How safe are safety deposit boxes? They’re not as protected as you may

A Montreal-area woman believes carelessness and lack of security at her bank are to blame for the alleged theft of $20,000 in cash from her safety deposit box.

Irina Broido said she and her father opened the box in 2009 to keep important documents, jewellery and money. She eventually became the principal user when her father became too ill to leave the house.

But last February, she discovered her money, which she’d kept inside the box in a clear Ziploc bag for her parents’ funeral expenses, was gone.

“It was like in the movies,” said Broido.”It was a nightmare.”

The police were called to the TD Canada Trust branch in St. Hubert on Montreal’s South Shore and Broido asked the bank to investigate.

But it’s been an uphill battle. Due to the confidential nature of the boxes, only Broido could vouch for its contents. The box also wasn’t insured against theft — and she hadn’t realized that storing cash inside was prohibited.

Broido’s parents are Eastern European and grew up with what she describes as “old-fashioned” thinking around money. They didn’t keep savings in a bank account, but at home.

She said a safety deposit box seemed like a reasonable alternative.

“I blindly trusted [them] because it’s a bank,” said Broido. Now she’s questioning their security and protocols.

A few months before her money went missing, Broido said her key began sticking in the lock. The bank couldn’t replace it, so in the fall of 2023, she moved her belongings to a new box and the bank issued a new signing card.

Each box has a signing card that lists who has authorized access. It is a historical record the customer and the bank employee both have to sign to keep track of visits

But last Christmas, Broido said her card went missing. Despite this, she said the bank employee let her access her box.

“How come I can go freely without signing anything? They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’re going to open it next time,'” she said.

When she visited the bank again in January, she was issued a new card. After the alleged theft, Broido wondered if there were other visits that weren’t properly documented.

Box protections differ from bank accounts

A quick online search of Canada’s big banks turns up very little on what customers can keep in their box. The specifics aren’t revealed until the customer signs their contract.

Eddie Ning, an assistant professor of marketing and behavioural science at the University of British Columbia, said those details would make the product seem less desirable.

“You want to keep your slogan simple, right? It’s a safety deposit box. It’s safe,” he said.

It varies from bank to bank, but generally speaking, Ning said there’s usually a clause in the contract that prohibits customers from keeping cash, precious metals over a certain size or anything dangerous or illegal in their boxes such as guns or drugs.

People can only…