Multi-million theft from safe deposit boxes: who is liable for the loss?

In a spectacular break-in at a bank in Gelsenkirchen, more than 3.000 safe deposit boxes were broken open and assets possibly worth hundreds of millions were stolen.

Affected customers are preparing a wave of lawsuits, but their chances of success are uncertain and depend largely on whether security deficiencies can be proven.

The bank can only be held liable if it has breached its contractual security and due diligence obligations.

Reliable protection against high losses is therefore only provided by separately taken-out safe deposit box insurance with the bank or by corresponding cover through home contents insurance.

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