I have decided to write this blog following a significant increase in demand for our Safe Deposit Box service since the beginning of 2015.

At Merrion Vaults, we are constantly meeting clients who have been a victim of a burglary or they know someone who has recently become a victim.

The Irish media have been reporting over the past few weeks on the alarming increase in burglaries in both urban and rural Ireland. RTE’s Prime Time TV Show & RTE’s Joe Duffy radio show have both featured this recent increase in burglaries and interviewed many of the victims. In many cases, family heirlooms that cannot be replaced were taken leaving the families devastated. In addition, most of the victims had cash and other items of jewellery stolen.

What was very clear from these interviews was that criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated when it comes to breaking into properties and locating valuables once they have gained access.

There is a popular misconception that storing your valuables in a home Safe protects these high value items if you are a victim of a burglary. In reality, most home Safes can be breached within 2 minutes. See video link below:

In fact, most thieves can now easily remove the Safe from the property and open it later (even if it is bolted to a wall/floor). You may think that your home Safe is concealed and will never be located by the thieves, however thieves now carry small handheld metal detectors that can locate Safes easily.

What was most interesting in the recent media coverage was how ineffective modern Home Alarm Systems are.  Most alarm systems can be immobilized by thieves in the time allocated to enter your PIN number, usually up to 30 seconds. Burglars are now also carrying GSM phone signal blockers (cost €50 online) that cut off any radio/phone signals from your property thus eliminating all possible communications with a remote monitoring security company.

If you contact your local Garda Station, the above facts can be verified.

In reality, the only secure way to store valuables that you do not need access to on a daily basis is by storing them in a purpose-built facility outside of the home.  A Safe Deposit Box in a purpose built vault is an ideal solution for storing Cash, Jewellery, Family Heirlooms, Irreplaceable Items, Gold & Silver Bullion, Title Deeds, Wills, Spare Car Keys, Memory Sticks, Photographs and many other items of value.

By storing these valuables out of the home you will also benefit from lower Home Contents Insurance premiums.

At Merrion Vaults, we offer Safe Deposit Boxes in our vaults from less than €4 per week.