First, we believe you should document this situation, and we think it would be appropriate to do so in an explanatory letter that you send to your customer (a copy of which you should retain in a file created for the safe deposit box account). At a minimum, we would recommend that such a letter explain the inadvertent nature of the drilling, all steps that were taken by bank personnel in the handling of the box from the drilling to the rekeying, the fact that new keys for the box are being held for the customer under dual control, and a request that the customer review the contents of the box when he or she picks up the new key.

As to possible legal ramifications for inadvertently drilling the wrong box, we recommend consulting with your bank’s counsel in order to evaluate any potential liability for the bank. Generally speaking, relevant considerations will include language in your safe deposit account agreement, the procedures followed by bank personnel during this event, and ultimately whether your customer were to allege that some of the contents of the box are missing, which would raise claims of breach of contract and unlawful conversion.

If the latter were to occur, your bank’s defense would be bolstered if it had recorded the drilling and handling of the box all the way through its rekeying, but even without this, testimony from multiple witnesses present throughout the process likely would be helpful. Mistakes like this happen rarely, but they do occur, and hopefully your customer will approve of the pristine nature of the contents of the box and accept your resolution of the matter. In this regard, you may want to consider offering the customer a free year or more for the account, combined with a signed waiver stating that he or she is satisfied that all of the box’s contents are intact.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Jewelers Mut. Ins. Co. v. Firstar Bank Illinois, 213 Ill. 2d 58, 67, 820 N.E.2d 411, 416–17 (2004) (“In this contract, in exchange for plaintiff's rental fee, defendant assumed the obligation to exercise ordinary care to prevent unauthorized access to the safety deposit box. Having assumed this duty, defendant cannot exculpate itself from liability for a breach of that duty.”) 

• Liakhovitskaia v. Republic Bank of Chicago, 2016 IL App (1st) 151637-U, ¶ 33; ¶ 42 (“Because this is a breach-of-contract claim, the existence and scope of a duty is based on the language of the contract. . . .”)