The Association of Insurance Surveyors announces the introduction of their unique AiS Approved Safe Scheme.  Mick Fitch, Chairman of AiS says, “The express purpose of this scheme is to make buying a safe simpler for everyone; the insurance underwriter, the supplier and the end user”. 

When a pan-European standard for testing and rating cash safes was introduced some years ago it was hoped that it would make choosing a safe much easier.  Safes would be tested against a performance standard and a resistance grade awarded, from 0 to VI.  Policyholders would simply be advised to install a safe of a specified Grade.  But even before the ink was dry on the agreement there were claims that not all test houses were applying the standards with equal vigour, thereby gaining advantage over their competitors.  Today, the certificates issued by some test houses are either no longer accepted by leading insurers or their awarded resistance grades are substantially reduced.  This has caused considerable confusion and reduced confidence in EN standards.

Under the new AiS Approved Safe Scheme, manufacturers and suppliers will be invited to submit test certificates to an AiS scrutiny panel.  Safes receiving the ‘thumbs up’ from AiS will be entitled to display an ‘AiS Approved’ sticker on their product and see it marked as ‘approved’ on the AiS annual Safe List, the insurance industry’s primary guide to safe indemnity levels.  They will also feature on a list of ‘approved’ safes on the AiS website [www.insurancesurveyor.org]