installers are trained and qualified.
When looking at whether you need fire protection look at what you are planning to protect. If you are storing papers like wills, passports, and instance certificates you will want to make sure that the safe offers the correct level of fire protection.
What lock do you want? The options range from key locks to combinations and electronic digital locks.
It’s also very important that you make sure that the safe has been tested to the official standard – EN 1143-1. If it has then it been quality approved by the association of insurance surveyors (AiS) and listed on the official safe list that is used by insurance companies.
Don’t trust words like “tested”, “approved safe”, or “designed to meet European Standards”. If this is the language being used then don’t buy it!
