House insurance valid when alarm not working?

kitty81

Registered User
Messages
147
Hi all

Maybe this varies from company to company but does anyone know if your house alarm is not on/not working & the house was broken into, can the insurance company refuse payment?
 
Yes, pretty standard clause. If you've said you have an approved alarm, but don't set it, then they can refuse to pay or apply a much higher excess. The alarm must also be maintained properly - insurance fine print usually means an annual service.

Aviva for example double the excess if alarm wasn't set:

"
d the alarm is set and working when there is
no person at home.
In the event that the alarm system is not in
operation during a theft or attempted theft,
the excess applying to the policy is doubled for that claim."
 
Thank you for your prompt and helpful reply. We are with Aviva so i better get working on getting the alarm fixed.
 
Or just remove the clause. It'll increase premium no more than 10%, depending on what other discounts you have on policy.
 
I agree. We just say we don't have an alarm any more. In that way we don't have to worry if we forget to switch it on or if there is a fault. The extra cost is not much.
 
Sometimes if your contents is above a certain amount the insurers may insist on alarm clause.
But otherwise, yes you are better off not running the risk of it just for 10% off.
 
Great info there, thanks all.

Probably best to say no alarm as trying to get someone out to look at it is proving difficult! It's an old one so more hassle it seems!
 
Yes to denying the alarm. I also say my door has a yale lock and barrel lock, nothing else, as the question about locks seems too complicated for me.
 
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