How Home Security Monitoring Works

January 28th, 2012 by admin No comments »

How Home Security Monitoring Works PictureHome security monitoring does not mean that there will be 24 hour a day surveillance of your home to ensure that your home is protected from a burglar. At least it does not mean that in a literal sense but home security monitoring does provide you and your family 24 hour a day protection from burglars and in some cases, even fire.  The level of protection that you receive will depend on the complexity of your home security system and the capabilities of the security provider you have chosen. The one thing in home security monitoring that is relatively similar no matter which provider or system you choose is the sequence of events that occur while the security system is in use. This article will provide a brief synopsis of how home security monitoring works.

Just about every home security monitoring system is activated as the first step in the process. Usually the homeowner pushes a button or series of buttons on the keypad to turn on the security system. This sends the message that the security system should trigger if it is breached in any way. Once this happens the various components of the home security system are activated. This may include access contacts, motion detectors, security cameras and any other components of the home security monitoring system. These components remain activated until the homeowner returns home and deactivates the home security monitoring system. Again, this is usually accomplished by typing in a series of numbers in the keypad.

If there is a breach of security, the home security monitoring system will begin a sequence of events. In most cases the first event, upon detecting an intruder, is to sound a warning alarm. This is usually a low level alarm and the intent of sounding this alarm is to allow the home owner the opportunity to deactivate the alarm when they return home. The homeowner usually has approximately 30 seconds to deactivate the alarm before the home security alarm system takes the next step.

If the alarm is not deactivated two things happen simultaneously in the home security monitoring system. A loud alarm is sounded and a message is sent to the monitoring station that there has been a breach of security in the home security monitoring system. This message reaches personnel at a 24 hour per day monitoring station who respond to this message. The first response is to contact the homeowner to determine whether or not the home security monitoring system has been breached or it was a false alarm. If the homeowner does not respond to the home security monitoring personnel and supply them with a security password, the staff will contact the local police department and send them to your address.

Home security monitoring is a precise service that has a clear path of action. Most home security monitoring companies react and proceed in a very similar fashion when a security system in their network is breached. While each home security monitoring company may have differences they all generally work in the same way.

Insuring A Second Home

January 27th, 2012 by admin No comments »

Second Home PictureAs a nation we in the UK are becoming wealthier.  With the rise in our overall wealth has come a desire to spend our money on certain luxuries we enjoy.  And one of the boom industries when it comes to spending this money is on the second home – the cottage in the countryside where we can spend the weekends.  However, as this is considered your second home, and not your principal residence, the home insurance is going to cost you more than it will do for your principal residential home.  To avoid this expense becoming burdensome, however, you may want to consider taking the following steps:

Security
The Number 1 reason why your second home will cost you more to insure than your principal home is because you are not there as often.  As such, your lack of presence providers potential thieves with more of an opportunity to steal items from your home.  In order to mitigate the chances of this happening, and so as to placate your home insurance provider into lowering your home insurance premiums, you will need to make sure that your second home has a sufficiently good security system.  In effect, what this means is that you second home should have:

  • a central alarm system
  • a smoke detector
  • deadbolt lock systems on your doors
  • no area of the garden should be obscure, so you may need to cut back trees
  • adequate lighting, which you should have on a timer system so that you second home is not consistently in the dark
  • secure main entrance and back door
  • secure garage area

Home insurance loss assessment advisors calculate that you are 20 – 30 percent less likely to have your home broken into if you have a good security surveillance system in place than if you do not.

Employ and agent
Employing an agent or friend to check in on your house daily and clear away any junk mail or local newspapers that may be delivered to your home can also help to reduce the chances of your second home being broken into, thus reduce your second home insurance premiums.  Keep in mind that nothing makes a house look unlived in more than a collection of mail on the floor mat.

Select a relatively crime free neighbourhood
Finally, when looking around to buy your second home, make sure that you select a neighbourhood where the crime figures are relatively low.  Crime figures are a major factor in calculating home insurance, so if you chose to live in an area where the crime figures are high, you should automatically expect to be paying more in home insurance premiums for that home.