10 Possessions in Your Home That Should Be Stored in a Fireproof Safe

September 20, 2017 Posted By Mark Barrington

A Fireproof Safe in your home – how many of you have them?  And if not, why not?  The latter is an important question every home owner (or renting tenant) should ask themselves, because fires in the home are more common that you might think.

Home Fires in the UK

In 2015/16 there were 38,827 fires in dwelling homes across Great Britain, and a further 889 in 2015 in Northern Ireland.  And whilst our possessions are of minor importance compared to the health and safety of ourselves, our families, friends and neighbours, we should still take steps to protect our possessions in the event of a fire breaking out.

We all have important items in our possession that it would be devastating, or at the very least, extremely inconvenient to lose.  If there are a number of inhabitants in the home, such as parents and children, the impact of the loss is multiplied.

10 Household Items to Protect from Fire Damage or Destruction

These are just 10 of the many items that most of us have in our homes that we should aim to protect from destruction or fire damage.

1. Passports – passports can be replaced but it can be time consuming and costly, particularly if the supporting documents you need also perished in a fire, and if you have an upcoming trip planned and can’t get the documents re-issued in time.
2. Birth & Marriage Certificates – there are certain times in life when these documents need to be produced. If you lose these through carelessness or as a result of a fire, getting replacement copies can prove difficult, and is hassle you quite frankly don’t need.
3. House Deeds – these are your proof of ownership documents for your home so undoubtedly not something you want to lose, particularly if you have plans to sell your house.
4. Last Will & Testament – your solicitor may also have a copy of this document and in such cases its loss will be less catastrophic, but it is nonetheless a document you will want to keep safe, and review periodically in the comfort of your own home to make amends.
5. Insurance documents – we have so many types of insurances nowadays – home insurance, life and critical illness insurance, income protection insurance, holiday insurance, car insurance and more. It’s good to have a safe place to store all of these important documents and a fireproof home safe does just that. They’re safe, out of harm’s way but also nearby.
6. Investment Portfolios / Other Financial Information – our personal financial information is something which we might want to review more often than some of the other documents but these are also documents we don’t want to leave lying around on the coffee table in our living rooms for visitors to see. A fireproof safe is a much more appropriate home for these.
7. Cash – there can be times when we need to keep a lump sum of cash in the house but we don’t want to make it easy for visitors, tradesmen, even our children or any others who come into our homes to get their hands on! Out of sight in a safe place is best.
8. Electronic Data Storage Devices – in an increasingly digital age, many of us store important personal (and perhaps even business) paperwork or back-up copies of documents on various data storage discs and devices. These also need to be protected from the risk of fire damage and a fireproof safe that is designed to protect your documents and data in the home is definitely an asset to your home.
9. Jewellery & Family Heirlooms – whether it’s your new engagement ring, your mother’s wedding ring or your grandfather’s war medals, many of us will have jewellery and family heirlooms that are of both significant financial and sentimental value. A fireproof safe is a good place to store items which are precious but perhaps don’t need to be on display.
10. Family & Wedding Photos – although these days many photos are stored electronically, you may have numerous photo wallets containing pictures from the days before digital cameras and smartphones (which aren’t that long ago!), or copies of old photos of family members that have been passed down through the generations. If you are married, you will probably have an album of your wedding photos, which cost you a small fortune at the time, not to mention the sentimental value of the memories of a special day in your lifetime. Likewise, your children’s old school photos may have since been replaced by graduation photos on the wall, but the older versions still need to be kept in a safe place.  A fireproof home safe can house all of your precious memories and protect them from fire and other elements such as sunlight and moisture.

Document and Data Storage

Some things are easier to replace than others, whilst others are simply irreplaceable.  Many of these items are paper based and therefore subject to quick destruction in the event of a fire.  Not only is a fireproof safe a sensible way to protect important documents, data, photos, jewellery and other items of sentimental value, but it is also a logical way to store such items to ensure that they are never misplaced or lost forever.

Consider items that you don’t use every day but you do need occasionally like receipts and warranty documents for large purchases, or your vehicle registration documents.  Do you tear the house apart once every year trying to find these when you are getting ready to take your car to its MOT test?  How often do you say “I can’t find the documents I need!” - too often is likely the answer!

A fireproof home safe can make document management a lot more straightforward, as well as protect your possessions from fire damage., therefore if the risk of a fire doesn’t concern you as much as it should, consider the practical benefits of having a home safe for document storage.