House monitored alarm system

sam1970

After being burgled recently I am looking into changing out house alarm system into a police monitored one. I had quotes from ADT and Verisure but I would like to know opinions on the two companies? and if there are any other alternatives

sam1970

Hi...I am still undecided so still looking for opinions and experience please

J_B

Where are you situated?

We use Security Wise from Shrewsbury and Stoke. Ours is monitored but not by police.

EssexExile

My only experience of ADT is seeing their van next door every time the alarm goes wrong. This used to happen a lot, then the new owners had it all ripped out when they did a big refurb & now I often see the Chubb van parked outside instead.

davemorton

J_B wrote: »

Where are you situated?

We use Security Wise from Shrewsbury and Stoke. Ours is monitored but not by police.

I dont believe any of the above companies are monitored by the police. It goes through to a monitoring centre, and they then get in touch with the police.

Typhoon2000

Better still is one you monitor yourself. Sends alerts to you phones. You can can arm and disarm remotely too. Best of all no monthly fees to pay out.

Baby_Angel

We installed ADT since we got a good offer for 2 years. It was for a monitored service and they are not connected to the police. If i remember right we could have opted for a service that the control center called the police. I am not sure of that. However we were allowed to keep the alarm and sensors after the monitored service ended.

In the time we had it monitored we received warning calls to our mobile when there was a electricity disruption with our alarm. Luckily we were never. burgled. Overall we were happy with the service.

societys_child

There are so many on-line/mobile alarms and cameras available now, just install something where you have control.

The police don't monitor you alarm btw . .

sam1970

Thanks guys for the replies. I know that the police do not monitor any of these alarms ..they are monitored by monitoring centres who will contact the police and I know that police response is not guaranteed.
My worry about unmonitored alarms is that the alarm could be ringing for hours and no one will bother investigating. Controlling the alarm from your phone will not help if you are on holiday abroad and your house is being burgled....you will only watch helplessly as the burglary happens.

Also Iam not a big fan of systems where you give contact numbers of relatives and friends to be called if the alarm goes off and you are away. I personally do not want to be called at 3 am to go and check a friend's house 5 miles away because his alarm went off and he is on holiday....I would rather pay the money and not be a pain for others

polgara

Personally I would avoid ADT at all costs - but that might be because we are in the middle of a complaint with them about the sales pitch which was at best exaggerating what the system (alarm and CCTV) could do and at best down right lies.

If we had the choice I'd suggest finding a local firm.