House Alarm - Should I lie and say I don't have one?

marathonic

I'm in the process of purchasing a house and will be seeking insurance soon.

A workmate has advised me that, although an alarm is fitted, I should tick no on the question asking about one.

The reason he states this is that the discount, if any, is low and insurance companies will try to wiggle out of any potential future claims if the alarm wasn't on and/or wasn't serviced properly.

Is there any truth to this? Do you have an alarm and, if so, do you tell the insurance company you have one?

Quentin

Usually they ask if you have a contract for a "maintained" alarm, and saying yes doesn't seem to make much difference if any to the premium.

borkid

marathonic wrote: »

I'm in the process of purchasing a house and will be seeking insurance soon.

A workmate has advised me that, although an alarm is fitted, I should tick no on the question asking about one.

The reason he states this is that the discount, if any, is low and insurance companies will try to wiggle out of any potential future claims if the alarm wasn't on and/or wasn't serviced properly.

Is there any truth to this? Do you have an alarm and, if so, do you tell the insurance company you have one?

I was advised, by someone at a BSoc to say no because if the one time you forget to set it and you get burgled the insurers wouldn't pay out. This was 15 years ago so things may have changed.

kingstreet

As Quentin says, you may not get any discount if you don't have an approved maintenance contract with a NACOSS (?) registered alarm fitter/engineer.

If you don't have such an agreement, you should say no to the "alarm" question.

McKneff

Never, ever lie to an insurance company, about anything......

One dayit could come back and bit you in the bum

thenudeone

The question is almost always - do you have a professionally maintained and monitored alarm? or something simlar.

You should answer whatever question is answered honestly and (if necessary) read the small print carefully to see whether a claim depends on the alarm being activated.

TSx

On a technical point, I would suspect (but I'd need legal confirmation) that you can get away with this. All the law surrounding non-disclosure is based on Uberrima Fides (Utmost Good Faith) and any facts which lessen the risk do not need to be disclosed. There's a useful guide from CILA here concerning this.

In practical terms though, what I would suggest, to avoid any problems is to do your normal searches and then call the insurer to confirm the exact circumstances and that you do not want the alarm considered for your policy.

cajef

TSx wrote: »

In practical terms though, what I would suggest, to avoid any problems is to do your normal searches and then call the insurer to confirm the exact circumstances and that you do not want the alarm considered for your policy.

Which is exactly what I did in a previous property with an alarm that was about twenty years old, it was working but no one would service it as it was obsolete, it was still working when I sold the property eight years later.

The insurance company noted the details and as it had not been serviced they adjust the premium accordingly.

dunstonh

NOTE: misread post. Corrected in later post but left this one here for reference only.

Summary of the question asked. "should i commit fraud and hope I get away with it".

The answer is no.

marathonic

dunstonh wrote: »

Summary of the question asked. "should i commit fraud and hope I get away with it".

The answer is no.

But would fraud not be defined as doing something to gain benefit or profit - I'd definately not consider saying I have an alarm if I didn't.

Here, I want to tell them I don't, will suffer an increased premium as a result but will not be under risk of loss if I forget to set the alarm.

TSx

dunstonh wrote: »

Summary of the question asked. "should i commit fraud and hope I get away with it".

The answer is no.

How is this fraud? Where is the personal gain (to the detriment of the insurer)?