As of: February 16, 2024, 6:35 a.m
By: Philipp Bräuner
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In acute crises, it is important to be prepared for all eventualities.
This includes emergency copies of the most important documents.
Munich - When things get tough in life, things have to happen quickly.
Especially in crisis situations such as a house fire, evacuation due to a World War II bomb or during a flood, it is crucial to know the exact location of important documents.
Documents need to be kept for different lengths of time, such as bank statements.
It may also be important to keep emergency copies of such documents safe.
You should have backup copies of important documents in case of an emergency.
© Andrey Popov/imago
Once lost or destroyed, some documents are extremely difficult to retrieve and some are even irreplaceable.
The Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) therefore recommends, in addition to an emergency folder that contains all relevant documents, storing backup copies either digitally or with trustworthy people such as family and friends.
It is also possible to keep it in a bank safe deposit box, with a notary or lawyer.
For some documents, simple copies are sufficient as an emergency copy
The easiest variant is possible for the following documents, as in an emergency often only simple copies are required.
The selection can vary depending on your life situation:
ID card and passport
Vaccination certificate
Driver's license and vehicle documents (although only the original counts for police checks)
Change notices for services received
Registration certificates from the employment office
Land register extracts
Payment receipts for insurance premiums, especially pension insurance
Membership or contribution books of associations, clubs or other organizations
bills
In other cases, only a certified emergency copy is valid
Another group of documents requires certified copies, as simple copies are not accepted:
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Contracts and change agreements, for example rental agreements or leasing agreements
Pension, pension and income certificates, income tax assessments
Savings books, stocks, insurance policies, account contracts, securities
Will, living will and powers of attorney
Proof of qualifications, especially school certificates, university certificates, evidence of additional qualifications and the like
While certified copies must logically be stored in printed form, simple copies can also be stored digitally.
People without a scanner at home can easily do this in a nearby copy shop.
It is also possible to capture documents directly with your own smartphone using a scanning app.
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pkb
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Conversely, many people don't realize how long they have to keep pay slips, for example.
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked.
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