There may be only a few minutes to collect and protect important documents if faced with flooding or fire within your home. Documents that need to be saved include financial and medical paperwork, birth, marriage and death certificates passports, other forms of identification; information regarding insurance policies; and titles or deeds. It isn’t easy and time-consuming to replace these documents, which is why it is important to keep them in a secure location in case of disaster. Take a look at all your documents, create extra copies to have them readily available, and then store them in a secure.
One of the best places to store important documents is in an account at your bank. If you cannot afford this however, you can get a fireproof safe for documents and place it in your home. These safes are available in a variety of sizes and can be used to store hanging folders. Choose a safe with an effective locking system to stop burglaries. It must also have an ULC rating of at least 1 hour in temperatures up to 1,700 degrees F.
You can also utilize the filing cabinet or drawer with a key or combination lock to safeguard your important documents from theft. But, this won’t offer any protection against a natural disaster, and the documents could be susceptible to damage due to humidity or heat. To protect your paper files, consider using an organized filing system that is labeled and keeping them in labeled storage boxes or envelopes to avoid misplacement or accidental destruction.