| When vital records are stolen, lost, destroyed, or | | | | of home security safe to buy, you first need to |
| become unusable in any way, you have a disaster | | | | consider whether you need it to protect your |
| within a disaster. There are countless documents that | | | | valuables from fire, thievery, or both? |
| are important to the well-being of you and your | | | | If fire protection is the most important issue, you |
| family, and these records belong in a fire-resistant, | | | | need to remember that no safe is 100% fireproof; |
| theft-deterrent security safe. Store your records in a | | | | anything can be damaged if exposed to high enough |
| home security safe. This allows you to protect your | | | | temperatures for a long enough period of time. A |
| vital records in case of fire or burglary. Vital records | | | | decent fire-resistant security safe needs to be |
| are any documents that contain information essential | | | | constructed from at least two layers of fireboard |
| to survival in the event of a disaster. Some | | | | which are each 5/8 of an inch thick. It also needs to |
| documents such as insurance policies, stock and bond | | | | be able to maintain an internal temperature below |
| certificates, and bank records should be kept in a | | | | 350º for a minimum of 30 minutes when |
| safe location for four to six years. Many other | | | | tested in conditions which simulate a home fire. |
| records, such as the ones below, need to be secured | | | | When securing your valuables and vital documents |
| in a security safe permanently. | | | | from theft, remember that the construction quality |
| Marriage Certificates, Adoption and Child Custody | | | | of a security safe determines the amount of |
| Papers, Wills. Divorce Papers, Adoption Papers, | | | | protection offered. There are several important |
| Mortgage Papers, Passports, Deeds, Citizenship | | | | aspects of a safe to check before purchasing. Steel |
| Documentation and | | | | plate thickness, Welding quality, Door thickness, Steel |
| Family Health Records. | | | | door, reinforcements, Lock type and quality, Bolt |
| Protecting these documents in a security safe allows | | | | locking mechanisms and Relocking devices. |
| you and your family to effectively recover from a | | | | The best protection you can get with a home |
| disaster by giving you the ability to prove who you | | | | security safe is by choosing one that has a |
| are and what you own. | | | | combination of fire-resistant and theft-deterrent |
| Choose the right home security safe | | | | features. |
| When you are faced with the decision of what type | | | | |