28
Aug 2024
Are the Contents of you Safety Deposit Box Safe?
Americans maintain over 20 million safety deposit box accounts across the country yet most investors don’t realize the poor experiences and significant risks with storing in safety deposit boxes. Hundreds of customers annually report to authorities that their valuables including precious metals and cash have been taken from their safe deposit boxes.
Many do not realize until it is too late that the contents of safety deposit box are not insured, and that most rental agreements specify very low limits of liability for the banks – often only $500. Some of the nation’s largest banks have specifically written to their customers encouraging them not to store precious metals in safety deposit boxes because of the risks. A quick search on the Internet will show you cases from across the country where citizens have sued virtually all of America’s major banks repeatedly for safety deposit box infractions.
The New York Times concluded that there are no federal laws governing safety deposit boxes and no rules requiring banks to compensate clients if their savings are stolen or destroyed.
Another case, where gold survived a house fire but not a safety deposit box, brought against banks in Texas for not guarding valuables in safety deposit boxes also brought to light the position of banks and their lack of liability:
… the Bank does not provide insurance coverage for the contents of a safe deposit box… you assume the entire loss to the box contents from such risks. The Bank recommends that you arrange to have the contents of your safe deposit box insured by your personal insurance carrier.
Remarkably even if a client has clear and convincing evidence as to what was stored at the safe deposit box and … “[i]f a loss results from the negligent or willful misconduct of the Bank's directors, officers, employees or agents, the Bank's total liability will be limited to … the lesser of your actual loss or $500.00."
In contrast, when you store your precious metals in a vault with us, your metals are insured and audited. Unlike with safety deposit boxes, everything that goes into your account is itemized and recorded as belonging to you for your protection. When your metals are held in our vaults, you can ask for your metals to be returned to you at any time or you can sell them and have us send you proceeds in an expedited fashion as there is no delay from needing to authenticate your metals.
Storage accounts can also be self-funding, as we can deduct metals from your account so that you would not need to send funds to maintain the safety of your savings for decades as the annual fee for storage and insurance is usually less than 1%. That means if your metals appreciate simply by 1% annually (gold has appreciated at an 8% annual average this century), your gains offset the cost of storage and insurance.
From now through September, if you move your metals from a safety deposit box to our insured and audited accounts, we will pay for the shipping for you to send them back to us via insured mail. Annual cost to maintain an account is usually less than 1% including insurance for accounts worth $25,000 or more.
Below are two articles related to violations with safety deposit boxes.
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East Bay residents Michael and Maggie asked us to conceal their real names for security reasons. They say Bank of America lost $17,000 worth of jewelry from their safe deposit box including family heirlooms and the gems she wore on her wedding day…."I just got robbed from the bank, they just took my stuff," Maggie said, recounting her first reaction.
The bank later told them it had drilled their box due to missing account information. The bank claimed it did not have information like Michel's social security number and birth date on file. He's a co-signer on the box.
…it turns out, the bank may have had the allegedly missing information all along. Michael and Maggie showed us a copy of their original rental agreement, complete with all of Michael's information."My name is there, my social security number is there, date of birth is there, everything it there!" Michael said pointing to a photo of the document. The bank's rental agreement says it may ship safe deposit box contents uninsured.
Call our team to discuss details as to how easy it is to upgrade the safety of your savings.
