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SafetySend's Lockbox is our
secure storage technology that will
allow you to maintain confidential
information on our VPN that is
accessible from any remote location in
case of emergency.
Use it to
store your private healthcare
information, financial records,
photographs of your children, web site
passwords, credit card information,
ordering information, etc. If more than
one person uses your computer, each user
can have their own SafetySend Lockbox™
and each can secure their own
information.
How to Keep Important Documents Safe
Although no one wants to dwell on the natural disasters, accidents or
fires that can destroy your home and everything in it, planning for the
worst can give you peace of mind. And if the worst were to happen,
you'll be prepared to rebuild your life.
There are many ways to protect documents that you'd never want to lose.
Some people rent a safe deposit box at a bank; others prefer to keep
things at home in a fire-resistant safe. What's best for you? It depends
how worried you are about fire damage, water damage, theft, and
accessibility.
Click here for a list of documents that
can be copied and stored in your SafetySend Lockbox >>
Safeguard Valuables And Precious Memories
Your home or business can be struck by a disaster at any time. It could
be in the form of a hurricane, flash flood, earthquake, tornado, fire,
or even burglary. Not only could your furnishings, valuables, and
personal items be lost, damaged, or destroyed, so can your most
important photos and documents. Even your computer where you stored some
of this information could be stolen or ruined.
Replacing your missing items can become an added nightmare when your
insurance company asks for proof of ownership to fulfill your claim and
you don't have it. What would you do if you lost your only pictures of
your children when they were babies?
Retrieving important personal
documents may not be the first thing people think of when disaster
strikes their home. But as many victims of Hurricane Katrina
learned, such paperwork is vital when it comes to stitching lives
back together. Emergency management workers around the country are
trying to teach people how to protect documents so they can be
recovered quickly when homes are struck by fire, hurricanes,
earthquakes or other disasters.
"I would like to think that people pay
attention," said Irene Toner, director of Monroe County Emergency
Management in the Florida Keys. "It's a matter of preparedness."
Toner, who helps organize emergency response in an area where
hurricanes are a fact of life, urges residents to keep multiple
copies of life insurance policies, Social Security cards, credit
cards, driver's licenses, deeds and birth certificates, as well as
other information.
In areas more prone to earthquakes,
such as California, or tornadoes, such as Kansas, think in terms of
the specific threat, Hamburg says. Even choosing the location in
your home for a fire safe is important.
"Basements can be flooded; tornadoes
rip the roof off," she says. "You really have to assess the risk
for your area."
Electronic files
also deserve consideration. Many businesses maintain two file
copies in different locations, and families should do the same with
electronic files and hard copies.
At the very minimum, officials agree
that people should keep cash and short, laminated lists of
insurance policy numbers, the names of their life insurance agents,
and emergency phone numbers in their wallets, as well as ID cards.
Renting a safe deposit box
Although you would be able to store
valuables other than documents in a safe deposit box, there is always
the chance that the bank could also suffer damage from a natural
disaster. Another disadvantage to using a safe deposit box is that you
can only access it when the bank is open, and in the case of your death,
the safe deposit box would be sealed. So if your original will is in the
box, rather than in your house or at your attorney's office, it might
take a long time for your executor to get her hands on it. States have
different laws regulating access to a safe deposit box after the owner's
death, so ask the bank if a court order or other official action is
required for someone to open your safe deposit box upon your death -- a
power of attorney document that designates who should have access to
your safe deposit box won't do the trick.
Of course, there's no 100 percent guarantee
that a natural disaster won't destroy or damage your bank -- and its
safe deposit boxes -- but the companies that make the safe deposit boxes
and the vaults that house them make them resistant (not proof) to
earthquakes, explosions, fire, flood, and heat, according to an article
published in the FDIC Consumer News. If damage should occur, however,
FDIC insurance doesn't cover the contents of your safe deposit box.
Cost: Rental fees start at $20, depending on the size of the box.
Buying a fire-resistant safe
If you want to keep your financial papers
out of reach to an inquisitive relative, babysitter, or child, you can
buy a lockable file cabinet. Spend a bit more to buy a large
fire-resistant file box, file cabinet, or safe and you'll give yourself
more protection from theft and fire. If theft is also a concern, you
might want to look at a floor or wall safe -- both are much easier to
conceal than a safe -- or a safe that you can bolt to a closet shelf or
floor. (And if you opt to pay a pro to install your floor safe in
cement, it'll really be difficult to steal!) But unless you have $1
million in cash or thousands of dollars of jewelry in your house,
anything bulky and heavy is likely to successfully deter a burglar --
especially something that weighs too much for the thief to tuck under
his arm and carry out your front door.
When evaluating different fire-resistant items, consider what you might
put inside that requires protection: Paper burns at 450 degrees F, but
temperatures as low as 125 degrees F can damage computer disks and
audio/visual media, such as CDs and videotapes. An item's UL class
rating reflects how much heat it can withstand: Class 125 protects
floppy disks; Class 150 protects film, magnetic tape and videotapes;
Class 350 protects paper documents, fabric, and metals (coins, jewelry,
etc.). Of course, if you live in a flood-prone area, you'll need to
invest in something that's water-proof as well as fire-resistant.
Cost:
From $40 for a small fire-resistant box to $2,000+ for a fire-resistant
file cabinet.
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here for more
information
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