TS009 Security Mailboxes at Bethany House

SECURE MAIL BOXES FROM DAD PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

When a London property management company received continual complaints from the residents of a London apartment building about theft of mail from the building’s mail boxes, they looked for a robust, secure mailbox system that would prevent fishing and minimise vandalism. The answer was the fully Secure By Design SBD accredited DAD009 from mailbox specialist DAD – the only mailbox to comply with the benchmark TS009 performance standard.

Property Management company Ian Gibbs Estate Management was very concerned to receive weekly complaints from the residents of Bethany House in Enfield that their mail had been stolen by fishing the mail out of the slots or by thieves breaking the boxes’ locks. They turned to London-based Architectural Ironmongers G Johns & Sons to help them find a solution. Jeremy Johns at G Johns takes up the story. “Bethany house is a very smart residential development with twelve apartments,” he says. “But despite the quality of the development, the original mailboxes were very bog standard, and frankly not up to the job. The boxes themselves were too shallow which facilitated fishing, and the locks were pretty flimsy. We had already used the DAD009 box before and knew that it was a much stronger option with many security features built in.” Since the DAD009 boxes have been fitted at Bethany House there have been no incidents of mail theft or box vandalism.

The DAD009 is an exceptionally robust mailbox and is proven in tough independent tests to be able to withstand attack and resist fishing through the slot. It is manufactured from 1.5mm steel to ensure it is able to withstand physical attack with tools, it features a patented locking and security device including an EN1303 lock with 30,000 key variations, while an anti-theft device behind the letter flap makes it impossible to fish the mail out through the slot.

As well as fully complying with the TS009:2012 spec, the new DAD mailbox complies with British Standard BSEN13724 and all Royal Mail requirements. It is available as a single box or a bank of boxes and is wall mounted either on or in the wall, and can be sited inside or out. Like every DAD mailbox, the new DAD009 has a ten year guarantee against complete rust – perfect for the outdoor siting at Bethany House.  

24% of British people have been the victim of identity fraud, which is the highest figure in Europe; and it is estimated that identity fraud costs the UK economy £1.7 billion every year. Credit rating agency Experion, which has studied the issue in depth, estimates that nearly a third of cases are perpetrated by theft of mail – often in flats with mailboxes in open communal areas. Sometimes this is achieved by literally breaking into the mail box. Sometimes, more worryingly, the thief simply “fishes” post out through the mail slot. The average cost of identity fraud is £1076 since it typically takes UK victims seven months to realise they have become a victim of identity fraud and, on average, another 3+ months to resolve the situation.

DAD has been designing and manufacturing steel security products since 1872 and was the first letterboxes and post boxes manufacturer in Europe, now with over 1.5 million units produced every year at its factories in France and Germany. With 700 employees worldwide and a turnover of over £60 million, they manufacture an extensive range which includes fire-rated and anti-arson postboxes, free standing post boxes, wall-mounted and through-the-wall boxes for residential and commercial applications. DAD has opened its offices in the UK in 1996.