The Real Cost of Home Security

While they don’t require signing your soul over to the devil, home security contracts are still notoriously deceptive. It’s perfectly reasonable for consumers to thoroughly review any legally binding documents before they purchase a service like home security. At NCA, we keep it simple. We pride ourselves on our straightforward, no-contract alarm monitoring. By all means, do your research, and find the best security provider for your home. Before you sign a contract, though, be on the lookout for the following contract catches:  

Duration of Contract

When considering an alarm contract, make sure that the timespan of the contract suits your circumstances. Most alarm contracts apply for a year or several years, which certainly can be useful if you own your home or plan to remain in one location for an extended period of time. However, if you’re a tenant, plan to move, or simply want the ability to pivot when needed, perhaps you should look for a shorter-term plan. 

Furthermore, lengthy security contracts can lock you into long-term agreements that give you little flexibility if you want or need to cancel your alarm contract. Which leads us to our next point…

Conditions for Cancellation

Check your contract to see if there’s anything preventing you from terminating it if the need arises. Again, long-term contracts can have their benefits if you don’t foresee the need to change over several years. But if you lock into a long-term contract with cancellation restrictions, you could be stuck footing a nasty bill for breaking the contract. You may even find you’ll have to pay for the full term on a contract you no longer want! Before you sign an alarm contract, make sure you have the freedom to cancel it without incurring too steep a penalty.

Monitoring Group

Buying an alarm is an excellent start towards home security, but it’s the monitoring company that does the heavy lifting. Whoever you hire to monitor your alarm is the group that will be in charge of checking in with you and notifying the authorities if your alarm goes off. Before you lock into a home security plan, make sure you know who will be in charge of getting the vital help you need in the event of an emergency. (Because of their unparalleled response times, redundant safeguards, and rigorous training methods, NCA Alarms proudly offers C.O.P.S. Monitoring as our monitoring group.)

Equipment Ownership

When you have an alarm system installed in your home, you would probably assume that you own the equipment, right? Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. When you purchase home security from some companies, you’re actually leasing the alarm system, so you have to keep paying the company to keep the physical system in your home. Similarly, other companies “lock out” your control panel, meaning that you can’t change monitoring services without coughing up the money for an entirely new system. (Wondering how to change your alarm monitoring company? We’ve already done the research for you.) 

Automatic Renewals

Many contracts have automatic renewal clauses that will restart your contract at the end of its original term, meaning that if you have a long-term contract, you could be stuck with a company for far longer than you intended to do business with them. Some companies go even further, adding conditions that require a notification thirty days before the end of a contract period to avoid this automatic renewal. If you miss this deadline, you’re still stuck paying for a service you no longer want.

Looking for an honest, no-contract alarm service? Contact us here.