Even though electronic documentation seems to be the wave of the future, paper documents will probably not be going away any time soon. They provide a way to hold and touch official statements in your hand and easily transfer them to other people. There's also nothing quite as authoritative and final as signing your name on an official paper document. Electronic documentation may be easier to forge sometimes too, but a difficult to imitate signature is still a good way to ensure someone's identity. A home alarm system, along with other measures, can help protect your valuable documents.
One of the best measure you can take to protect your valuable documents is to not have them at all. That is, despite all your best efforts, you might forget to take care of some minute detail of protection. This vulnerability, no matter how small, is all that is necessary for disaster to strike. Instead, opt to keep your valuable documents at a separate and safe location, such as in a bank's safety deposit box. Check the details of the guarantee that a bank can offer in the extremely unlikely event that your documents are damaged or stolen from the bank.
Another step you can take to safeguard your documents is to invest in some home security measures. Buy a high quality safe and keep the combination a secret. You might even consider one that is installed below ground as opposed to being visible above ground. When it's below ground, you can put a rug on top of it. Out of sight, out of mind, and this reasoning works for criminals too. Additionally, when below ground it may be less vulnerable to fire damage. It is surprising to many people that a safe may not protect documents against a raging fire. A safe has to be rated to withstand the high temperatures that a house fire can expose it to. A more expensive safe is likely to have this added protection.
One of the best ways to protect your home against a fire is to install smoke alarms. Whenever a fire starts and you're in the house, the smoke alarm will let you know that a fire needs to be put out. But what if you're not home? The best thing to have in that scenario is a home alarm system. A home alarm system is not just good for detecting criminal intrusion. It also can alert the alarm company and the appropriate authorities that a fire has been detected in your home. Personnel will rush to the scene to put out the fire and save your valuable documents before they have a chance to burn. Of course, if your documents are stored in an unprotected filing cabinet or just sitting on your desk, even if the fire didn't burn them initially, your documents could suffer water damage when the fire is put out. Therefore, make sure to keep those documents in a fireproof safe, and make sure to protect your home with a good home alarm system.