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Faulty house alarm

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  • 19-05-2014 8:34am
    #1
    shamrock2004
    Closed Accounts Posts: 603 ✭✭✭


    hi boardsies

    I'm renting a house. The house alarm was serviced before I moved in but it has started going off randomly when it isn't even set. It went off several times last night so I disabled it by cutting the power to it. Now I don't really want to bother the landlord as the cooker went on the blink recently and it was repaired, but I would like the alarm to be fixed for piece of mind. Any idea how much it costs to get a house alarm serviced (roughly)? there's no number on the alarm box. Or is it a better idea to ask the landlord to repair it?


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    #2
    Millem
    Registered Users Posts: 7,729 ✭✭✭Millem


    shamrock2004 wrote: »
    hi boardsies

    I'm renting a house. The house alarm was serviced before I moved in but it has started going off randomly when it isn't even set. It went off several times last night so I disabled it by cutting the power to it. Now I don't really want to bother the landlord as the cooker went on the blink recently and it was repaired, but I would like the alarm to be fixed for piece of mind. Any idea how much it costs to get a house alarm serviced (roughly)? there's no number on the alarm box. Or is it a better idea to ask the landlord to repair it?

    It is around €100 but obviously could be more if a lot of work is needed. I think I read somewhere that a landlord doesn't have to provide an alarm so they may not want to pay. Maybe though if there is an alarm there they have to maintain it?


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    #3
    shamrock2004
    Closed Accounts Posts: 603 ✭✭✭shamrock2004


    Yeh the alarm was already there when I moved in and now it's going off randomly when it is not even set.


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    #4
    Millem
    Registered Users Posts: 7,729 ✭✭✭Millem


    shamrock2004 wrote: »
    Yeh the alarm was already there when I moved in and now it's going off randomly when it is not even set.

    The same happened to me. It has been "tampered" with, basically a loose wire or sensors not meeting etc. It can just happen with age or obviously if someone tried to break in


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    #5
    Ocean Blue
    Closed Accounts Posts: 612 ✭✭✭Ocean Blue


    shamrock2004 wrote: »
    hi boardsies

    I'm renting a house. The house alarm was serviced before I moved in but it has started going off randomly when it isn't even set. It went off several times last night so I disabled it by cutting the power to it. Now I don't really want to bother the landlord as the cooker went on the blink recently and it was repaired, but I would like the alarm to be fixed for piece of mind. Any idea how much it costs to get a house alarm serviced (roughly)? there's no number on the alarm box. Or is it a better idea to ask the landlord to repair it?

    Definitely notify the landlord. Their insurance may be dependent on their being a functioning alarm. If my tenants didn't tell me about a faulty alarm and my insurance was invalidated as a result there would be war!


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    #6
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,394 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    Ocean Blue wrote: »
    Definitely notify the landlord. Their insurance may be dependent on their being a functioning alarm. If my tenants didn't tell me about a faulty alarm and my insurance was invalidated as a result there would be war!
    Yes notify the LL as is part of what a tenant is meant to do. It will not effect insurance because that is content insurance it effects. LL don't have content insurance like this.

    Anybody who has an alarm I advice them not to take the discount for having an alarm. It reduces your premium by €5-€10 but if you don't set your alarm your insurance won't cover you. It is a complete false saving in the event you forget or there is a fault on your alarm


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    #7
    shamrock2004
    Closed Accounts Posts: 603 ✭✭✭shamrock2004


    Thanks for the information guys. I don't think anyone was trying to break in as the alarm started going off even when it wasn't set... Anyhow, I've notified the LL about the issue.


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    #8
    Millem
    Registered Users Posts: 7,729 ✭✭✭Millem


    shamrock2004 wrote: »
    Thanks for the information guys. I don't think anyone was trying to break in as the alarm started going off even when it wasn't set... Anyhow, I've notified the LL about the issue.

    "Tampered" is when it wasn't set but alarm goes off. Your panel might show something like T2 which means tamper in zone 2. It is the inside alarm not the outside one.


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    #9
    bovril
    Registered Users Posts: 1,445 ✭✭✭bovril


    Ray Palmer wrote: »
    Yes notify the LL as is part of what a tenant is meant to do. It will not effect insurance because that is content insurance it effects. LL don't have content insurance like this.

    Anybody who has an alarm I advice them not to take the discount for having an alarm. It reduces your premium by €5-€10 but if you don't set your alarm your insurance won't cover you. It is a complete false saving in the event you forget or there is a fault on your alarm

    I've only recently checked my policy and this information is incorrect in my case anyway. It depends on the policy. In my case there are discount on buildings AND content insurance and both discounts are listed individually. Also the sum of the discounts come to 90E each year so it's not something to sniff at.

    OP notify your landlord as their insurance could be affected. They should at least know and check their policy.


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    #10
    shamrock2004
    Closed Accounts Posts: 603 ✭✭✭shamrock2004


    Millem wrote: »
    "Tampered" is when it wasn't set but alarm goes off. Your panel might show something like T2 which means tamper in zone 2. It is the inside alarm not the outside one.

    Yeh it was showing 'T3'. Would it only go off if it wasn't set if there was a technical problem with the alarm?

    Thanks


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    #11
    Ocean Blue
    Closed Accounts Posts: 612 ✭✭✭Ocean Blue


    Ray Palmer wrote: »
    Yes notify the LL as is part of what a tenant is meant to do. It will not effect insurance because that is content insurance it effects. LL don't have content insurance like this.

    Anybody who has an alarm I advice them not to take the discount for having an alarm. It reduces your premium by €5-€10 but if you don't set your alarm your insurance won't cover you. It is a complete false saving in the event you forget or there is a fault on your alarm

    Hypothetical situation : a break - in occurs and the culprit has a mind for vandalism. Taps left running which flood the property damaging floors, walls etc. This scenario could certainly impact on a landlords insurance. So if a landlord had declared that there was an alarm and had a clause in the lease which tenants had agreed to stating that alarm would be used etc etc.......... potentially serious consequences for landlord and tenants.


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    #12
    Millem
    Registered Users Posts: 7,729 ✭✭✭Millem


    shamrock2004 wrote: »
    Yeh it was showing 'T3'. Would it only go off if it wasn't set if there was a technical problem with the alarm?

    Thanks

    T3 is zone 3. It means zone 3 has been tampered with. Even if alarm wasn't set this message shows up! It might only take 10mins to fix or it could be a bigger job as you disconnected it yourself.


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    #13
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,394 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    bovril wrote: »
    I've only recently checked my policy and this information is incorrect in my case anyway. It depends on the policy. In my case there are discount on buildings AND content insurance and both discounts are listed individually. Also the sum of the discounts come to 90E each year so it's not something to sniff at.

    OP notify your landlord as their insurance could be affected. They should at least know and check their policy.

    I worked in insurance for many years. The discounts are not what you think they are. They increase the discounts listed if you don't get others. It is a trick of quoting.

    I would be very surprised if you insurance will cover you if you don't have your alarm on. That would be a very unusual policy to have. Alarms boxes are the same deterrent as actual alarms.


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    #14
    Mrs OBumble
    Registered Users Posts: 25,960 ✭✭✭✭Mrs OBumble


    Ray Palmer wrote: »
    I worked in insurance for many years. The discounts are not what you think they are. They increase the discounts listed if you don't get others. It is a trick of quoting.

    I would be very surprised if you insurance will cover you if you don't have your alarm on. That would be a very unusual policy to have. Alarms boxes are the same deterrent as actual alarms.

    The discounts are irrelevant.

    The LL's insurance will cover the fittings they own. Depending on whether the property was furnished or not, this could include everything from the toaster, or perhaps just the curtains, carpets, water tanks etc.

    Either way, if the LL has insured the property saying that their is an alarm, and then that alarm is not used, then any claim they make may be declined.



    And anyways: if the house was let with a functioning alarm, then it's the LL's responsibility to keep it functioning.


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    #15
    Ray Palmer
    Registered Users Posts: 8,394 ✭✭✭Ray Palmer


    Mrs OBumble wrote: »
    The discounts are irrelevant.

    The LL's insurance will cover the fittings they own. Depending on whether the property was furnished or not, this could include everything from the toaster, or perhaps just the curtains, carpets, water tanks etc.

    Either way, if the LL has insured the property saying that their is an alarm, and then that alarm is not used, then any claim they make may be declined.



    And anyways: if the house was let with a functioning alarm, then it's the LL's responsibility to keep it functioning.
    I did say let the LL know. I am also warning people about getting insurance mentioning an alarm is not a good idea as it is an out for the insurance companies.


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