Blog Archives

Keeping valuables at home is an open invitation to burglars, so why not keep them in a secure vault. asks Mark Keenan.

A wealthy Dublin-based entrepreneur is heading off to see a hypnotist this week – to help him remember where he stashed a wad of tens of thousands of euro he had hidden in a “safe place” in his house.

Having hidden away several stacks of cash for a rainy day, he recently went to retrieve them and discovered he couldn’t account for that last hiden hole.

Household stash mishaps are becoming far more common among the super rich.

Last year the gardai recovered more than 200 grand concealed in the former home of developer Tom McFeely on Ailesbury Road in Dublin 4 (Mr McFeely has denied it is his). Whoever put it there, had certainly hidden it away, believing it to be safe.

Then there was the case of the Barnardos curtains in highbrow Dublin 6. Charity shop staff discovered thousands of euro sewn into a pair of curtains donated by a resident in the area. The money was returned to the embarrassed owner after the shop issued an appeal through the gardai.

Crime Statistics following interviews with Burglars.

Key Statistics:

63% of Burglars Cut the Telephone Lines before entering house
56% of Burglars stay in house despite knowing house is occupied at the time
85% of Burglars cased the house before hitting it

Historically when Gold and Silver Bullion has been purchased in Ireland, the Bullion Dealer has offered to store the physical bullion for the buyer in a vault overseas. No vaults were available in Ireland to securely store large stocks of bullion, hence overseas vaults. These vaults are typically located in countries such as Switzerland, Singapore, US, Germany & Australia. Bullion dealers generally charge a storage fee of 1% of the value of the bullion per annum. This storage fee will be slightly less if you have a large amount of bullion. The downside with this storage option is accessibility and ease of sale.

Another popular method of buying bullion is The Perth Mint Certificate Programme based in Australia. The bullion is stored in a government owned mint and you are issued with a certificate that details owners name and amount of gold that is stored on your behalf. Downside once again, is accessabilty. In addition, market skeptics suggest that the Australian government could confiscate the bullion if severe financial hardship was endured by the Western Australian Government.

When we launched our Safe Deposit Box business in Dublin, we provided various sized Safe Deposit Boxes capable of storing cash, jewellery, title deeds, gold bullion etc.

We quickly realised that there was also strong demand for larger secure vaults capable of storing Fine Art, Antiques etc. On a daily basis, we were receiving enquiries for larger storage units. We then contacted a number of Art and Antique Dealers and Galleries in Ireland who confirmed that such a service would be invaluable both to the themselves and to their customers.

We also contacted several Safe Deposit Box facilities in the UK to assess demand there. Harrods Safe Deposit Boxes in London confirmed to us that there was a waiting list of 4 years for their walk-in vaults. Typical clients were storing fine art, large antique furniture and gold / silver bullion in their larger vaults.

Cork Vaults now offers this service to its customers.

Being the victim of a burglary can be a very stressful time in a persons life. As a jeweller (Voltaire Diamonds), I am constantly asked for advice on insuring Jewellery and other valuables stored at home. I hope this blog offers some practical advice that will help you avoid the many pitfalls associated with home contents insurance.

As we all know insurance companies like all other companies are in the business of making profits for their shareholders. In the event of a loss or theft of your valuables, the insurance company will employ the services of a Loss Adjuster. The sole purpose of the loss adjuster it to reduce as much as possible the amount the insurance company has to pay out in the event of an insurance claim.

CSO statistics for last year showed a rise in the number of burgalries to 27,000 in Ireland. Secure your own Peace of Mind with MerrionVaults from only €199 per year.