# Safe(ty) Deposit Boxes - Yay or Nay? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 20, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422 "2009-06-20T22:29:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/41 "2009-06-23T03:03:54Z")
I was born on a US military base overseas, so replacing my birth documents would be a major pain in the neck. Those are in there, along with passports, marriage cert, deed, and maybe a few other things. We get a box free with our checking account. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/42 "2009-06-23T03:50:02Z")
Depending on where you are (i.e., what stage of life you’re in), your circumstances and what you’ve managed to accumulate, I’d strongly recommend getting one or a safe. Like most other Dopers who have one, I have one for my and my husband’s birth certs, passports, life insurance policies and estate planning docs. Plus, his family is very generous and keeps giving me family heirloom jewelry every time someone in his family visits from overseas. There are no living females to pass the stuff down to in his family, so they’ve decided to pass it down through me. There’s no way I’d trust myself to keep that stuff in the house. Break-ins are always possible and, since I’d never wear it, it’s entirely likely that it would get misplaced or forgotten somewhere. My husband and I also tend to misplace papers frequently; knowing our own tendencies, there’s no way we wouldn’t have a safe deposit box now. ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/43 "2009-06-23T16:11:06Z")
Nope. My important documents are staying with me, not effectively in the custody of the minimum-wage bank teller (who could very easily have a friend show up and claim to be you, and claim they lost their key, so they drill open the lock and now your box is empty). Plus safe deposit boxes are, as I understand it, not at all insured by the FDIC, so when your bank burns down or floods (or both), you’re screwed. And what happens when your bank inevitably goes bankrupt and/or gets swallowed up by some other institution, or they close your local branch? If I end up with more than one or two pieces of Very Important Original Bits of Paper, I’ll buy a safe to keep in my house. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/44 "2009-06-23T16:31:32Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Nope. My important documents are staying with me, not effectively in the custody of the minimum-wage bank teller (who could very easily have a friend show up and claim to be you, and claim they lost their key, so they drill open the lock and now your box is empty). Plus safe deposit boxes are, as I understand it, not at all insured by the FDIC, so when your bank burns down or floods (or both), you’re screwed. And what happens when your bank inevitably goes bankrupt and/or gets swallowed up by some other institution, or they close your local branch? … I’d have to assume that ID would be required in the “Friend shows up” situation. I doubt this is any more risky than any other banking transaction. Re closing the local branch, you’d be notified. We had something quite similar happen - the box was at smallish bank A, and much larger bank B had a location in the same shopping center. Bank B wound up gobbling up bank A - and the safety deposit box vault was simply moved over to bank B’s location 100 feet away. Someone would have had to steal the entire group of boxes, as a single box couldn’t have been opened during that maneuver. The concern over fire / flood isn’t out of line, actually - I’ve heard that there were banks with boxes located in the World Trade Center, where obviously everything was a loss. I’d expect that anything short of a total gutting fire would not result in much damage to the boxes, however. A real downside to a box, though, is what if you need something during bank hours. Say, an unplanned trip abroad if the passport is in the box (not something we personally worry about as we have no family out of the country, but still…). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/45 "2009-06-23T16:47:28Z")
I really doubt that scenario (of a minimum-wage teller fraudulently accessing your safe deposit box) is at all likely. **Daygecko** (who posted earlier in this thread) said that he works at a bank, so he can better answer this, but my guess is that opening a safe deposit box without the key is a huge hassle involving the branch manager. BTW, [here](http://www.fdic.gov/CONSUMERS/consumer/news/cnspr97/sfdpstbx.html) is a page from the FDIC on why you should have a safe deposit box and what should and should not be stored in it. They recommend that you not store your passport in it, specifically if it’s needed for an emergency trip. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/46 "2009-06-23T17:06:57Z")
We got one when we bought our last house. At closing, we got a copy of the abstract for the house, and were told to hold on to it. It could be replaced, but would cost $100+ to do it. And that sucker was BIG. So we got our first safe deposit box. Now it holds passports (we need them once or twice a year), the deed to the house, the titles to our cars, and a hard drive with a backup to all our photos. All stuff that I’m not worried about physically being stolen, but I want an offsite, fire/tornado/leaky roof proof place to store them. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/47 "2009-06-23T18:24:23Z")
What’s an “abstract for the house”? And what form does it take? Is it a single document, like presumably a deed, or is it a whole binder? ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/48 "2009-06-23T18:53:01Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > [Yea not Yay](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=521482) But maybe he’s asking if we give a rousing cheer at the idea of a safe deposit box. Or a horse’s snort…Yay or Neigh? ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/49 "2009-06-23T19:12:28Z")
okay folks, I just gotta ask: what’s all the fuss about passports? Safe deposit boxes are great for heirloom jewels, or stock certificates. But passports? Why do so many people act like they are scared of passports… or so in awe of them that they treat them like sacred relics? A passport is basically just a formal version of your driver’s license\*: it’s an official ID . You have to renew it periodically, just like your driver’s license. And replacing it is about as easy as replacing a driver’s license. Sure, if it gets lost, you have to hassle with bureacrats. But doing anything at the DMV also involves hassles with bureacrats. But nobody keeps their drivers license locked up at the bank. \*I’m referring to Yankees, here.(who rely their d. license for _everything_). Most non-Americans use a driving permit for,ya know, driving…And they tend to be amused at the idea of centering your entire life and identity around it. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/50 "2009-06-23T19:26:05Z")
Replacing a lost or stolen passport is a pain in the butt. Photos, finding your notarized birth certificate, fill out the form and the money to get a new one. You may get it again in 6-8 weeks, depending on need and busyness off the goverment. If you need it in a RUSH (anything under 4 weeks, IMHO, is a rush.) it costs more money. FTR, we have a couple of safes. All fireproof. Nothing of money value in there save for some old Dmarks and some Susan B’s. Irreplaceable baby photos, my adoption papers, passports and birth certificates. A fireproof lockbox is one of those wedding presents that you never register for and someone gives to you and you use it more than the stupid ass china. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/51 "2009-06-23T19:37:00Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > Why do so many people act like they are scared of passports… or so in awe of them that they treat them like sacred relics? A passport is basically just a formal version of your driver’s license\*: it’s an official ID . You have to renew it periodically, just like your driver’s license. And replacing it is about as easy as replacing a driver’s license. Sure, if it gets lost, you have to hassle with bureacrats. But doing anything at the DMV also involves hassles with bureacrats. But nobody keeps their drivers license locked up at the bank. You ever try to stick a passport in the little driver’s license window of your wallet? Man, what a pain! But seriously, we Yanks live on a rather vast continent and tend to use our passports rarely. In fact, up until about a year ago we didn’t even need one to go to Canada or much of Mexico. Replacing them is a gigantic pain in the ass. So into the box they go. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2009, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422/52 "2009-06-23T19:54:13Z")
A couple of years ago, the New York Times [reported](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/23/business/23passport.html) that only 27% of Americans owned a passport. In part, that’s because relatively few Americans travel overseas and partly because they were not even required for travel within North America. BTW, it’s not “just a formal version of your driver’s license”, since the two documents are used for completely different purposes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safe-ty-deposit-boxes-yay-or-nay/500422.md?page=2)