Home How much discount given for house alarm?

Kimmagegirl

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Our house alarm is causing us a few problems lately, ringing for no reason etc. We have been thinking of switching off the alarm full time. Our house has plenty of mortice locks, window locks etc so is reasonably secure. Alarm boxes on the front and back.

I understand when we got our home insurance we were given some sort of discount for having a house alarm. Has anyone any idea how much this discount amounts to? From memory it is in or around 10% of the premium or about €40 pa. Our house alarm is about 20 years old and is only serviced when it gives us problems. This is proving quite costly as would an annual maintenance contract.
To get an new system installed would also be quite costly.

It seems that from a cost point of view and from a hassle point of view it would be easier not to have an alarm on our house. One less problem to deal with. I am also not really sure what protection a bell ringing actually gives because nobody did anything or checked our house when the alarm was ringing due to a fault.

Any thoughts?
 
I think the discount is typically 10% for an alarm. It can then go up depending on the installer and whether it's regularly serviced, and again if it's a monitored alarm.
 
We have an alarm but I don't declare it on my insurance. Just found that the discount offered does not compensate for the get out that it gives the insurance company in the event of a claim. We had work done and the alarm needed to be disarmed for a few days which basically meant we weren't covered. Same if it is broken. Same if you forget to set it when leaving the house. I have also heard of insurance companies argue about the ongoing maintenance of the alarms as an excuse. I would rather pay the 10% extra
 
Hi KimmageGirl,

I've just renewed my house insurance and dropped the Alarm Discount which added €46 to my insurance premium. After talking to a number of insurance companies I determined it was not worth it as there are a number of times when my house is left with the alarm off (less that 1% of the time), normally when one of the kids leave.

I felt it wasn't worth the discount to give the insurance company a valid reason to reject a claim.

All the best.
 
This is something that I will definitely look at when I renew my insurance. I agree with the above comments.
 
Are you saying that an Insurance definitely won't pay up if a house is burgled and the alarm was not set? Or, are you just speculating?
 
Discount for house alarm.

Are you saying that an Insurance definitely won't pay up if a house is burgled and the alarm was not set? Or, are you just speculating?

Squonk, I am a Loss Assessor and depending on which insurer you are with they will either decline a claim or impose a higher excess if the alarm was not set prior to a break-in. Most insurers will actually decline the claim. Unless it is a specific requirement that you have an alarm you are better off ignoring what is a very small discount.
 
Are you saying that an Insurance definitely won't pay up if a house is burgled and the alarm was not set? Or, are you just speculating?

Its a condition of your policy that if you avail of an alarm discount then you must ensure the alarm is serviced and operational. And that is armed each time you leave the house.
 
Its a condition of your policy that if you avail of an alarm discount then you must ensure the alarm is serviced and operational. And that is armed each time you leave the house.

A similar condition may also apply if you have all risks cover on expensive jewellery. Some home insurance policies only covers expensive items like engagement rings (over €10,000) if the item is stored in a safe overnight. If you neglect to secure it at and it is stolen during the night then your insurers may decline any claim.
 
Alarm

A similar condition may also apply if you have all risks cover on expensive jewellery. Some home insurance policies only covers expensive items like engagement rings (over €10,000) if the item is stored in a safe overnight. If you neglect to secure it at and it is stolen during the night then your insurers may decline any claim.

Generally you will find that expensive items are covered outside of a safe if they are worn.
That would also apply if you are asleep wearing high value items.
 
Generally you will find that expensive items are covered outside of a safe if they are worn.
That would also apply if you are asleep wearing high value items.

You are correct Ed054. Unfortunately most people I know like to remove their jewelery when sleeping. They leave their jewelery items on their bedside locker which would not be covered if stolen while they're asleep.
 
I was about to ask whether it's worth claiming the discount for having an alarm as one of our neighbours recently had their house ransacked while they were sleeping and the insurers refused to pay the claim as they had not set the alarm. I decided to search the forum first and it appears to me that it's probably not worthwhile.

If it's used by insurers to repudiate a claim, the discount is probably more due to the fact that it allows insurers to do this than it is due to any protection afforded by having an alarm. Can I just inform my insurers that I no longer want to claim the discount or will I have to change insurers and just not mention the alarm?
 
Can I just inform my insurers that I no longer want to claim the discount or will I have to change insurers and just not mention the alarm?

Some insurers, depending on the area you live in and the level of cover you are looking for, will insist that you have an alarm. I think if your contents is over 90k... Try a quick quote on somewhere like aviva.ie and see if you are declined or not without the alarm.
 
I recently rented a Safe Deposit Box in vaults just off Merrion Square and am now storing jewellery, watches, gold that are not worn every day in the box. My home contents insurance has dropped significantly as a result. In fact by more than the cost of the box.
 
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