House insurance with alarm

jimzy

I have an alarm in my home, got it installed when we first built it around 3 years ago. I just realised our home insurance doesnt have our alarm accounted for, so basically we're not making a saving for having an alarm installed. (just did a test and the saving was in the region of 150 quid!)

In order to add the alarm to the insurance quote, we need the registered installers code. But just spoke to the installer and he's not registered any more, due to being out of work or whatever, thats what he tells me.

Anyone know what the situation is?
Is there any way I can get the discount for the alarm on my insurance?

delly

Insurance companies differ, but in my own case the alarm had to be installed by a registered installer and had to be serviced on a regular basis. If your not 100 per cent within your own insurance companies conditions, then its really not worth it as it can be an easy excuse not to pay out.

Jnealon

You could get your local PSA licensed installer to take it over and certify it.
That could cost €150 as there may be some remedial work involved to bring it up to standard

jimzy

thanks for the advise guys, yeah i wouldnt mind paying a registered guy to take it over. i presumed it all would have been ok. but for all i know the original guy could have been a dodgy fella, and never actually been registered... or maybe thats just me being suspicious!

looking at the saving on the isurance it would pay for itself after a year or two. having an alarm seems to take a nice chunk off the premium

2011

jimzy wrote: »

looking at the saving on the isurance it would pay for itself after a year or two. having an alarm seems to take a nice chunk off the premium

It is good to have your alarm serviced to ensure that it will work when it is needed, but don't expect to save money! The yearly cost of servicing including parts will eat up most if not all of €150 a year.

More importantly if you avail of this discount and you forget to arm your alarm then your policy becomes null and void! So much for saving money then!!!.......and yes they can check the alarm system to see if it was set!


I am a believer in alarm systems, but I would think that it is best not to take this discount. You don't want to be saying "The one time I didn't set the alarm.........."

KoolKid

As already said the insurance discount is not worth it. Unless you look upon it as your discount is paying for a service & maintenance contract for your alarm.
€150 is about right for getting the system up to standard EN50131. But that standard is only valid for a year.In the current climate insurance companys are only too willing to refuse payment for a system not being up to standard. You could get a service for €70-€100 or get an annual contract for around€150. This would cover other call outs as well. Again if going for this shop around & read the small print. Some companys limit this to 2 call out etc.

2011

Well said Koolkid.

It is good to see people directly involved giving honest advice about discounts etc.

jimzy

yeah i guess i didnt consider the true effects of having an alarm on our insurance policy.

So basically the new legislation requires an alarm to be maintained yearly to meet the new standards? Is that right?

Not so worried about making the 'saving' now anyway. Just got some quotes from various companies and they varied from 400-650 so I think I would have more peace of mind, doing some shopping around on my policy, instead of adding the alarm.

thanks for the info guys, appreciate it.

KoolKid

jimzy wrote: »

So basically the new legislation requires an alarm to be maintained yearly to meet the new standards? Is that right?

That is correct!