What Is a Cash Rated Safe And How Does It Impact My Insurance?

Cash rated safes offer superior protection; not necessarily in terms of actual physical property security, but in terms of insurance payouts.

A cash rated safe is a unit defined as having a pre-approved rating for valuables. Items stored inside the safe are secured up to a certain valuation, depending on the type of cash rated safe you’ve bought. If possessions held inside the safe are stolen — or the safe itself is removed — insurers are required to pay out on anything covered up to the cash rating assigned to the unit. For example, if your safe is rated up to $50,000 for belongings, you can claim on items anywhere up to that cash value.

Besides ensuring a guaranteed pay out on claims, a cash rated safe can also help lower your insurance premiums. Safes achieve cash ratings as they are deemed to be secure enough to hold valuables to a standard of which insurers expect that they will not be easily accessible to thieves. Therefore, ownership of a safe can drive down annual costs.

Putting into place additional methods of protection for high-value goods is essential for not only keeping them safe, but also ensuring you don’t take a massive financial hit should they be stolen. Cash rated safes offer that piece of mind for both:

• Businesses — By making sure cash stored can be recovered and assets lost can easily be replaced. Without this protection, your business could be dealt a serious financial blow, as replacements for stolen goods may dramatically hamper profit margins.
• Residential Properties — The most commonly stolen items from a home are car keys, jewelry and smart tech. If your insurance company refuses to pay out, you may be faced with a situation where you are either unable to reclaim goods (as they are too expensive to replace), or suffer financial difficulties as you have to offset the costs yourself/take out loans to recover lost property.

Cash rated safes remove the risk. They lower your chances of actually having items stolen in the first place, as they make it tough for thieves to access goods. Then, in the unlikely event that they do access goods, you are guaranteed to have your financial investment in the stolen property recovered.

All insurance organisations will have unique policies and terms for the use of a cash rated safes. When taking out insurance, or acquiring a safe to protect yourself in the event of a claim, it is first advisable that you discuss what options are available with your provider. Awareness of proper safe policy and usage ensures that insurers are not able to find loopholes or a way out of making a payout.

At Precision Safes, we’re expert providers of every type of safe you can think of. If you aren’t sure what kind of unit you need, why not get in touch with our expert engineers to discuss your options? We’ll never try to sell you something you don’t need!

What Kind of Gun Safe Do You Need?

The type of gun safe you’ll need is dependant on a number of variables. These include:

• How many guns you’ll own
• What type of gun you’ll own
• How many people have access to your property

You’ll notice that this list is essentially a series of risk factors that escalate the more complicated they become.

Consider your risk factors and your unique needs. This will allow you to identify your storage requirements. The higher the risk, the more you’ll need to invest in a gun safe in order to secure your certification and licensing.

How to Find the Best Gun Cabinet

Precision Safes has a range of handpicked products that are perfect for anyone that is:

• Seeking to buy a gun
• Improving the security of their currently owned firearms
• Looking to expand upon their existing collection.

We have safes to fit all requirements, from large units built to house a range of firearms to single and compact safes designed for a single gun. You’ll also find fire resistant safes and a variety of security features available.

All our gun safes are 100% police approved.

Safes come with so many options that it can feel like there’s too much choice. When we’re faced with so many things to choose from it’s hard to decide which safe to go for. You should always seek the advice of a safe expert when you buy a new safe. That’s where Precision Safes come in.

One of the main questions that we’re asked is about the type of lock. Which safe lock is best? Is a key lock more secure? Should I have an electronic lock? What happens if I lose the key or the code? These are valid questions, and we answer them every day.

So which is best? A key lock or an electronic lock?

Most of this all comes down to a simple choice – which do you prefer? Some people like to have a key as they feel it’s more secure. But more people now prefer an electronic lock in this ever-digital world that we live in.

But of course, the way you use your safe and who uses it will have a bearing on it too.

Key locks – the traditional locking option.

Key locks are a more traditional and more robust option. A well looked-after key lock will outlive an electronic lock. Quality key locks can also be more reliable over some of the cheaper key locks in the lower end of the market. Cheap electronic locks can fail (although it’s not common) and the reliability of a key lock will out perform the new electronic version.

But keys are breakable and probably more importantly – losable!

One area where the key lock will be a hindrance is of course damaging it in the lock. We’ve been to many ‘lock-outs,’ where the key has been bent or snapped in the lock. This will lead to a potentially expensive lock picking or drilling.

Keys can be lost too. If you’re a forgetful person or you’re always leaving your keys at home then you may not want another key to worry about. You can have spare keys made, and most safes come with two keys. Replacements can be expensive but are readily available from a registered safe engineer.

The one thing to remember is that if you lose your safe’s keys, your security is left wide open. Safe keys are small but are easily identified as keys to a safe. If you loose your safe’s key somewhere that’s easy to work out where it belongs, you’ll need to change your lock immediately – and that’s an expensive call-out and repair.

Electronic locks – the modern option for safe entry

In this ever-increasingly digital world we’re not surprised that the electronic lock is so popular. The simple to use and change digital codes are more commonplace now than ever before. Electronic locks are ideal for safes that have access given to more than a few people (safes at schools, restaurants or shops for example). With the ability to change your code instantly, the electronic lock lends itself well to places of work with a high turnover of staff or changes in levels of authority. With an electronic lock you can really take control of the access to your safe.

The downside of electronic locks though are the costs.

Electronic locks are more expensive to buy. Because of this, the budget end of the market is affected, as the price is the mitigating factor when choosing your new safe. The extra cost on some of the small safes compared to the key locking version can often be too much for some shoppers.

Also, if you ever forget the code to your electronic lock it can be pricey. Unless you have an override key it’s more expensive than a key lock to open your safe when you’re locked out.

Key locks can be picked open by a safe engineer – electronic locks just stay shut! Forgetting your keys is one thing. Forgetting your code is a whole other problem entirely. Drilling is expensive and the repairs are more so. That said, you could of course just save the code somewhere safe like in a secure mobile phone app or a double access password system on your computer.

So what do you choose? Key or electronic?

Well now it’s really over to you. If you’re someone who forgets codes and passwords then maybe a key lock is for you. If you’re on a budget a key lock is certainly fairer on your pocket too.

If you have to allow access to your safe to a few people and you want full control over who has access in the future then an electronic lock is for you. Electronic locks are fantastic for user control and simple to change when situations do.

Electronic locks can be unreliable compared to key locks but pound for pound we probably sell more electronic locking safes online. They seem to suit the modern world of digital access and of course you can change it whenever you like… just don’t forget the code!

For more advice on choosing your safe, Contact us today on 0409 860 011.

Do I need to setup / fix my safe to the floor or wall?

Yes … definitely. Most insurance providers will state that if you’re buying a safe to protect your valuables and/or cash at home, it must be “professionally” fitted or fixed to the floor. All safes that are sold will come with anchoring points either in the floor or wall of the safe (sometimes both.) the bolts to permanently fix your safe to your floor or wall are also supplied with the safe. With regards to it being professionally fitted, read on as we cover this in more detail below.

Should I fix my safe to a concrete floor?

This is the ideal situation. If you’re in a position to fix the safe to a concrete floor that’s great, alternatively fixing to a wooden floor will suffice, however you’ll need to ensure that you’ve fixed it to a joist or used coach bolts to make it as secure. Gluing is also an option, but should be seriously thought through as the safe, once glued, is not moving!

Pros on fitting the safe to the floor or wall.

A safe is a natural deterrent to someone who has unlawfully entered your house. In our experience if a burglar were to see the safe the first thing they would do, would be to attempt to move it and when that resulted in a non-mover, they’d move on.

High security safes can take hours to pick and as we know the common burglar to be a prime opportunist, they’d always look at taking a safe with them to pick or break, out of sight. By fixing your safe to the floor you’ll be getting another layer of protection for your cash or valuables.

Regardless of size or weight of your safe, it is highly recommended that you bolt down your safe. We sell safes that can weigh in excess of 1000kg, however, we still recommend that it’s fixed to the floor to stop occurrences like this happening.

Heavy safes are great, they are solid and intimidating in comparison to smaller safes, however if the safe is not bolted down, you may find that thieves are prepared to move a safe if they come across one.

Are there any cons with fixing a safe?

We’ve sold safes to tenants renting their property, as well as to commercial businesses, retail environments and homeowners – all of which we recommend fixing to the floor or wall, however like everything there may be some cons.

If renting you’ll most likely need to request permission from your landlord before drilling holes in the floors or walls, gluing a safe will most likely be out of the question due to a) not being able to take it with you when you move and b) the landlord may not want a safe!

Please also bear in mind that if you are tenant in a property and would prefer to have a very heavy safe, consider that when and if you decide to move out, you’ll need to think about how you’re going to move it.