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Alarm next door

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  • 30-07-2016 8:37am
    #1
    Redpunto
    Registered Users Posts: 2,024 ✭✭✭


    Our feckers of neighbours have fecked off for two weeks and left an alarm going off - its been going constantly for a week with no sign of dying. We can here it inside our house in all the rooms. It sounds like a house alarm but its coming from inside the house. The external alarm box isnt doing anything. Ive rung management company and they have contacted owner who is refusing to do anything.

    ANybody got any ideas of what we can do. These people are not nice so Ive a strong feeling they have done this deliberately.


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    #2
    Paulw
    Registered Users Posts: 13,381 ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    There's not much can be done. It sounds like the internal bell is ringing in the control panel. It is usually mains and battery powered.

    So, you need to enter the premises, enter the correct code to stop the ringing.

    There is no external way to stop it.

    All you can do is chase the management agent to chase the unit owner. But, they may not have left keys with anyone, so other than breaking in, there is no way to enter the premises.


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    #3
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    The Management Company- could make a judgement call to cut power to the property in a case like this. This would mean the internal alarm would run on battery power until the battery drained- typically 24 to 36 hours- however, it would also mean any refrigerated or frozen items- would be defrosted and have to be tossed. You cannot make this decision yourself- the Management Company would have to- but in practice, this is what happens........

    Your course of action- is an official complaint to the local authority environmental health officer (on the grounds of noise pollution). It won't get anything done fast- but the owner would in due course (which could be weeks or even months down the road) be issued with an enforcement order telling them to remove the non-compliant burglar alarm. Its far from satisfactory- and I've yet to see action taken against an owner occupier who ignores a compliance order- in cases like this- but it is an annoyance for an owner.

    You have my sympathies- I've been in the selfsame situation as you- on numerous occasions.

    Typically this means the development you're living in may have had a number of units installed at the outset- which may be coming towards the end of their life. If this is the case- a further avenue to explore would be to bring it up at the Management Company AGM- as its likely it'll repeat itself in the months ahead (in other properties).

    Even the battery running out (i.e. no longer accepting a charge) will trigger the internal siren on many of these older alarm systems.


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    #4
    PedroDublin
    Registered Users Posts: 53 ✭✭PedroDublin


    I was on the same boat. Contacted the local authorities but as it was not a commercial unit they couldn't do anything, the management company was not responsible for the house anymore, garda couldn't do anything without signs of forced entry...the alarm was ringing for two weeks. I ended up moving out soon afterwards


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    #5
    Parchment
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,203 ✭✭✭Parchment


    im pretty sure its illegal if its going off for more than 15 minutes without being checked/stopped. Contact the local Gardai or even the alarm company if there is a name on the box.

    we had a similar issue with the office block beside us, i called the alarm company as the alarm started going off at 6pm on a friday of a bank holiday weekend. They called the key holder and it was sorted in about an hour.


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    #6
    Paulw
    Registered Users Posts: 13,381 ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    Parchment wrote: »
    im pretty sure its illegal if its going off for more than 15 minutes without being checked/stopped.

    That applies to the external bell, not the internal bell, and I believe it's 20 min.


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    #7
    MarkAnthony
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭MarkAnthony


    Paulw wrote: »
    That applies to the external bell, not the internal bell, and I believe it's 20 min.

    And they will just keep going off every so often.

    I really don't alarms, the bloody things are useless other than a protection if you're worried about a home invasion when you're there. I think most housing estates are plagued by an alarm at one time or another. I've not once though 'oh someone must be being burgled'. If you're going away switch the bloody thing off* or give the neighbour the key.

    *I realise this creates issues for insurance, yet another reason not to get the bloody things fitted in the first place.


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    #8
    Paulw
    Registered Users Posts: 13,381 ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    MarkAnthony wrote: »
    I really don't alarms, the bloody things are useless other than a protection if you're worried about a home invasion when you're there. I think most housing estates are plagued by an alarm at one time or another. I've not once though 'oh someone must be being burgled'. If you're going away switch the bloody thing off* or give the neighbour the key.

    *I realise this creates issues for insurance, yet another reason not to get the bloody things fitted in the first place.

    I have an alarm. I've had it since I bought my place. It's a monitored alarm system. Since buying it, it has activated 3 times (10 years). Each time a keyholder came and turned it off within 15 min.

    Any time a neighbours alarm activates, I will have a look and see if I can see anything unusual - broken door/windows, etc.

    I haven't noticed a problem in our estate of alarms ringing and ringing.

    A neighbour did have an issue a before. Tenants away for the weekend and the alarm went off. I contacted the management agent, who contacted the landlord and the alarm was turned off a short while later. An annoyance but no major hassle.

    But, if you don't want an alarm, that is your choice. I am glad I have mine.


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    #9
    hp1
    Registered Users Posts: 29 ✭hp1


    I don't have one. Neighbours alarms going off are a nuisance. If burglars want to get in they will do it with or without an alarm system. There have been several break ins and key fishing in our estate with houses that have alarms.

    We may well get broken in to in the future, I hope not, but I really don't think having an alarm will make a huge difference.

    Plus insurance wise, I believe if you have an alarm and your house gets broken in while the alarm is off and you are out, your contents will not be insured.


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    #10
    MarkAnthony
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,934 ✭✭✭MarkAnthony


    Monitored are completely different. To be fair as are alarms where neighbours look out for each other. In an area (such as apartments) where people don't know each other they're just a bloody annoyance.

    You are very lucky if you don't suffer from the alarm plague! I've lived in two or three larger housing areas in D15, D8 and D5 - D15 was by far the worst with D8 being more down to commercial premises.

    I do have one, I wish we didn't as we never set the thing and haven't declared it to the insurance company. We used to set it when we were new to the area (about the first month and novelty factor) but the neighbours had a key - just lucky in not having that worry and good neighbours I guess!


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    #11
    OldMrBrennan83
    Closed Accounts Posts: 26,658 ✭✭✭✭OldMrBrennan83


    This post has been deleted.


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    #12
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    hp1 wrote: »
    Plus insurance wise, I believe if you have an alarm and your house gets broken in while the alarm is off and you are out, your contents will not be insured.

    Correct.
    Plus- there are Garda alerts out about unmonitored alarms going off at the moment- as they direct criminals to unoccupied properties.


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    #13
    SteM
    Registered Users Posts: 6,726 ✭✭✭SteM


    hp1 wrote: »
    I don't have one. Neighbours alarms going off are a nuisance. If burglars want to get in they will do it with or without an alarm system. There have been several break ins and key fishing in our estate with houses that have alarms.

    We may well get broken in to in the future, I hope not, but I really don't think having an alarm will make a huge difference.

    Plus insurance wise, I believe if you have an alarm and your house gets broken in while the alarm is off and you are out, your contents will not be insured.

    Is this true? Would love a link if it is.

    If people ignore alarms then they're useless, if people don't ignore them they're helpful imo.


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    #14
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 24,714 ✭ [Deleted User]


    House alarms should be banned they are absolutely useless and totally ignored. What they are though is a total nuisance for neighbours having to listen to them. It's one thing you notice straight away when living in an urban area as a person from a rural area where nobody has alarms. The things are going off constantly. I'd never have one personally, there is one in the houses I've rented and I've never even asked for the code to activate them.


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    #15
    Call me Al
    Registered Users Posts: 3,028 ✭✭✭Call me Al


    As far as I know you can be penalised on a claim if you've declared the alarm to your insurance company, received a deduction on your policy premium, but haven't set it at the time of the break in. Read the small print on your documenation (policies can vary)... there can be all sorts of t&c's relating to security on things like window locks or keys.
    Personally, we have an alarm but it's not declared to the insurance company on the off-chance that we forget to set it and then have a break-in.


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    #16
    Michael D Not Higgins
    Registered Users Posts: 7,223 ✭✭✭Michael D Not Higgins


    SteM wrote: »
    Is this true? Would love a link if it is.

    If people ignore alarms then they're useless, if people don't ignore them they're helpful imo.

    My parents were burgled earlier in the year. They got in the back door when they were asleep and stole the keys to the 3 cars outside (my sister had left her car there when she was travelling) and left with the cars only. They have a monitored alarm but just never put it on at night when they were asleep. They were still covered by insurance.

    I'm not sure if there's a difference that they were in the house and the alarm wasn't on. They religiously turn it on at night now.


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    #17
    The_Conductor
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 32,285 Mod ✭✭✭✭The_Conductor


    Michael D Not Higgins wrote: »
    My parents were burgled earlier in the year. They got in the back door when they were asleep and stole the keys to the 3 cars outside (my sister had left her car there when she was travelling) and left with the cars only. They have a monitored alarm but just never put it on at night when they were asleep. They were still covered by insurance.

    I'm not sure if there's a difference that they were in the house and the alarm wasn't on. They religiously turn it on at night now.

    Cars would have been covered under their own insurance policies- household contents- not. I've had car keys fished through the letterbox- literally- with a fishing rod and hook of some sort- and a car robbed- in a house with a monitored alarm that was turned on.

    Community Gardai now habitually tell people to have your car keys out of sight of the door- apparently 'fishing' is incredibly common- there are criminal gangs who specialise in it.


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    #18
    Paulw
    Registered Users Posts: 13,381 ✭✭✭✭Paulw


    The_Conductor wrote: »
    Cars would have been covered under their own insurance policies- household contents- not. I've had car keys fished through the letterbox- literally- with a fishing rod and hook of some sort- and a car robbed- in a house with a monitored alarm that was turned on.
    .

    Fishing keys won't trigger the house alarm anyway. You need to break a contact (door, window) or set off a motion detector to trigger the alarm. Opening a letterbox to fish for keys won't set off any sensor.

    There are different insurance criteria for alarms, monitored alarms, etc, depending on if you're away, home, etc. And insurance companies differ too, with their policies. So, you can't blanket say that your insurance will cover with an unset alarm, or not.


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    #19
    PixelTrawler
    Registered Users Posts: 2,299 ✭✭✭PixelTrawler


    Patww79 wrote: »
    This post has been deleted.

    Currently living in D15. Its alarm city. Also some seem to chirp randomly with a single chirp. The amount of morons that either cant go into their own house without setting off the alarm, or leave the house with the windows open and the alarm set. Its all dogs barking and house alarms... All they seem to do is advertise the house is empty.

    1. Set off alarm
    2. Wait 20 mins.
    3. Profit


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    #20
    Redpunto
    Registered Users Posts: 2,024 ✭✭✭Redpunto


    The_Conductor wrote: »

    Your course of action- is an official complaint to the local authority environmental health officer (on the grounds of noise pollution). It won't get anything done fast- but the owner would in due course (which could be weeks or even months down the road) be issued with an enforcement order telling them to remove the non-compliant burglar alarm. Its far from satisfactory- and I've yet to see action taken against an owner

    Thanks for all the replies - Ill contact the environmental health officer tomorrow. Like I said, these people are scumbags so am sure they have done this deliberately. Even the management company think so.

    As its an internal alarm the law for external alarms does not apply. The management company got a text back from the homeowner who said "they sent someone around to house but nothing can be done until they get home".

    Feckers!!!


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