Do Insurance Policies Mandate Expensive Safes?

[DocBII]

Good day,

For the folks with more information than I have: Is it better spend several thousand dollars on one large expensive safe, or several smaller couple hundred dollar safes? If theft deterrence or restricted access is the primary consideration, how would you proceed? Does insurance make any difference?

Awareness of the difficulty in moving a large safe, placement and the possibility of less than optimum survival condition should be considered. Most folks with large collections are usually fixed in one location, while those in the family years will be moving at least once and usually several times. Additional inexpensive safes may be purchased to supplement storage and moving. Survival through a fire or disaster is a much less likely occurrence and way more expensive to plan.

How would you balance this?
DocBII

 

[bobinpa]

I've never wasted my money on a couple hundred dollar safe. To me, that's just a glorified lockable cabinet....
I want the best fire protection I can get! My safes are Champion. I know there are better but they are the best I could afford at the time.
I'd rather struggle moving them and have some piece of mind rather than worrying about the cabinet they are in.
Just my opinion...

 

[DirtySteve]

You could leave the safe and buy a new one when you move. That is what I almost did. I bought the new safe then still moved my old one. I am not a smart man..

 

[ELR LVR]

You could leave the safe and buy a new one when you move. That is what I almost did. I bought the new safe then still moved my old one. I am not a smart man..

That would actually make a good selling point for a house
Include the gun safe with a couple guns
-----------
It's kind of like - including the tractor on a farm
-----------
LOL I almost bought a house once where the guy had a 67 Camaro in the carport
I asked if he would include the Camaro in the sale
He kind of hmmmmed and went -Yeah we could work something out
(That was back when a '67 went for about $8k so not a big deal really)
it was a big selling point for me just to have the muscle car
It was just too hot of an area (110 Summers) I decided not to buy

 

[boltfluter]

Good day,

For the folks with more information than I have: Is it better spend several thousand dollars on one large expensive safe, or several smaller couple hundred dollar safes? If theft deterrence or restricted access is the primary consideration, how would you proceed? Does insurance make any difference?

Awareness of the difficulty in moving a large safe, placement and the possibility of less than optimum survival condition should be considered. Most folks with large collections are usually fixed in one location, while those in the family years will be moving at least once and usually several times. Additional inexpensive safes may be purchased to supplement storage and moving. Survival through a fire or disaster is a much less likely occurrence and way more expensive to plan.

How would you balance this?
DocBII

Buy a good quality, heavy safe and put it in a corner and bolt it to the ground. Limiting access to the sides will slow them down. Time is something thieves don't have or want to waste, generally speaking. Make it as awkward as possible to work on the safe. 200.00 safes are convenient to carry away , safe and all. I wouldn't go there personally. Good luck.
Paul

 

[6BRA]

Safe prices have doubled in last 4 years. If they want in, they can get in. The difference in a $3000 and $6000 safe is not going to make a difference. Jmo.. a $300 safe quite possible. Cameras and cellular security system will pressure them on time. Money better spent.

 

[Luisyamaha]

I always thought two 20 cu. ft. safes a better deal than a 40 cu. ft. safe was. Before my move to Virginia, and consequently "culling of the herd" , I had one 20 cu. ft., one 10 cu. ft. and two 27 cu. ft.. All for 42 firearms.
It suited my purposes then. Many, many less now.

Luisyamaha

 

[jelenko]

Just to answer the OP's original question.
I'm not aware of homeowner's policies requirement on gun storage other than 'secure'.

If you have commercial coverage, they would probably visit your site and price their policy depending on all the various risks they identified.

 

[JMayo]

Eastern or what ever they are called now doesn't require a safe. 40k coverage without listing anything.

 

[Shooter13]

You could leave the safe and buy a new one when you move. That is what I almost did. I bought the new safe then still moved my old one. I am not a smart man..

I did exactly this as it was going to cost me within $300 of what I could purchase a new one for!

 

[Fire Dog]

That would actually make a good selling point for a house
Include the gun safe with a couple guns
-----------
It's kind of like - including the tractor on a farm
-----------
LOL I almost bought a house once where the guy had a 67 Camaro in the carport
I asked if he would include the Camaro in the sale
He kind of hmmmmed and went -Yeah we could work something out
(That was back when a '67 went for about $8k so not a big deal really)
it was a big selling point for me just to have the muscle car
It was just too hot of an area (110 Summers) I decided not to buy

Phoenix ?

 

[Infrequent Shooter]

I would have pictures of each FA w a picture of the serial number. ,,,,, Not sure that I have done that.

 

[gunnermhr]

A safe is a good investment, I look for the best fire protection. Typically, that is higher end safes. Money spent on "Good" security cameras is a better investment to a deter thief. Keep the DVR in an inaccessible location, or figure a way to store data in the cloud, then the theif can't get access

 

[dusterdave173]

Homeowners policy bill just doubled
Call my agent the company wants out of our state looks like
When shopping they asked
Got a wood stove? Got a big dog? Got a pool?
Yes to any and best rates disappear
Going in tomorrow to seek what I need for best rates — firearms coverage is on my list
Homeowners rates are soaring. Get ready for your next cycle it ain’t going to be fun

 

[gmr4]

I've never wasted my money on a couple hundred dollar safe. To me, that's just a glorified lockable cabinet....
I want the best fire protection I can get! My safes are Champion. I know there are better but they are the best I could afford at the time.
I'd rather struggle moving them and have some piece of mind rather than worrying about the cabinet they are in.
Just my opinion...

Guns cook in ANY safe. They may not burn but no safe keeps them from ruining in a hot fire. I’ve seen it many times. Id rather have smaller decent safes in couple different locations in the home.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

Friend of mine had a house fire. He had 3 safes total. 2 high end safes in the house and 1 mid range priced safe in his shop behind the house. The shop did not catch fire.
All firearms in the house safes were a loss.

All firearms in his shop were fine.

In his situation, it was best that he had them stored in 2 different locations.

 

[Downhill]

As a collector of US military arms, I have a policy on the firearm collection itself. Did not want to gamble on the homeowners policy covering the value of the collectibles. In my opinion, fireproof or fire resistant is useless. Given the internal temp a safe will reach in a house fire, the damage will be catastrophic to internal contents.

 

[C.E.Smith043]

As a collector of US military arms, I have a policy on the firearm collection itself. Did not want to gamble on the homeowners policy covering the value of the collectibles. In my opinion, fireproof or fire resistant is useless. Given the internal temp a safe will reach in a house fire, the damage will be catastrophic to internal contents.

I agree with this. And in my experience, homeowner polices will not normally cover firearms for very much if any at all. You are best to get a rider for the firearms themselves.

 

[DShortt]

This topic will require a LOT of popcorn in order to read through before it's over.

 

[ELR LVR]

Phoenix ?

A dry area of the foothills in Calif. - Stoneyford
Similar Climate to Redding/Anderson in the Summer
Last time I was in Anderson, CA in August - I forgot how hot Calif can get
Like Arizona yes, the kind of heat that smacks you like you just opened your 400F oven door when your house was already 90F inside.