What is a safe deposit box?
Lloyds Bank define a safe deposit box as ‘a secure place where you can store possessions that are impossible to replace or that hold sentimental value’ A safe deposit box, also known as a safety deposit box, will typically be held within a vault at a bank, post office or other institution (for example, Harrods offer a safe deposit box service). You will pick the size of safe deposit box that you require and pay an annual fee for the bank to store the box securely for you. However, note that in most cases, whilst the safe deposit box will be stored securely for you, items are stored at your own risk. Providers of safe deposit boxes typically exclude liability for anything happening to your items in their terms and conditions. Storing items in a safe deposit box shouldn’t be seen as an alternative to insuring your items. It will be down to you to ensure that the items you store in your safety deposit box are properly insured.What can you keep in a safe deposit box?
Typically, things such as jewellery, family heirlooms, important documents or hard drives would be stored in a safe deposit box. Some providers of safe deposit boxes will set conditions on what can and can’t be stored in their safe deposit boxes. Amongst other things, Metro Bank for example do not allow cash, weapons, food or anything else that can go off to be stored in their safe deposit boxes. Safe deposit boxes can be accessed for personal use, as well as many providers offering a service to businesses too. According to Lloyds Bank, businesses using safe deposit boxes may look to store items such as hard drives, legal documents or archive items in a safety deposit box.Can you insure a safe deposit box and its contents?
As above, whilst your safe deposit box will be stored in a secure environment by your chosen provider, the safe deposit box itself will not necessarily automatically afford you any insurance cover. In most cases it will be up to you to ensure that the items stored in the safe deposit box are adequately insured. It is likely that you will need to access specialist insurance for your items stored in a safe deposit box. Some insurance providers may extend cover such as high net worth home insurance to cover items stored in a safe deposit box. Whilst in other cases you may need to take out standalone insurance policy for these items. Always check the full details of the policy you are looking to buy or if you have specialist insurance needs, consider working with an insurance broker.At Anthony Jones we don’t offer standalone insurance cover for safe deposit boxes. But do mention your safe deposit box when you’re arranging your home insurance, high net worth insurance or business insurance with us as we are able to offer cover which is incorporated and forms a part of these types of policies.
