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Our experts talking Safes, Security and More!

Martijn Zandvliet

How much cash can I legally hold at home?
How much cash can I legally hold at home?

There are no rules which state how much cash you can have within your property, however there are some very good reasons why holding large amounts of cash at home is not a good idea.

Reasons not to keep large amounts of cash at home

The first reason is security. If you are burgled and you leave cash sums in the property unprotected in a drawer or cupboard it may be difficult to claim for this on your insurance. Providing evidence that you hold large amounts of cash at home is not easy and proving to your insurer that it has been stolen may be difficult. If you are keeping large sums in a safe, then ensure that the safe insurance rating covers the amount you hold. I.e., if you have £2,000 in a safe be certain that the safe is at least £2,000 cash rated AND that your insurance company have approved the use of your particular safe. It is advisable to use an AiS Approved safe, if you are storing cash.

Insurance

Certainly, from an insurance point of view, it is not a good idea to hold large sums of cash at home, particularly if this cash is takings from a business. In the event of theft, your insurance company would not cover you for the loss of business takings kept at home. If safe storage on your business premises is not possible, always aim to bank your daily takings rather than taking it home.

Other things worth bearing in mind would be the purpose of holding cash at home. If you are ‘saving up’ for something, it is probably better to have a bank savings account rather than a jar in a cupboard. A bank will also give you some form of interest on your savings although it is currently very little! But at least your money is secure from theft in a safe.

Banking and Storage of Cash

Bank mistrust is a common factor when people keep large sums of money at home. This has probably been driven by high profile bank collapses in recent years. Legislation is in place to protect the investor from loss of savings due to bank collapse, meaning this is no longer a reason for holding large cash sums at home. Certainly, even the most basic level of bank security is going to be better than keeping it in your sock drawer at home.

Lastly, keeping large amounts of cash at home can be viewed with suspicion by certain authorities such as HMRC and the Police. If you are under suspicion and your home is raided, you would need to prove that the cash has been obtained by legal means and not by non-declaration of earnings or even criminal dealings. Failure to do this will result in the money being seized as part of an investigation.

What are Old Safes made of?
What are Old Safes made of?

When looking at what old safes are made of, we would have to go back to Egyptian times. The Egyptians were the first people to value their belongings to such an extent that they felt the need to secure them for future use and they kept their important documents and valuables buried deep in pyramids, so I guess you could say the first safes were made of stone.

Old Style Safe

An image of an old constructed safe.

Jump forward to the 15th Century and strongboxes were widely used as a method of security. These were primarily made of oak, this being considered the strongest of woods at the time and would have had cast iron bindings to hold them together. Locks would have been simple affairs, easily picked or broken.

Modern Safe Production

The 19th Century saw the first ‘modern’ style safes being produced. These were primarily constructed of iron and their inner walling would have been made from stone, plaster, alum or even asbestos as a way of combating fire and providing strength. Given that iron is a very good conductor of heat, these safes did not provide much protection from fire and would not come anything close to the sort of protection given today.

Safe Testing

Testing arrived early in the 20th Century and brought about radical changes in the way safes were constructed. Although this resulted in better protection for our valuables, these safes would not provide adequate security from being broken into or protection from fire today.

Important testing factors such as how long a safe will withstand an attack, how hot a fire burns, what the safe will protect and for how long are a fairly new idea. As these tests need to be carried out under laboratory conditions, today’s safes are rated according to a standardized system and all AiS Approved and Eurograded Safes have to perform to the same stringent testing regardless of manufacturer.

Modern safes are usually made from steel. However, early Egyptians would be happy to know that their idea to protect their belongings using stone has been given a modern twist and some fire safes today protect their internal space from fire and heat using concrete in the walling. Proof if it were needed that sometimes things are best left unchanged.

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