Buying a new safe? Read our guide.

A safe can become an integral part of your home or office security if you know what to look for. This user-friendly guide will tell you all you need to know before you buy.

Insurance Rating

All security safes are given what is known as an 'insurance rating'. This indicates the level of security and the maximum amount of cash that an insurance company will cover if stored in the safe overnight. The higher the rating, the more secure the safe.

The insurance rating is determined by several factors, inlcuding:

The resistance the safe
has to being moved.

The thickness and strength
of the walls and door.

The security and complexity
of the lock and bolt mechanics.

The general build quality.

Obviously not everyone keeps cash in their safe. If you want to store jewellery, for example, you can store up to 10 times the insurance rating. A few things to bear in mind:

An insurance rating of £2,000 in cash or £20,000 worth of valuables.
You'll likely want to store additional items, not just your cash or jewellery, so it's worth picking a rating that's 30% higher than your current needs.
The insurance rating only applies if the safe has been installed correctly, and according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
If you want to store a specific high-value item or cash amount, you'll need to check with your insurer. They may request a higher rating.

Insurance Approval

AiS (Association of Insurance Surveyors) is the UK's top authority on insurance ratings. So if you buy a safe with the AiS logo, it's generally a green light for automatic insurance approval.

We've categorised our security safes into four different security groups. Standard, Medium, High and Maximum. These are based on the insurance rating and European Norm (EN) certificate required to achieve the rating.