Unmonitored wired alarm - annual maintenance charge?

odckdo

I have a wired alarm on my house installed 15 years ago. I used to have it monitored by Phone Watch but have since stopped that.

A local alarm company for 150 euro per year will do 1 full service + all call outs during year are covered. Parts or any work requiring alot of labour will be extra.

What are people's view on this? Would it be cheaper in the long run to only call an engineer when needed? Or are there advantages to having a maintenance contract that I am missing?

degsie

How many times in the last 15 yrs did you have to get a service callout? I would base any decision on that.

odckdo

I suppose that answers my question!

The only work I can think of was getting the backup battery replaced when I was with PhoneWatch and that cost was covered.

I suppose I was wondering with a 15 year old alarm things might start going wrong and therefore more call outs possible in a year.

The other thing would be the alarm keypad would show up any faults so a yearly service is not really needed then?

KoolKid

Its really down to how the alarm is performing. You are getting everything checked once a year so if you have another call in the year you are up on the deal. If you are relying on the alarm keypad to tell you everything you could be in for a nasty surprise some day if a burglar decides to test the system for you.
There are plenty of service calls I have done which showed up bells not working, zones not working or monitoring not working etc.
€150 covering unlimited call outs is not bad value. Many companies limit you to a couple of calls only.

altor

odckdo wrote: »

I suppose that answers my question!

The only work I can think of was getting the backup battery replaced when I was with PhoneWatch and that cost was covered.

I suppose I was wondering with a 15 year old alarm things might start going wrong and therefore more call outs possible in a year.

The other thing would be the alarm keypad would show up any faults so a yearly service is not really needed then?

If the system is that old then you would have more of a chance of faulty devices on the system as a whole. €150 is cheap for a monitored system but as you have said it does not cover the cost of extra call outs plus the time spent on site fault finding and repairing. This is were the extra expense could be recouped. I would shop around as most will cover all call outs in the service and monitoring agreement.

degsie

altor wrote: »

If the system is that old then you would have more of a chance of faulty devices on the system as a whole. €150 is cheap for a monitored system but as you have said it does not cover the cost of extra call outs plus the time spent on site fault finding and repairing. This is were the extra expense could be recouped. I would shop around as most will cover all call outs in the service and monitoring agreement.

I'm sure the op said the €150 covers all call outs for that year.

altor

degsie wrote: »

I'm sure the op said the €150 covers all call outs for that year.

Hi degsie,

He did indeed say that.

fred funk }{

A service contract not only covers call outs but entitiles the person to emergency service if required. If the alarm suddenly, at 4am, goes nuts, they can phone their installer and be looked after. Now, someone without a contract will not get that service. Think if it as an insurance policy of sorts. Some people won't see the benifit of it but others will and do.

kub

Op your system without some sort of an annual inspection will not conform to your insurers criteria.
All those guys need is a reason and they will leave you high and dry in the event of a claim.

odckdo

Some interesting points there.

Never thought of the emergency or insurance situations. Or the keypad not showing all problems in the system.

I remember with Phonewatch my contract covered 2 services in the year. I used to get one done and leave the 2nd one open just in case. I got the same engineer every year. He never checked the system properly and never checked the window contacts or sensors. He told me the alarm pad would indicate any problems. (In fairness when the backup battery went I did get a call from PW in Dublin as they could see it on there system before I noticed.)

For peace of mind I will take out a contract with the local company.

Thanks.

KoolKid

If you are getting unlimited call out they are also more likely to sort out the problems first time. Those who limit you to 2 calls would be more than happy to call out a third time or more.

altor

odckdo wrote: »

He never checked the system properly and never checked the window contacts or sensors. He told me the alarm pad would indicate any problems.

Not in all cases unless the zone or sensor itself was showing a fault.
Its better to have them tested to make sure they are working correctly.
No point letting a would be intruder do this for you.

kub

odckdo wrote: »

He never checked the system properly and never checked the window contacts or sensors. He told me the alarm pad would indicate any problems.

Pure and utter laziness right there.