Wireless Home Alarms – Insurance Discounts for Protecting Your Home

Of the many claims made by various alarm companies, one is almost universal: that a monitored alarm system can provide a real discount on your homeowner’s insurance policy, and partially offset the monthly monitoring fee. I have known this to be the case for over twenty years, but thought I should check and reconfirm. Yup, it’s true: the discounts are still there, and they average roughly 15%, but can be higher. Here’s a recent blurb from the Wall Street Journal’s SmartMoney site, regarding home insurance savings:

Your central alarm system could save you hundreds on your annual premiums. Insurers will routinely give you 15% to 20% off for a fire and burglar alarm system hooked up to a third-party monitoring company. At The Hartford, you can get a 2% discount for deadbolt locks and a 2% discount for smoke alarms.

These discounts reinforce the fact that alarm systems work - and there are ways to make sure you are getting the highest level of discount on your policy.

• When shopping for insurance, compare prices only after you calculate all relevant discounts.
• Make sure your insurance company knows you have a monitored system. This is normally done with an alarm certificate provided by your alarm company (just ask: getting one should be an easy process).
• Most insurers provide additional discounts for monitored fire protection. If this is not part of your alarm system, add it now (read my blog on the benefits of fire monitoring).
• Some insurers want to know that you use UL (Underwriters Laboratories) listed equipment, and a UL listed monitoring center. It should be simple for your alarm provider to verify these facts. If either is not the case, you may have separate concerns!

Here are some handy links to insurance web sites that address the monitored alarm system discount topic:

• Travelers Insurance
• The Hartford Insurance
• Chubb Personal Insurance

These days, we all want to save when we can - and it's great to know that protecting your home and family the right way can actually save you money. FrontPoint recommends at least one monitored smoke/heat sensor with every system we sell, so you’re not only safer: you save more. As the nation's leader in interactive, wireless home security, we take your safety seriously - so you can focus on your savings that make sense.