Get a built in home security system or buy a new one?

[LiveThisLife]

Buying a new build, it can come with their security system built in for around £700.or would you get it installed separately when you move in? Any recommendations for any security systems? This is just an sound alarm I think, but it would be built into the house electrics.

£700 isn't much.

ask what standard it meets, which company installed it, and what the annual maintenance costs. You can then look up the standard. Your household insurers might specify a standard depending on your area or the value of your bullion and jewellery.

A cheap, siren-only system isn't much good because people will ignore it. A system that dials out to a control room and signals which sensors have been triggered may enable you to get police response (subject to maintenance, and not having many false alrms). Better systems like that have to be serviced/inspected twice a year by a qualified company, and this is where some installers make their money. They may refuse to tell you the engineer's PIN if you cancel your contract. I've heard rumours about ADT.

If you have trusted friends and neighbours, you can get a dial-out system that will call a local keyholder, but isn't good enough to be accepted by police. That will be cheaper.

I'm not in the alarms business but have monitored alarms at my home and business premises. I think the annual service cost is a couple of hundred. I get charged per false alarm at the business - it's almost alway someone forgetting to lock a door securely when they lock up - and a keyholder must attend within 20 minutes or future police response will be cancelled.

if you declare an alarm to your insurers and forget to set it on the day you're burgled, there may be a problem getting them to pay up.

Thanks that’s really useful, need to have a think if I want a dial out or just a noise one, or a smart one that I can see on my phone etc.

A lot of builders fit every house to first fix for the alarm systems... so the wiring would be in place behind access panels. It’s worth asking your builder if this is the case as £700 for them to simply install PIR’s, the bell box and a control unit is a lot of money! An independent could fit you a much better system for around that price or less if the wiring is already in place