Loss of faith in banks drives sale of home safes

IT’S a sign of the times.

Barry Lynch of safes.ie said loss of trust in banks is one of the driving forces behind the increase in demand. He said people are also using safes if a bank or building society will no longer hold the deeds of a property.

In addition, many insurance companies will no longer provide cover to customers who don’t have a safe installed in their homes.

“An example would be jewellery with a high value which needs to be kept safe or a commercial property where they have a large amount of cash on the premises,” said Mr Lynch.

Owen Connolly of Michael Cunneen & Sons in Cork said they too have seen a big interest from customers looking to install home safes.

He said people could buy a good safe and have it installed for about €300.

“Solicitors are starting to charge for storing the deeds for houses and people are finding that it can be cheaper to buy a safe and store the deeds there,” said Mr Connolly.

Stephen Garvey of allsafes.ie said sales of domestic safes have increased by 80% since last summer.

“Previously we would have been selling safes to businesses only but recently we have seen a massive increase in interest from domestic customers.”

Meanwhile, elderly patients are bringing their life savings to hospitals amid fears the cash will be robbed if they keep it at home.

Gardaí and HSE sources revealed that an elderly man was recently discovered in a Cork hospital with €60,000 strapped around him.

However, gardaí warned that Cork University Hospital has been targeted by thieves in recent months who have stolen money from handbags and lockers.