Considerations When Choosing a Safe in the UK

Perhaps you have a UK based business and you want to keep cash safe until you can get to the bank. Maybe you reside in the UK and you want to store valuables and documents safely in your home. For both of these people, a safe is the perfect solution. These are the things you will need to consider when purchasing a safe in the UK.

Cash Rating

This is the amount of money an insurance company will cover you for should your safe be broken into and the contents stolen. You’ll be insured for valuables at 10 times the cash rating, so a safe with a £5000 cash rating will be insured for storing e.g. jewellery up to the value of £50,000.

European Rating

You might see larger safes being advertised with a Euro Grading from 0 - 7. The Euro Grade system is equivalent to the Cash Rating system these are the values for the Euro Grades:

• Grade 0 - £6,000 cash (£60,000 valuables)
• Grade 1 - £10,000 cash (£100,000 valuables)
• Grade 2 - £17,500 cash (£175,000 valuables)
• Grade 3 - £35,000 cash (£350,000 valuables)
• Grade 4 - £60,000 cash (£600,000 valuables)
• Grade 5 - £100,000 cash (£1,000,000 valuables)
• Grade 6 - £150,000 cash (£1,500,000 valuables)
• Grade 7 - £250,000 cash (£2,500,000 valuables)

Fire Safety

If you are storing documents in your safe, you will want to know that it can protect them from fire. A modern safe will typically protect paper documents from fire for 30-60 minutes. Although, if this is a particular concern, you can find specialist fire safes with longer times. Be aware that there is a slight trade off between security and fire protection in these safes.

Type of Lock

Safes are typically locked either by key or number combination. Combination locks are further divided into manual combinations - think of the traditional dial turning safes - and electronic locks where you enter a number or code on a keypad to gain access.

Where’s It Going to Live?

Before you buy a safe - especially a large safe - give some thought as to where it is going to live and how you are going to get it into place.

If you are thinking about buying and installing a safe, we are happy to offer advice. We have a dedicated safe-moving van which we use for transporting large safes that may be too heavy for a conventional vehicle. For more information, give us a call on 01603 812613 or email admin@ptlockandsafe.co.uk.

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