Best home safes: fire-rated and insurance-rated compared (2026)

The only safe on this page whose security claim we could confirm at primary source: Sold Secure's own register lists the Burton Home Safe S2 under Burton Security Limited, certified to BS EN 14450 Grade S2 after independent attack testing. That certification is what supports the £4,000 cash and £40,000 valuables ratings, and it is backed by AiS approval and a Secured by Design licence. It has no fire protection whatsoever, so treat it as one half of a pair rather than a do-everything box.

Best for Anyone who needs a cash or valuables rating their home insurer will actually recognise.

• Certified to BS EN 14450 Grade S2 by Sold Secure, and the entry is checkable on Sold Secure's own product register
• £4,000 cash and £40,000 valuables ratings that insurers recognise, plus AiS approval and a Secured by Design licence
• Four 19mm bolts and a hinge-side dog bolt, with optional dual-PIN entry and time delay

• No fire rating of any kind — passports, deeds and paperwork need a separate fire safe
• The certification is void unless it is fixed down: Burton requires it to be bolted to a floor or wall
• 11 litres is genuinely small at 220 x 270 x 190mm inside; the 2E and 3E sizes carry the same S2 certification if you need more room

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if your priority is protecting documents from fire — pair it with, or choose instead, a certified fire safe such as the Chubbsafes Executive 40K.

The strongest fire-certification claim in this group, and one we could confirm on Chubbsafes' own manufacturer site: NT Fire 017 resistance class 60 for paper certified by RISE in Sweden, plus UL 72 Class 350 for up to one hour from Underwriters Laboratories. Two named standards, two named bodies. Chubbsafes states no burglary certification and no cash rating for the Executive range, so the '£1,000 cash' figure some UK resellers print is a retailer's insurance guideline with nothing behind it.

Best for Households who want fire certification from two named independent bodies, with room for four lever-arch files.

• Dual fire certification — NT Fire 017 class 60 for paper by RISE, and UL 72 Class 350 for up to one hour by UL
• 41 litres takes four lever-arch files, with an adjustable shelf and a pull-out tray
• Key lock with two keys means nothing to go flat in a safe you open twice a year

• Three of the five UK stockists we checked were out of stock, one quoting a November 2026 restock
• No burglary certification and no manufacturer cash rating — the £1,000 figure resellers print is not a rating
• 57kg, and professional bolt-down installation is a £68–£108 extra if you'd rather not drill a concrete floor yourself

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if you need to protect hard drives, USB sticks or backup media — paper fire ratings don't cover them, and the Phoenix Datacombi DS2501E does.

This is the one Yale range on this page that has an independent grading behind it: Sold Secure's register lists the maximum security motorised safes at Silver for domestic safes. Yale quotes its own cash and valuables ratings, but the Sold Secure entry we read does not print a cash figure, so confirm it with your insurer before relying on it. There is no fire protection at all, so it suits cash, jewellery and devices rather than the only copy of your documents. At 15.7kg it still needs bolting down to do its job.

Best for Households that want an independently graded home security safe for cash and valuables, at a more modest cash rating than the Burton.

• Sold Secure Silver grading is listed on the certifier's own register
• Two 20mm anti-saw motorised bolts, with 9V battery emergency opening per the Sold Secure entry
• Yale states a cash rating, and this size has a mechanical key override

• No fire protection: Yale lists it as not fire rated
• The cash figure comes from Yale; the register entry we saw gives a grade, not a cash rating
• 15.7kg is light enough to carry out if it is not anchored

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if your insurer asks for a higher, register-backed cash rating (look at the Burton Home Safe S2) or if the contents must survive a fire (use a fire safe rated to a named standard).

The same Silver-graded motorised design as the medium Yale, scaled up to 49.8 litres and 28kg, which makes it the more practical choice if you need room for files and larger items. Yale quotes the same cash and valuables ratings as the medium, so the extra space does not buy a higher cash rating. It has no fire protection. Bolt it down: even at 28kg it is a two-person carry, not an immovable object.

Best for People who need the same Sold Secure Silver grading in a taller safe that takes folders, a laptop and boxed valuables.

• Sold Secure Silver grading is listed on the certifier's own register
• 49.8 litres holds files, a laptop and valuables together
• Motorised bolts with 9V battery emergency opening, per the Sold Secure entry

• No fire protection: Yale lists it as not fire rated
• Same Yale-quoted cash figure as the smaller model
• At 28kg it can still be carried off by two people unless it is bolted down

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if you need a higher cash rating than Yale quotes here or fire protection for documents; a fire safe rated to a named standard or the Burton Home Safe S2 does those jobs.

The fire side is credible: Yale states certification to NT Fire 017-60P with SP in Sweden as the certifying body — a real Nordtest standard and a named body, though we could not locate the certificate in a public register, so it stands as manufacturer-stated. The security side is not credible in the same way: the '£1,000 cash / £10,000 valuables' figure Yale prints is its own recommendation with no standard behind it, and the safe appears on neither the Sold Secure nor the Secured by Design register. Buy it as a fire safe that happens to have floor bolts, not as a burglary safe.

Best for Households wanting an hour of paper fire protection for passports, deeds and policy documents in a cupboard-sized box.

• 60 minutes of paper protection to NT Fire 017-60P, a genuine Nordtest standard with SP in Sweden named as certifier
• Code scramble, silent entry, a one-time guest code and lockdown mode are unusual features at this price
• Ships with a pack of two floor fixing bolts, so it can be anchored from day one

• No burglary certification at all — the £1,000 cash figure is Yale's own marketing, not an insurer-recognised rating
• Emergency access is via an external battery contact only; there is no key override if the electronics fail
• The Amazon listing title claims 36 litres — the real capacity is 19 litres according to Yale's own UK page

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if your concern is theft rather than fire — the Burton Home Safe S2 1E costs about the same and carries a Sold Secure EN 14450 S2 certification an insurer will recognise.

The more substantial of the two Yale fire safes — a 76mm steel door, 46mm walls and hardened hinges with rear dog bolts — carrying the same manufacturer-stated NT Fire 017-60P certification via SP in Sweden. One warning worth reading twice: the Amazon listing title carries a 'Secured by Design' claim that does not appear on Yale's own UK product page, and we could not corroborate it on the Sold Secure or Secured by Design registers. Do not treat this as a police-approved security safe; as a fire safe it is sound, but it holds no burglary certification.

Best for The same 60-minute paper fire protection as the medium, in a 25-litre body for households with more paperwork.

• Same NT Fire 017-60P 60-minute paper rating as the medium, in 25.3 litres rather than 19
• 76mm steel door and hardened hinges with rear dog bolts resist the door being levered at the hinge side
• Up to 48-hour lockdown mode and one-time guest codes, plus supplied floor fixing bolts

• The 'Secured by Design' claim in the Amazon title is absent from Yale's own UK page and we could not verify it on any register — ignore it
• Only Yale's list price could be verified on the day, which makes it look poor value beside the cheaper medium
• 36kg and kerbside delivery, so you'll need help getting it into position — and no fire rating covers theft

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if 19 litres would do — the medium YFM/352/FG2 carries identical fire certification for noticeably less at real street prices.

A plain steel security safe with an electronic lock, twin live bolts and concealed hinges, and a 440mm internal width that Phoenix says takes a 17-inch laptop. It carries no certification: the £1,000 cash figure is only what Phoenix recommends it for overnight, not a rating, and there is no fire rating. At 12kg the supplied fixing bolts are the real security, so fix it to a wall or a concrete floor.

Best for Keeping a laptop, cash and paperwork out of casual reach at home or in a small office, once it is bolted down.

• Internal width of 440mm, which Phoenix says takes a 17-inch laptop
• Electronic lock with a key override (two keys supplied), twin live locking bolts and concealed hinges
• Comes ready to fix to a brick wall or concrete floor, with the bolts supplied

• No certification of any kind: the cash figure is Phoenix's recommendation, not a rating
• At 12kg one person can carry it off unless it's bolted down, and it has no fire rating for passports or deeds

Who shouldn't buy it: The contents need to survive a fire: a Yale YFM fire safe is the right box for passports and deeds. If your insurer asks for a cash rating, choose a certified safe such as the Burton S2 instead.

Priced and built as exactly what it is: a lockable steel box with a keypad and an emergency override key, carrying no fire, burglary or cash certification of any kind. Yale's 'Value' and 'Standard Security' labels are marketing tiers, not tested classifications. It does ship with wall and floor fixings, and at 3.6kg those fixings are the entire security proposition — unbolted, this is a container a thief carries out under one arm and opens later.

Best for Keeping spare keys, a little cash and medicines out of casual reach in a shared house or holiday let — bolted down.

• A modest outlay buys a keypad-locked steel box with 16mm bolts and a physical emergency override key
• Ships with wall and floor fixings, so it can be anchored properly from the start
• 8.6 litres is enough for keys, cash, medicines and a passport in a small cupboard

• No certification of any kind — no fire rating, no burglary grade, no cash rating, no named standard
• 3.6kg, so unbolted it is a carry-out job: fitting it properly is not optional advice here
• Zero fire protection, so anything irreplaceable inside is lost if the house burns

Who shouldn't buy it: Skip it if anything going inside is irreplaceable or needs to survive a fire — a certified fire safe such as the Yale YFM/352/FG2 is the right box for documents.