In every home, it’s necessary to ensure that you own the right tools to help you in case an emergency or a fire breakout happens. Having a fireproof safe at home is a great idea, for you can keep your valuables secured. In most cases, you cannot predict when a disaster strikes at your home, thus it’s crucial to think forward and protect your assets the best way possible.
One of the things you need to consider buying to keep your valuables secure is home safe. Owning one must be practiced by families who need to safeguard their assets in the comfort of their homes. However, you have to choose the best fireproof home safe to guarantee that everything is well protected and won’t get burnt.
Hence, here are the essential things you need to keep in your fireproof home safe:
1. Car and Real Estate Titles
Evidence of property ownership should always be stored safely. These are proof that you own what you say you own. Make sure to keep these in your home safe for they are irreplaceable. You’ll also be needing these when selling or refinancing your property or transferring title for estate-planning purposes. A fireproof home safe can ensure the safety of these documents.
2. Birth Certificates
You might not think of it as a crucial document, but birth certificates are. There are a lot of things you need to do that require a birth certificate, like enrolling in school, getting a passport, driver’s license, or marriage license, and applying for private or government benefits. Although it’s not expensive and difficult to get a copy of your birth certificate when you misplace it or a fire burns it, you still need to keep it safe, so you can have it right away whenever you need it.
3. Last Wills
If you have many properties, then creating a last will is necessary. It can be time-consuming and costly, but you have to do it and discuss what you want to happen to your assets with your lawyer and family. You have to keep an original copy and be sure to place it in a fireproof home safe then. It might also be a good idea to ask your lawyer to secure a copy as a backup if it doesn’t make it through the fire.
4. Insurance Policies
When your home goes through a fire, one of the first things you’ll have to deal with is insurance. So, it’s recommended that you keep your insurance policies in a fireproof safe to get your hands on it as soon as possible. You have to get crucial information, like your current insurance policy and agent’s contact details, right away to lessen the hassle of going through it all if you don’t have your copy.
5. Passports
Another major thing you need to keep in your fireproof safe is your passport. It serves as documentation for identifying yourself and allows you to travel to other countries. Hence, store it properly when not in use because it’s quite expensive to get a new one. If you lost it or when a fire burnt it, you’ll have to wait for at least three weeks to process it. And this could be stressful if you already have prior plans and need your passport. To take away all the inconvenience, put your passport in a trusted fireproof safe.
6. Jewelry
While jewelry may be insurable, they are often irreplaceable. Some may have been handed down by your parents or grandparents, so you have to keep them properly. Place your jewels in a safe to have the chance to be able to pass them down to your family’s next generations. If you seldomly wear them or they are extremely valuable, then storing them in a fireproof safe at home is the best way to secure them.
7. Medical Documents
Aside from insurance policies, your medical documents must be kept, too. These are forms and copies of your medical prescriptions and contact information of your doctors or pharmacists. You may need these so you can resupply needed medications quickly or regularly.
8. Guns and other weapons
Should you have guns at home, make sure to store them in a safe as well. These might be dangerous possessions, but they can also protect you when things go south. The best storage for these is a fireproof gun safe, depending on the number or size of your collection. Keep these weapons away from other people and give only a few trusted family members access to them.
9. Cash
Once an emergency occurs, keep a quick-access stash of money in a safe. Cash is becoming less and less common these days, when online payments have been made more popular. However, store a good amount of money in your fireproof safe to ensure you have enough money to get by when a fire strikes at your home. You should always be prepared for any circumstances that might happen at home.
10. Photos
Anything made of paper goes up in flames at the whiff of fire. It means that even your most treasured photos will get burned if you won’t keep them in a safe. If you have old originals of photos, then secure them in a fireproof safe. Since we have advanced technology these days, you can save them on electronic storage media, like a USB drive, and place them in the safe.
Takeaway
A fireproof home safe protects all your valuables from getting burned when an accidental fire occurs. If you’re still wondering what to keep in your safe, this list mentioned above will help you sort things out properly. Nonetheless, choose the most reliable and durable one to guarantee the safety of all your important documents inside. There are various types of fireproof home safes available out there, thus, better do your research first and opt for one that serves its real purpose. Always choose the safe with the highest quality, for you can’t afford to lose all your valuables in an instant. You can visit Storables.com to make sure you are on the right track.