Thieves have no holidays
The holidays are beginning, and with them comes increased burglaries of homes and flats in our absence. Thefts and burglaries become a scourge during holiday periods. Recent years in major cities in Poland have shown a return of robbery burglaries, thefts of cars and valuables stored in the home. This often happens despite having safes in the home, alarm systems in place, monitoring and security systems in place and increased police action.
What is worth securing?
During the holidays, while we are away from home or flat, it is worth properly securing important and valuable items. These often include family heirlooms, works of art, jewellery and watches, security copies with family photos, documents or savings. Some of these items have sentimental value (e.g. family photos or jewellery from grandma), some would be difficult to recover (deeds, property documents, contracts ) and some have real value that is worth protecting.
Safebox24 - safer than home
Up to now, a safe deposit box was associated in Poland with a bank deposit box. Bank safes were offered by banks to their customers to store valuables. Nowadays, the bank deposit box is becoming increasingly rare - even state-owned banks such as PKO BP or PEKAO SA are gradually reducing the provision of this service. Caches around the world are moving into the hands of private vault operators and this trend is beginning to be seen in Poland. In countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria or Switzerland, private vaults have been in operation for many years and are extremely popular. The largest operators offer safe deposit boxes in modern, certified vaults together with individual insurance policies and advanced security and user identification systems. Access to safe deposit boxes is increasingly 24/7 or at more customer-friendly hours than at the bank. On top of all this, there are also different sizes of vaults, vaults that accommodate A4-sized documents, vaults adapted for storing weapons or security copies.
Private vault - what to look out for?
Private vaults and safe deposit boxes are the inevitable alternative to bank vaults and safe deposit boxes, which are disappearing along with large bank branches. When choosing a safe deposit box, it is worth looking at a few key elements that enhance the security of our savings. When choosing a vault operator, it is worth checking that it has the necessary permits and qualifications. It should be remembered that the activity of providing safe deposit boxes is under special supervision of the Ministry of Finance and the Chief Inspectorate of Financial Information in accordance with the law on counteracting money laundering and terrorist financing. It is therefore worth checking whether the entity offering safe deposit boxes is a so-called obliged entity and whether its activities have been properly reported.
Another aspect is the vault itself. Such a vault should have the necessary certifications, in particular the certificate of the Institute of Precision Mechanics operating within the Łukasiewicz Research Network or the certificates of EU entities, e.g. ECBS. Every vault in Poland should have a valid security certificate and be assigned an appropriate class, which affects the security of the cache and its insurance. Many vault facilities in Poland were built in the 1990s and some of them do not have valid certification. It is therefore worth checking whether the caches are stored in a vault room and whether the vault has a valid certification.
An extremely important aspect is access to the vault. Today, modern vaults around the world offer clients access to the vault 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is very important especially in times of uncertainty and crisis situations. A perfect example of this would be the coronavirus and the restrictions caused by a pandemic. In such situations, clients should be able to access the safe deposit box in an unrestricted and secure manner. Some customers know that the bank's safe deposit box in such situations usually has limited availability and bank staff make vault appointments well in advance.
Insurance policies - additional protection
Equally important are the operator's insurance policies, i.e. how insured our safe deposit box and the vault operator's activities and the vault facility itself are. Compared to a bank safe deposit box, it is important to remember that bank safe deposit boxes and bank vaults were usually not insured and are not subject to the Bank Guarantee Fund. A private operator in the case of a certified vault has the option of insuring each cache individually without disclosing its contents up to a certain limit. In Western Europe, these are limits of even more than PLN 1 million per safe deposit box; in Poland, the highest limit is currently PLN 500,000 offered by Safebox24 for an individual safe deposit box. In addition, it is worth asking whether the operator has a third-party liability policy and an asset policy protecting the facility itself. Such policies increase the liability of the operator and affect the security of our safe deposit box.
More on our insurance policy in a separate blog article:
What can be stored in a safe deposit box?
Safe deposit box tenants should note that there are several restrictions on storing items. The restrictions are usually detailed in the operators' terms and conditions and relate to items and objects that may affect the security of the vault and other safe deposit boxes - a safe deposit box is not a place to store explosives or flammables, drugs, liquids, food or criminal items. Bank customers are accustomed to the fact that cash cannot be deposited in a bank safe deposit box. The situation is different in private vaults - cash and valuables can be stored in most of them. Some vaults, including Safebox24, also allow the deposit of both usable and collectible weapons. However, it must be remembered that weapons must be deposited without ammunition.
How much does it cost to rent a safe deposit box?
The prices for renting a safe deposit box usually depend on the size of the box, the rental period and the insurance conditions. Renting a bank safe deposit box costs up to over £1,800.00 per year for the smallest box. A safe deposit box from an independent operator costs around PLN 1,000 per year for an A4 size safe deposit box, which is relatively large and practical. A 24/7 safe deposit box, i.e. the service offered by Safebox24, is priced from around PLN 1,000 per year, but a box can also be rented for one month for as little as PLN 100.
Safebox24 - safe holiday
The holiday period is a time of relaxation and should be a time of peace. If you are planning a safe holiday, it is worth considering depositing your most important belongings outside your home or flat. The procedure for renting a safe-deposit box takes about 30 minutes, access to the safe-deposit box is granted after signing a contract and we can deposit your belongings at a time convenient to you. You will find all the details about the size of the lockers, rental periods, prices and insurance on our website www.safebox24.pl. You are also welcome to call us, or visit our facility and meet with an expert who will tell you how the facility works and will be happy to answer any additional questions.
About us
Safebox24 is the largest independent vault operator in Poland, offering safe deposit boxes in modern, certified vaults together with individual Lloyd's Insurance S.A. insurance. Currently Safebox24 offers services in vaults in Warsaw, Krakow, Lublin, Szczecin, Wrocław and Łódź, and soon in the Tricity and Katowice. In addition, we offer a deposit facility at the Safebox24 vault in Zurich, Switzerland.
Our vault and deposit services are further complemented by the offer of Mennica.Online, a modern dealer of gold and other precious metals in the form of bars and investment coins. We offer sales and delivery of precious metals throughout Poland.
For more information about us and the services we offer, please visit www.safebox24.pl, safebox24.com and www.mennica.online.
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