What to Know When Buying a Safe to Protect Your Valuables
Discover how buying the appropriate level of safe for the value you’re protecting is critical to purchasing a tangible insurance policy.
If you missed the subheader, let’s share that again: Buy the appropriate level of safe for the value you’re protecting.
As gun safe experts, that’s the number one thing we help customers understand. When buying a safe, you’re buying a tangible insurance policy. And just like buying an insurance policy through an insurance company, your level of protection is equal to the safe you buy.
Unfortunately, we sometimes get pushback from customers who have misconceptions about the importance of investing in a higher security and fire-rated safe. In this post, we’ll be sharing our nearly 40 years of experience with safes and insurance, plus insights into keeping your valuables protected.
4 Common Myths About Insurance and Gun Safes
1. Myth: I Don’t Need a High-Security Safe. That’s What I Have Insurance For.
Reality: A safe is your last line of defense against burglary and fire. It is a free-standing, tangible insurance policy.
-
“That’s what I have insurance for.”
-
“If I lose my stuff, I lose my stuff.”
-
“I don’t really care.”
As you can imagine, these are some of the most frustrating things to hear from a potential customer. We aim to help individuals and businesses protect all sorts of things and different values by providing the appropriate level of protection for each unique application.
Most individuals don’t realize that insurance companies won’t cover much of what’s in their safe unless there are specific, individual riders for each firearm or valuable. A blanket homeowners policy doesn’t address the items inside your safe. As stated by our insurance agent Brian Boldman:
A standard homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover you for much. For most policies, it would cover up to $1,000 for times like firearms, jewelry, silverware, and computer or electronics.
If you’re really lucky, a policy may cover you for up to $2,500. Beyond that, if you pay more you might get up to $5,000 in coverage. And for items like cash and bullion, coverage is only about $200 — and that’s after your deductible.
Brian is a Washington native with a long family history in the insurance industry. His father became an insurance broker in 1983 and Brian entered the industry in 2008. Brian’s reputation as a straight shooter and customer service has earned him a reputation as one of the most trusted insurance agents in the area.
A safe is not just an agreement between you and some insurance firm that promises to replace your most important things. It is your own, personal defense system.
2. Myth: You Don’t Have to Disclose Items in Your Safe to Have Them Covered
Reality: Any item covered by your insurance policy must be fully disclosed, including every firearm and piece of jewelry.
Each firearm you want covered by insurance must be listed with the serial number on your insurance policy. This creates a public record of your entire firearm collection. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think anyone except myself needs to know what’s inside my safe.
Jewelry is another item needing specific riders to be protected in a residential application. We’ve heard countless tragic stories of family heirloom jewelry being lost to theft in lower-quality safes or even in a customer’s safety deposit box.
3. Myth: Any Safe That Locks Will Protect Your Valuables
Reality: Less expensive safes, like many Costco safes, Tractor Supply gun safes, or entry-level safes, take substantially less effort to pry open or cut into.
If you’re a business owner with jewelry, precious metals or diamonds that need to be protected, your insurance company will require you to have a commercial safe. The total value you’re protecting will determine the level of TL or TRTL rated safe you need.
For us, this illustrates the clear correlation between the level of security and the value being protected. There is no gray area in the commercial space and insurance coverage. We recommend that customers with high-value items use this same scale when determining what level safe to buy.
Jewelers Mutual provides most of these policies. Their Director of Commercial Lines, Josh Carmichael explained:
There are multiple factors that may impact insurance premiums, including the level of security on premise. The security standards insurance carriers recommend for protecting commercial jewelry inventories—especially around safes and protocols—can also guide homeowners who want to protect their own valuables with the same level of care and credibility. Due to the unique and valuable nature of jewelry businesses, insurers often require UL-rated (Underwriters Laboratories) safes that meet rigorous burglary and fire protection criteria, such as TL-30 or TL-30x6 ratings. Homeowners with valuable personal items, such as jewelry, can apply the same standards when choosing a safe. Depending on the value of the items, insurers may recommend commercial-grade safes along with dedicated jewelry insurance to ensure comprehensive at-home protection.
If only more residential customers could apply this understanding when investing in a safe for their valuables and firearms. Fortunately, many of our customers understand this and often decide to purchase a commercial safe for their home. We have hundreds of customers who are protecting hundreds of thousands of dollars or more in valuables and understand the importance of a quality safe to protect their investments. In fact, over the last 4 decades, we’ve sold more TL and TRTL-rated safes to residential customers than businesses that are required to buy this level. A TL-rated safe is often in the same price range as a high-security gun safe.
4. Myth: A Safe is a Safe
Reality: Safes are not built equally. Higher-security safes come with a higher price tag but offer more protection.
We’re in the business of selling safes. And we obviously want every customer to purchase a safe. However, one of the most frustrating things we encounter is knowing the value (both monetary and sentimental) being protected and a customer buying an inferior safe.
This is what we like to call “buying the idea of safe.”
A safe that’s not in line with the value you’re protecting gives a false sense of security. Not all safes are created equal. This is why we encourage all of our customers to review our safe buying guide. Instead, it’s our priority to help you invest in the right safe for your needs.
Buying the Best Safe for You
Do we want you to buy a safe? Definitely, but we also want you to buy the best safe for you. That’s why we write these blog posts. Our goal is to help educate you on the different types of safes and what they’re designed to do in a burglary attempt or fire. Understanding what level of protection a safe provides allows you to determine what’s appropriate for your specific needs based on the overall monetary and sentimental items you’re looking to protect.
As simple as it is, we see time and time again that customers make the wrong decision when it comes to protecting their most valuable assets.
If I were to ask you what safe you would buy if you knew you would have a home fire tomorrow, what level of protection would you purchase? Or if I told you a couple of criminals would show up at your home while you were on vacation, what level of security would you buy? I’m guessing you would lean towards a higher quality safe, regardless of the cost.