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vedette · Aug 30, 2006, 04:21 PM

Is it possible for a bank to lose a safety box? Yesterday I received a phone call from the bank that there was something wrong with my box and once I went to the bank they first told me they had no record of my box. Then they come back and tell me that they had to drill into my box but the box was empty and therefore, there wasn't anything for me to take! They didn’t tell me why they drill into the box in the first place and why nobody notified me. I have been paying the yearly fee on time and there was no reason for them to believe the box was abandoned. I kept the deed to my house, my passport and many pieces of family heirloom in the box thinking it would be the safest place to keep them and now they tell I have got nothing... I talked to the manager and the VP of the bank but both told me the same thing and after a while they asked me to leave!

I need to know what my options are here and if there is anything I can do to make them be accountable for the mistake they made. I have been paying my fees for 7 years and I can't throw out valuable possessions that can not be replaced. Please help.

Many thanks.

CaptainForest · Aug 30, 2006, 04:25 PM

Best advice: Go talk with a lawyer and go over your options, but really the only thing you can do is sue them.

vedette · Aug 30, 2006, 04:44 PM

Thank you very much! Will I still be able to sue the bank if I don’t have an appraised value of the jewelry I kept in the box? I would have gotten an appraisal for property insurance if I had kept them in the house. It never crossed my mind that the safety box could be lost or stolen.

CaptainForest · Aug 31, 2006, 01:36 PM

I don't know.

Perhaps an estimated value will be used.

Your lawyer will be able to assist you, but you will need one in my opinion.

Fr_Chuck · Aug 31, 2006, 03:59 PM

If you had your rent up to date it would not be abandoned of course, only by being behind on the rental payment can cause that.

Next was there a search warrant from a police agency to search your box?

If they had to open it, they have procedures for a witness to be present and the such.

Have you actually went into the vault and checked to be sure that your box was the one drilled.

But yes an attorney, but that will be the problem proving that what you said was in it was actually in it.