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Reminder on Insurance Discounts for Protecting Your Home and Family

By:
Peter M. Rogers
|January 10, 2012Here at FrontPoint we pride ourselves on being extremely knowledgeable and completely transparent, so we get a lot of questions: about how our wireless, state-of-the-art systems work, or why 100 % cellular monitoring really is safer, or even why our patented “Crash & Smash” protection makes a FrontPoint system with advanced Interactive services virtually impossible to defeat. Another question that comes up a lot is about homeowner’s insurance, and how having a monitored alarm system can save you money.
It’s True, as Insurance Companies Will Tell You
Of the many claims made by various alarm companies, one is almost universal: that a monitored alarm system can provide a nice discount on your homeowner’s insurance policy, and partially offset your monthly monitoring fee. I have known this to be the case for over twenty years, but recently did some homework to reconfirm. Yup, it’s still true: the discounts are there, and they average roughly 15%, but can be higher. Here’s a 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.Alarm Systems Work - That Explains the Savings These discounts reinforce the fact that alarm system work - and there are proven ways to make sure you are getting the highest level of discount on your policy. Of course, the discount you receive will depend on your carrier, and the type of coverage you have – in addition to the type of alarm monitoring you select.
- When shopping for insurance, compare prices only after you calculate all relevant discounts.
- Make sure your insurance company knows you have a monitored alarm system. This is normally done with a certificate provided by your alarm company (just ask: getting it should be easy).
- 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 bigger concerns than savings!