House alarm systems - maybe with monitoring

[Clariman]

Although I know there are DIY alarm systems out there, I'm not interested in installing one myself, but I am interested in having a new alarm system professionally installed. We are moving house in the next few months and it does not have an alarm system fitted. Our current home has an alarm monitored by Chubb consisting of front and back door sensors and internal PIRs in downstairs rooms and upstairs hallway.

I'd be interested to have the thoughts of the knowledgeable people on this board regarding;

• Which is better - remotely monitored by a company or self-monitored via apps/web?
• If self-monitored, do companies offer maintenance only contracts? If not, how easy is it to get someone to fix if anything goes wrong
• Any companies/brands recommended or to avoid? Verisure are spending heavily on TV advertising, but what about Chubb, ADT, anyone else???
• What would be a rough budget for installation for a 5 bed property?
• What are typical monitoring costs? We are paying £20 per months but google tells me some companies charge around £35 per month!
• Any other comments or advice?

Many thanks
C

[scrumpyjack]

We had a full system put into our house 35 years ago by HSS Alarms. It also has smoke detectors and panic buttons. It has been updated over the years and is regularly tested and serviced. It is monitored and if triggered and you don't pick up the phone quickly enough, the police and/or fire brigade arrive. These firms get taken over and it is now called Scutum

https://scutum-group.com/

They are fine and all their service/install people have been good. Worth getting a quote from?

I think the automatic police/fire response is something you might not easily get from a self installed home system.

[tjh290633]

Our system has always been monitored, although the automatic connection to the police has been dropped. After a couple of take-overs the company is now Secure Home Systems, and it is now using WiFi, with a central monitoring office and an app which will notify you of any event.

You have a couple of nominated keyholders, who will be asked to check any alarms if you are not at home.

I am happy with what they provide. Rotine servicing is efficient, mainly consiting of changing batteries in sensors and then checking operation.

TJH

[csearle]

I would be surprised if the police ever turned up. Certainly in Kent they are far too few to bother with criminals. They seem to have far more time for assisting people that feel offended by other people, that's their focus down here.

Has anyone here ever witnessed the police turn up as a result of their home alarm system going off? I.e. would it be worth paying for this potential service when considering an alarm system?

Cate Blanchett's alarm system went off a while back in her mansion near me. She and Andrew were in Australia or somewhere at the time. Police never came. The housemaid ended up calling me (the electrician) to resolve the issue. (I remember it being rainy, windy, stormy, and hoping I wasn't walking into a group of crims).

Chris

[ReformedCharacter]

I thought that I read somewhere that alarm systems should not call the police directly and found this:

For the Police to be automatically contacted on your behalf, you need a monitored burglar alarm system.

The Police don't monitor it - an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) does. The ARC have a direct line to the Police, who they call in the case of a break-in.

Certain criteria MUST be met before you can get this service. The Police require that you use an NSI or SSAIB approved company to:

Design
Install
Maintain
Monitor and
Register your system - obtaining a (Unique Reference Number) URN from the Local Police

Without all of the above, and assigned keyholders, your system will not qualify for Police monitoring.

https://www.blakefire-security.co.uk/blog/how-to-get-police-monitored-alarm-systems

RC

[Dod101]

Our system has always been monitored, although the automatic connection to the police has been dropped. After a couple of take-overs the company is now Secure Home Systems, and it is now using WiFi, with a central monitoring office and an app which will notify you of any event.

You have a couple of nominated keyholders, who will be asked to check any alarms if you are not at home.

I am happy with what they provide. Rotine servicing is efficient, mainly consiting of changing batteries in sensors and then checking operation.

TJH

I inherited ADT and would not really recommend them. I got fed up of the costs of monitoring so I just rely on my neighbours responding to the racket from the alarm going off. I pay some ridiculous price for a twice a year maintenance check. I may be moving myself before long otherwise I think I might be considering changing supplier.

Dod

[Newroad]

Hi Clariman.

We have always done "self-monitoring", via a messaging service to our mobile phones.

We had a Castle CareTech system, I'm guessing for around 15 years. We switched to a Pyronix system (which took over Castle CareTech I believe) - you can get some reviews here

https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.pyronix.com

when we switched to FFTP recently - the old system was analogue and would no longer work over the new digital-only line. Both systems were installed by professionals which I am happy with. Annual maintenance costs were around £80+VAT IIRC - not sure if that will change with the new system this year.

We have found it to be a sound system and the new ability to set and unset remotely is helpful. I was careful in the original setup to avoid any wireless sensors - we used wired only - which I think may have helped compared to the issues some have. That of course gives cable route issues, but with some careful planning, no-one seems to be able to see the few places where we hid them in plain sight.

If interested, and you PM me roughly where you are, county may be enough, I'll let you know if our installers might be able to help - they are an old family firm.

Regards, Newroad

[modellingman]

Although I know there are DIY alarm systems out there, I'm not interested in installing one myself, but I am interested in having a new alarm system professionally installed. We are moving house in the next few months and it does not have an alarm system fitted. Our current home has an alarm monitored by Chubb consisting of front and back door sensors and internal PIRs in downstairs rooms and upstairs hallway.

I'd be interested to have the thoughts of the knowledgeable people on this board regarding;

• Which is better - remotely monitored by a company or self-monitored via apps/web?
• If self-monitored, do companies offer maintenance only contracts? If not, how easy is it to get someone to fix if anything goes wrong
• Any companies/brands recommended or to avoid? Verisure are spending heavily on TV advertising, but what about Chubb, ADT, anyone else???
• What would be a rough budget for installation for a 5 bed property?
• What are typical monitoring costs? We are paying £20 per months but google tells me some companies charge around £35 per month!
• Any other comments or advice?

Many thanks
C

In Spain I use Securitas Direct who I think are now known as Verisure and have been reasonably happy with them. No idea what they are like in the UK.

One think to think about, depending on what you are guarding against, is reliance on a broadband internet connection. The kit that Securitas installs includes its own SIM card, so that when an alarm is triggered, the message is sent to the monitoring centre over the mobile network not a fixed wire/cable network. This provides a bit of resilience against wires/cables being cut.

modellingman