A safe deposit box is more than somewhere to put jewellery and gold.
For many Australians, a secure off-site storage facility provides a practical way to protect important documents, precious metals, family keepsakes, digital records and other valuables from risks that can occur at home.
Fire, flood, theft, accidental damage and even simply misplacing an important document can create significant problems. Having a secure location away from your home can provide an additional layer of protection and, just as importantly, peace of mind.
But what should you actually keep in a safe deposit box?
This guide will help you create your own safe deposit box checklist, including valuable items, important documents, digital records and business information that may be worth storing securely.
Why use a safe deposit box?
The items we keep at home aren’t all equal.
Losing a television or piece of furniture may be inconvenient. Losing a passport, family photographs, jewellery, investment-grade precious metals or an important legal document can be considerably more difficult to replace.
A safe deposit box can provide a secure location away from your home for items that are:
- Valuable
- Difficult or expensive to replace
- Important to your family
- Sensitive or confidential
- Needed in an emergency
- Vulnerable to theft, fire or other household risks
Private facilities can also provide an alternative to storing everything in a home safe. A home safe may protect against opportunistic theft, but it remains inside the same property that could be affected by burglary, fire, flood or another major event.
The purpose of a safe deposit box isn’t necessarily to replace your home security. Rather, it can form another layer within your overall approach to protecting important possessions.
What to keep in a safe deposit box?
There is no single checklist that is right for everyone.
The best place to start is to think about what would be difficult, expensive or stressful to replace if your home were suddenly inaccessible.
Here are some of the most common categories to consider.
1. Precious metals and other valuable items
Precious metals are one of the obvious uses for secure storage, particularly for people who hold physical gold, silver or platinum as part of a long-term investment strategy.
Items you might consider storing include:
- Gold bullion
- Silver bullion
- Platinum bullion
- Rare or collectible coins
- Medals
- Jewellery
- Watches
- Family heirlooms
- Rare stamps
- Small valuable collectibles
For people who deliberately own physical precious metals, storing them away from the home can also reduce the amount of high-value property kept in one location.
If you own significant quantities of bullion, it is worth checking exactly what insurance is included with your storage facility and whether additional cover is available if required.
2. Important personal documents
Some documents are inconvenient to replace. Others can be extremely difficult to replace or prove without the original.
Depending on your circumstances, you may consider securely storing:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Divorce documentation
- Adoption records
- Citizenship documents
- Important family records
- Property documentation
- Vehicle documentation
- Important certificates
- Awards and historical records
- Copies of insurance policies
- Important financial records
Before putting an original document into a safe deposit box, think about whether you need regular access to it.
For documents that are regularly required, consider keeping an accessible copy at home while securely storing the original.
3. Passports and identity documents
Passports and other important identity documents are another category worth considering.
A stolen or damaged passport can create significant inconvenience, particularly if you are preparing to travel.
Depending on your circumstances, you may wish to store:
- Passports
- Copies of driver’s licences
- Citizenship documentation
- Other identity records
- Important visa or immigration documentation
A good approach can be to store important documents that are rarely needed while keeping frequently used documents readily accessible.
4. Family photographs and irreplaceable memories
Not everything worth protecting has a financial value.
Old family photographs, letters, certificates and other memorabilia may be impossible to replace.
Consider storing items such as:
- Family photographs
- Old letters
- Diaries
- Family records
- Small heirlooms
- Historical documents
- Important keepsakes
You can replace a television. You can replace furniture.
You cannot replace a photograph of a family member who has passed away.
For particularly important photographs and documents, consider also creating a digital backup.
5. Digital records and backup drives
Safe deposit boxes aren’t only for paper.
Important digital information can also be stored on physical media such as:
- USB drives
- External hard drives
- SSDs
- Memory cards
- Other storage media
This can be particularly useful for irreplaceable family photographs, important records or business information.
However, don’t rely on a single physical copy.
A better approach is to follow a 3-2-1 backup strategy where appropriate:
3 copies of important data → 2 different types of storage → 1 copy stored off-site.
A secure vault can potentially form part of that off-site strategy.
Remember that digital storage media can deteriorate or become obsolete. Important data should be checked and migrated periodically rather than simply being placed in a box and forgotten.
6. Important legal and financial records
A secure storage facility can also be useful for documents relating to your financial and legal affairs.
Depending on your circumstances, these could include:
- Property records
- Insurance documentation
- Trust documentation
- Powers of attorney
- Tax records
- Investment records
- Important contracts
- Loan documentation
- Estate-planning documents
- Business agreements
You don’t necessarily need to store every financial document you own.
Instead, focus on documents that are difficult to replace or that you would want protected in the event that something happened to your home.
For highly sensitive financial information, consider whether storing the original, a copy, or a secure digital backup is most appropriate.
7. Business documents
Safe deposit boxes aren’t just for personal use.
Business owners may also have documents and physical items that require additional protection.
Depending on the nature of your business, you could consider storing:
- Company records
- ABN and ACN documentation
- Important contracts
- Intellectual property records
- Trademark documentation
- Patent documentation
- Business insurance information
- Architectural plans
- Technical drawings
- Historical business records
- Backup storage media
For a business, off-site storage can also form part of a broader business continuity plan.
Ask yourself:
If my office or business premises were inaccessible tomorrow, which physical documents would I struggle to replace?
Those are the items worth considering for secure off-site storage.
8. Collectibles and valuable personal possessions
Collectors often accumulate items that are valuable financially, historically or sentimentally.
Examples include:
- Rare coins
- Stamps
- Medals
- Watches
- Jewellery
- Small antiques
- Collectable cards
- Memorabilia
- Other valuable collections
If you have spent years building a collection, storing the most valuable pieces away from the home may make sense as part of your overall protection strategy.
It is also worth maintaining a separate inventory containing photographs, descriptions and estimated values.
That documentation can be extremely useful for insurance and estate-planning purposes.
Don’t forget about insurance
Secure storage and insurance are two different things.
A secure facility can significantly reduce exposure to risks such as theft or household disasters, but you should always understand exactly what insurance is included with your storage arrangement.
Before choosing a facility, ask:
What is covered?
How much cover is included?
Are there exclusions?
Can additional cover be purchased?
Does the cover apply to everything stored in the box?
At Private Vaults Australia, each safety deposit box includes $20,000 of complimentary insurance, with additional insurance upgrades available at competitive rates for customers who require greater coverage.
Always confirm the current terms and conditions with your storage provider and make sure your valuables are appropriately documented.
What shouldn’t you keep in a safe deposit box?
Safe deposit boxes aren’t suitable for everything.
Prohibited items will vary between facilities, so always check the individual provider’s terms and conditions.
Generally, you should not expect to be able to store items such as:
- Illegal firearms or weapons
- Illegal drugs or substances
- Explosive or hazardous materials
- Flammable materials
- Perishable goods
- Items connected with criminal activity
- Liquids, where prohibited by the facility
If you aren’t sure whether an item can be stored, ask the facility before bringing it in.
What To Keep in a Safe Deposit Box?
Create your safe deposit box checklist
Before renting a box, walk through your home and identify the items that would cause the biggest problem if they were lost, stolen or destroyed.
A useful way to approach this is to divide your belongings into four categories:
1. Financial value
What would be expensive to replace?
2. Practical value
What would be difficult to replace or recreate?
3. Sentimental value
What is completely irreplaceable?
4. Critical importance
What documents or information might you urgently need after an emergency?
You can then create a simple checklist.
Valuable items
☐ Gold bullion
☐ Silver bullion
☐ Platinum bullion
☐ Jewellery
☐ Watches
☐ Rare coins
☐ Collectibles
☐ Medals
☐ Family heirlooms
Personal documents
☐ Birth certificates
☐ Marriage certificates
☐ Citizenship documents
☐ Important family records
☐ Property documents
☐ Vehicle documents
☐ Important certificates
Legal & financial
☐ Insurance documents
☐ Trust documents
☐ Powers of attorney
☐ Investment records
☐ Important contracts
☐ Tax records
☐ Estate-planning documents
Digital
☐ Family photographs
☐ Backup drives
☐ USB storage
☐ Important digital records
Business
☐ Company records
☐ ABN/ACN documentation
☐ Intellectual property documents
☐ Contracts
☐ Business insurance records
☐ Important plans and drawings
Prepare before you move your valuables into storage
Creating a checklist is only the first step.
Before moving important items into a safe deposit box, consider creating a photographic inventory of the contents.
For valuable items, record:
- Photographs
- Descriptions
- Purchase receipts where available
- Serial numbers
- Approximate values
- Relevant certificates or appraisals
Store a copy of this information separately from the valuables themselves.
It is also worth reviewing your storage arrangements periodically. Your circumstances change, your collection may grow and documents may become outdated.
A quick annual review can help ensure that your safe deposit box is still being used effectively.
Choosing the right size safe deposit box
Your checklist can also help determine what size box you actually need.
There is little benefit in paying for a larger box if you only need to store a handful of documents and small valuables. Equally, trying to fit a growing bullion collection, documents and valuables into a box that is too small can quickly become impractical.
Before choosing a size, think about:
- What you intend to store now
- Whether your collection is likely to grow
- The dimensions of your largest items
- Whether you want room for future purchases
- How frequently you need to access the contents
The cheapest option isn’t necessarily the most suitable. Choose a size based on what you actually need to store.
What about storing valuables at home?
A home safe can be useful, and for some possessions it may be perfectly appropriate.
However, it is worth considering the difference between protecting something inside your home and removing it from your home altogether.
Your home can be exposed to:
- Burglary
- Fire
- Flood
- Storm damage
- Other natural disasters
- Accidental damage
A professionally secured off-site facility provides another layer of protection by keeping selected valuables and important documents away from the property.
For people holding significant amounts of bullion, jewellery, watches or other high-value possessions, this can be an important consideration.
Secure storage in Redcliffe, Brisbane
Private Vaults Australia provides secure private storage in Redcliffe, Brisbane, outside the CBD.
Our facility provides secure storage options for:
- Gold, silver and platinum bullion
- Jewellery
- Watches
- Important documents
- Family records
- Collectibles
- Other valuable possessions
Security includes facial recognition and a four-digit PIN, while customers can access their belongings during opening hours.
Each safety deposit box includes $20,000 of complimentary insurance, with additional cover available for customers who require it.
Most importantly, a safe deposit box isn’t simply about protecting something because it is expensive.
Sometimes the most valuable things in your box are the things that cannot be replaced.
If you’re considering secure off-site storage, create your checklist first. Once you know exactly what you want to protect, it becomes much easier to determine whether a safe deposit box is right for you and what size and level of insurance you may require.
Private Vaults Australia is located in Redcliffe, Brisbane. Contact our team to discuss your storage requirements or arrange a visit to our facility.
2 months free. No long-term commitment necessary. Limited spots available.
