What is in your fireproof box?

[notknowledgeable]

Or whatever your equivalent is.

Following on from a poster saying they don't know where their GCSE certificates are, I assume most people have their qualifications somewhere safe?

All my families birth certificates, GCSE, A level and degree certificates and passports are in a fireproof box in my wardrobe. Also my will and some insurance documents. And power of attorney paperwork.

What is in yours?

and if you leave all your documents behind, then its a good thing if they are in a fire proof box....

lol, I mean I don't have a fireproof box but if I did I would probably put my dog in it

My passport is safely stashed at my Mum's, so probably are my GCSEs and NVQ certificates. Not sure though cos I haven't seen them since I got them 20+ years ago. The only things I would be grabbing would be my DCats ashes and his paw and nose prints, box with his whiskers and a bottle with his fur inside. The other thing I'd grab is my Baby's remains and memory box. All of which could be shoved inside a pillow case and then all I'd need to do is exit through the conservatory into the garden. I'd be more concerned if I was sat in the living room and a fire started in the kitchen. My only way out is to go back through the kitchen. I mean I could squeeze through the tiny windows but I'd get as far as my boobs and be wedged in completely.

We bought ours purely to store the instructions on how to access all our cryptocurrency. We also chucked passports, a copy of our wills (although may not be most up to date as Farewill have the latest versions) and our marriage certificates in there because they may as well be there as anywhere else, but I can’t say I’ve ever thought about exam certificates. I think I lost mine within months of leaving school/sixth form/ university and nobody has ever asked after them since!

I have papers randomly stuffed in drawers all over the place, does that coint lol?

Only think being saved in a fire is me, DH and the cat. Everything else can be replaced.

I have two; a truck with birth certificates, family photo albums, family recipe book and family history scrapbook and a fireproof bag with passports and other personal/household paperwork.

I have a drawer with some old papers and passports in. Not fireproof and not what I'd be worried about in the event of a fire! No idea on school certificates, I will just make up the results if I'm ever asked what I got in my gcses!
Is the idea that your house burns down but your gcse results and passport survive? How depressing! What about your family photos, other sentimental stuff? I know nothing is important compared to surviving the fire- but I think I'd be more inclined to fireproof photos, jewellery, old letters, wedding dvd, mums wedding dress etc rather than my school certificates that nobody cares about!

We have a fireproof box too - contains passports, birth and marriage certs, house insurance, will, LPA, some cash and foreign currency, school and university certificates, keys to neighbours houses, FIL’s watch. All replaceable (maybe not the watch) but it would be a PITA to have to do it.

We Don't have one. I think might order a small one to keep my photo drive in. DH gave a usb stick with scanned copies of insurance, passports etc to PIL to keep at theirs, probably totally out of date now.

Having experienced a wildfire which caused the evacuation of over 70,000 people, and in which many of my friends lost their homes, I can confirm that most fireproof boxes do not work.

I think 'fire resistant' would be more accurate, they won't survive a full-on blaze.

I do have one but if there was a fire I wouldn't be grabbing it, I'd be grabbing my cat! However it might be useful for other situations so I have basic documents in it, but not everything is in there (e.g. passports).

Ahhhh tbh would be the last thing I would think of grabbing and I'm guessing half the families birth certificates will be in a folder upstairs somewhere. I've got a feeling passports or some of them may be in my son's playstation games drawer. Marriage,exams etc no idea possibly in the kitchen drawer

You do if you work in education, they ask for all your certificates and ID even when you just go for interviews. It's a right pain but I imagine there must be other professions which are the same.

I actually don't know where my fire proof box is, hum another job to add to the list.

Why on earth would my GCSC certs from 35 years ago be the thing I'd rescue in a fire !?!

I assume most people have their qualifications somewhere safe?

In my parents' filing cabinet.

If they were in my house I can't imagine grabbing them in case of a fire. You can get replacements, they're hardly worth risking your life to save!

No idea where my academic certs are.
I can't remember the last time I was asked to provide any of these.

Don't have a fireproof box, never thought about it.
In a fire I'd get out with my partner and the cats. Nothing else matters.
My phone would be handy as photos of things like passport and important contacts are on it. .

I'm nor sure if people are deliberately missing the point. You don't grab your fire safe box in the event if a fire. You leave it behind and the theory is that your documents survive the fire.

I have one. Details of where our wills are, our insurance documents, marriage birth and various death certificates, some sentimental bits of my mothers jewellery, and a couple of photos.

No qualifications in there. Nor passports, because we use them more. Might change that!

I looked at them but then read some bad reviews about mould and mildew in them so didn't get one. All our paperwork is in a metal set of drawers so easy to grab out if we need

i too old now to need academic certificates so wouldn't care about those anyway

They are fire resistant for 30 or 60 minutes depending on which model you buy, so your stuff has a chance of surviving if you have a house fire. We’ve had a couple for years and never had damp issues with them.

Mould in these does seem to be a thing, a quick google shows this so anyone that uses one would need to use measures to prevent it like silica gel sachets maybe and checking it regularly

I'm nor sure if people are deliberately missing the point. You don't grab your fire safe box in the event if a fire. You leave it behind and the theory is that your documents survive the fire.

I was responding to OP's second post where she said to a poster who had her certificates someone in the attic that it didn't sound like she'd be able to quickly grab them in case of a fire.

Maybe we’ve been lucky, but we have not had any problems, even when we lived in a very humid country.

Not necessarily, especially things of a sentimental nature. Also there's a lot of hassle involved.

I don't know why some of you are acting as though OP has a donkey in her attic.

It's a box that can withstand the heat of a house fire for a period of time until hopefully the fire brigade put it out. You're not meant to leave your first born behind whilst you leg it with the box.

DH needed these for a MSc he started in September. He is 53! Found them after hours of trawling.