The insurance company I work for insures family homes against losses. There is a significant discount if there is a home alarm installed. A home alarm can stop a robbery in progress.
There is another discount on insurance if the home alarm is monitored. Our company recognizes that there is a big difference between a home alarm that just sounds a siren locally and a monitored home alarm where someone will be instructed to contact the authorities.
I’m employed by my company to visit homes that claim the insurance discount for having a home alarm. I usually just drive by at first to see if they have signage in their yard or displayed in their window about having a home alarm.
A sign indicating that the house is protected by a home alarm is a good deterrent. If a client turns out to have a home alarm and does not display a sign indicating that, then I inform them of the clause in the insurance discount that requires such a display.
I will revisit all of the homes to actually physically check to see if they have a home alarm system. I will check windows for glass break detectors and doors for contact sensors. I take my job very seriously.
I was at an estate in Little Italy and the owner had been claiming a home alarm system for an insurance discount for several years. I found that he did not have a home alarm at all. He had been claiming the discount fraudulently for the entire length of his policy.
My company terminated his insurance policy because of the misrepresentation about a home alarm. He was also asked to repay the discount amount for thirty six months. I was given a small bonus for detecting his fraud.
I usually find a home alarm in perfect working order. Most people are honest and do not lie to get discounts that they don’t deserve. I think that insurance companies need to have discount programs for things like having a home alarm. I also like car insurance companies that give safe driver discounts.
I found a client installing a home alarm not long ago. I reported to my boss what I had seen and he conferred with the client. I had apparently jumped to conclusions. He was not installing a new home alarm; he was upgrading an old home alarm. I was embarrassed that I had basically accused this client of fraud.
The client accepted my apology. He said that he understood that I was in the business of catching people in lies. I had never really thought about it, but double checking to see if a home has a home alarm is like trying to catch someone committing fraud.
I realized that day that I needed to expect the good in people and not pull up to each house expecting to find someone deceiving the company I work for. Now I expect to find a home alarm and am surprised when I do not.
Doing this job, I have found out a lot about the installation practices of local alarm companies. It is really true that when it comes to a home alarm, you get what you pay for. There is a company locally that advertises prices that seem too cheap. I inspected a home alarm that they installed and was amazed at what a poor job had been done.
