Alarm Maintenance Contract near Milton Keynes?

[Bhavesh 0]

Hi All

 

I have a Nest Alarm installed by myself but my insurance company wants a yearly maintenance contract to go with it. Does anybody know if I can get maintenance only contract for such an alarm?

 

Thank you.

[al-yeti 532]

5 minutes ago, Bhavesh said:

Hi All

 

I have a Nest Alarm installed by myself but my insurance company wants a yearly maintenance contract to go with it. Does anybody know if I can get maintenance only contract for such an alarm?

 

Thank you.

Nah very unlikely

 

Out of curiosity why do they want it , did you ask for it? They ask for it? 

 

Or is it you said you have an alarm they gave you a discount and said doing forget to send us the certificate?

[MrHappy 1,739]

33 minutes ago, Bhavesh said:

maintenance only contract for such an alarm?

 

I suspect you'll have to buy a proper alarm

[james.wilson 741]

As above nest etc not a graded part so approved companies cant work on it. 

Its a diy system for a reason.

[PeterJames 689]

You could try calling Google they own nest now 

[Bhavesh 0]

Hi All,

 

Thank you for your replies.

23 hours ago, al-yeti said:

Nah very unlikely

 

Out of curiosity why do they want it , did you ask for it? They ask for it? 

 

Or is it you said you have an alarm they gave you a discount and said doing forget to send us the certificate?

 

I had a burglary last year. Unfortunately, my system wasn't working (this is the old system, not Nest). Insurance company now has a clause in my policy that I have to have an alarm maintenance contract. 

[james.wilson 741]

The reason for that is because the alarm company carries the liability of the system not performing. Noone is going to do that on diy gear that can't be controlled. 

The alarm Co own insurance would be invalid if they did

[Bhavesh 0]

I see. I am happy to get alarm installed professionally. But I still have to pay additional £100+vat for servicing the alarm annually. Not everyone has an alarm. Not everyone has a maintenance contract. Why me?

[al-yeti 532]

Just now, Bhavesh said:

I see. I am happy to get alarm installed professionally. But I still have to pay additional £100+vat for servicing the alarm annually. Not everyone has an alarm. Not everyone has a maintenance contract. Why me?

Try different insurer

 

Many don't realise they need a maintenance contract etc , as insurer only asks for it when they make a claim

[PeterJames 689]

1 hour ago, Bhavesh said:

Hi All,

 

Thank you for your replies.

 

I had a burglary last year. Unfortunately, my system wasn't working (this is the old system, not Nest). Insurance company now has a clause in my policy that I have to have an alarm maintenance contract. 

 

Your insurance company is looking for some assurance that your alarm will do its job in the event of another burglary, and if it doesn t that they have some recourse, ie the alarm companies efficacy insurance.

 

So when they ask for alarm maintenance contract what they mean is they expect you to have a real alarm system, not something that came from Amazon and might alert you if you have another burglary. The Nest system is not compliant to any of the required british standards, its not graded. Even if you found some back street electrician that would offer a service contract, its unlikely that your insurer would pay out in the event of another successful burglary.  

 

[PeterJames 689]

2 minutes ago, Bhavesh said:

I see. I am happy to get alarm installed professionally. But I still have to pay additional £100+vat for servicing the alarm annually. Not everyone has an alarm. Not everyone has a maintenance contract. Why me?

You've been burgled you are a higher risk, insurance companies want to sell insurance and not pay out, otherwise there is no point in selling insurance 

[Bhavesh 0]

OK, Thanks.

So, anyone can suggest a good alarm system? I will return Nest and get proper alarm installed. Is Pyronix V10 any good? or Texecom products?

Anyone neat Milton Keynes wants to give me a quote?

[sixwheeledbeast 486]

If you are getting a company in then don't shop for products the company will fit what their staff are trained on.

If you don't have any company recommendations from others you know, search on the NSI or SSAIB website also the installers section here.

Having a record of maintenance will reduce the risk as at least they know the system works.

Edited September 16 by sixwheeledbeast
typo

[james.wilson 741]

26 minutes ago, al-yeti said:

Many don't realise they need a maintenance contract etc , as insurer only asks for it when they make a claim

Thats the point, same with locks etc only comes to light when a claim is made. Insurance co dont want you to look to close as it gives them ways to reduce payout size or even null the cover. Had one recently where a building burnt down but because the intruder alarm wasnt under a maintenance and support contract which was a condition of the insurance there was no payout 

[Bhavesh 0]

Thank you all. I just got in touch with the insurance co to remove this clause. Lets see what happens (may be nothing).

 

I thought about changing the insurance co but I think the clause follows me.

 

I contacted one insurance co. Two people from the same co told me to say that I don't have an alarm system (when filling in the form) and then they can't enforce what I don't have. 

[al-yeti 532]

11 minutes ago, Bhavesh said:

Thank you all. I just got in touch with the insurance co to remove this clause. Lets see what happens (may be nothing).

 

I thought about changing the insurance co but I think the clause follows me.

 

I contacted one insurance co. Two people from the same co told me to say that I don't have an alarm system (when filling in the form) and then they can't enforce what I don't have. 

Well you can still have an alarm , but aslong as you declare your previous claim , there's no problem, just don't take any discount either based on you having an alarm , it's all a scam anyway in some respects (scamnis insurance part , not the registered nsi ssaib bit)

Edited September 16 by al-yeti

[Andyha 8]

Some wise words going on here

Most (probably all) insurers that require an alarm to be fitted as a condition of insurance mandate the use of an NSI or SSAIB accredited installer and that it has a maintenance contract (and that it is serviced at a frequency in accordance with the requirements for the system type). I doubt any accredited installer would be happy to install the alarm and certify it without having a maintenance contract and not just because of the revenue stream associated with said maintenance contract. Some may but will caveat their quote against any liability if the alarm fails to operate having not been maintained.

If the system requires signalling (insurance requirement) then the maintenance contract is mandatory and your URN is conditional on frequency and repeated maintenance.

I don't believe the requirement for an alarms follows you - but your risk profile does and you are obliged to give full disclosure to any prospective insurer. That said some insurers may take a different view on risk than others so some may not require an alarm while others do. However you must disclose the same circumstances to all insurers equally

Do be careful about having any security system (declared or not) and not using it. A bit like having a front door lock and not locking the door, if you have an alarm (regardless of requirement) and fail to use it the insurer could take the view that you have not used all means available to you to secure the premises and could reduce or refuse any claim in the event of a burglary.

Jury's out on whether this would apply to Ring and similar products.

 

[al-yeti 532]

38 minutes ago, Andyha said:

 fail to use it the insurer could take the view that you have not used all means available to you to secure the premises and could reduce or refuse any claim in the event of a burglary.

Jury's out on whether this would apply to Ring and similar products.

 

Total nonsense , sorry no offense of course

 

 

[PeterJames 689]

1 hour ago, al-yeti said:

Total nonsense , sorry no offense of course

 

 

With respect Imran he is right, one of my customers insurance company refused to pay out on a burglary because he did not part set his alarm. He had his mother in law staying in one of the ground floor bedrooms for a week at the time it happened. I printed off a months worth of log to prove he had been setting it up until that week, it didn't do any good. If an insurance company can find a good excuse not to pay out they will. Of course the insurance was based on him setting the alarm and part setting the alarm,(he was aware of this requirement) he had a lot of expensive artwork, the burglars nicked his laptop and his BMW his keys were in the kitchen which was their point of entry. If your insurance is based on specific requirements such as an alarm check the small print.   

[Andyha 8]

1 hour ago, al-yeti said:

Total nonsense , sorry no offense of course

 

 

No offence taken

But

Not a comment of a great deal of assistance to the original poster

 

It is a well documented issue - Thank you PeterJames for your post

 

Speak to the ABI for more examples and for their general advise to their members on what constitutes "using all means available"

It is a fact that if you leave a window open or unlocked or fail to lock your doors it is seen as thus and may affect any payout.

 

I agree though that it is both policy specific and subject to the claim details and insurance claim assessors due diligence in asking about measures that could have created an insecurity that contributed to a loss

 

As always with board brush statements on both sides, the reality is often somewhere in the middle.

[james.wilson 741]

It's not the middle if an insurer can reduce the payout they will. That's why loss adjusters exist. Unfortunately a lot of people assume they have insurance and assume in the never going to happen event that they need to claim they can. Then they look. 

We only look because of what we do

[al-yeti 532]

1 hour ago, PeterJames said:

With respect Imran he is right, one of my customers insurance company refused to pay out on a burglary because he did not part set his alarm. He had his mother in law staying in one of the ground floor bedrooms for a week at the time it happened. I printed off a months worth of log to prove he had been setting it up until that week, it didn't do any good. If an insurance company can find a good excuse not to pay out they will. Of course the insurance was based on him setting the alarm and part setting the alarm,(he was aware of this requirement) he had a lot of expensive artwork, the burglars nicked his laptop and his BMW his keys were in the kitchen which was their point of entry. If your insurance is based on specific requirements such as an alarm check the small print.   

That's not the point read it again, if the alarm has nothing to do with the insurance , the insurer has to pay

1 hour ago, Andyha said:

No offence taken

But

Not a comment of a great deal of assistance to the original poster

 

It is a well documented issue - Thank you PeterJames for your post

 

Speak to the ABI for more examples and for their general advise to their members on what constitutes "using all means available"

It is a fact that if you leave a window open or unlocked or fail to lock your doors it is seen as thus and may affect any payout.

 

I agree though that it is both policy specific and subject to the claim details and insurance claim assessors due diligence in asking about measures that could have created an insecurity that contributed to a loss

 

As always with board brush statements on both sides, the reality is often somewhere in the middle.

Specifically about your comment if you have an alarm of sorts and you didn't set it 

 

Perhaps I misunderstood you 

 

Meaning an alarm of any type that is not on your insurance has nothing to do with an insurer 

[al-yeti 532]

3 hours ago, Andyha said:

 

Do be careful about having any security system (declared or not) and not using it. 

 

As I said this is not true , they have to pay if it's undeclared alarm

[james.wilson 741]

You sure Al? 

I agree it depends on the size of the claim but not using your brakes if available might be a reason to avoid paying a claim? 

[Andyha 8]

9 hours ago, al-yeti said:

As I said this is not true , they have to pay if it's undeclared alarm

I think we would have to agree to disagree

 

Note also that the basis of this thread is to help the original poster.

 

All I am saying is "do be careful"

 

So you may be right that it is "not true" under certain circumstances, with certain insurers and with certain polices, however the time to find out I am right is not after a claim is refused

 

So I repeat: "do be careful"