The most flagrant and over-promised discount in insurance.
It happens to every new homeowner. You hear a friendly knock on the door a week after you moved into your new home. Maybe it’s a new neighbor you think. Come to find out, it’s a local ADT representative who purchased a list of new home purchases coming to provide you a 400-dollar credit and max discount since you moved into this neighborhood! You have a nice chat, the salesman asks if you care about your family, and at what cost is their safety. You bite. You talk numbers, it’s going to cost $1400 dollars but with the neighborhood credit, it’s closer to $700! You are sold! After all your family is the reason for buying this home!
The kicker- come to find out, it costs $150/month to monitor the security system.
No worries, your Homeowners insurance policy could reduce up to 15% with our discount!
Sold! With a 15% discount off your insurance premium, the monitoring is essentially FREE! Who wouldn’t take this deal?
After spending weeks waiting for the installation, two days of people running wires, and the financed downpayment has been made, you call your amazing insurance agent at The Weikum Group. Come to find out, the discount is more like 1%.
That hardly covers the $150 dollar monitoring fee. You call your rep and let them have it. Come to find out, it’s just a sheet that marketing gave them, and they don’t have any deals or control over insurance pricing.
You want to return it all, but that would leave holes in your home, there are boxes EVERYWHERE, and your family is important, so you suffer the perpetual cost.
Wanna know how we know this happens?
We get a call about once a week from a client with this exact scenario. In fact, Ken Weikum actually went through a similar process a few months back.
As a perk of being on the front lines, he knew better, but we felt that sharing this experience would better equip our clients for this racket.
What is the deal then?
We have no idea, but not a single carrier gives that anywhere close to the discounts provided. Now maybe twenty-five years ago, these discounts might have been offered, but we haven’t seen this kind of discount ever.
Here is why-
Preventative measures such as security systems, or automatic water shut-off valves are based on the severity of losses that insurance company suffers. If insurance companies have a large cost associated with water losses, and our clients are actively mitigating these losses, insurance companies can measure the reduction and offer a discount.
Most insurance companies offer anywhere between 1%-3% discount for monitored security systems. Simply put, the loss ratios associated with break in’s is minimal. Either the frequency is low or the loss associated is minimal. With deductibles starting at 1000, and are normally closer to 2500, it should be no surprise that theft claims are rarely reported.
Then why get a monitored security system?!
For the same reason, you felt that you needed one, to begin with. Protecting your family and peace of mind is priceless. Yet that doesn’t mean you have to spend 1000s on top of 100’s a year in monitoring costs. While the simplicity and ease of installation might be quite appealing, clients could also consider Simply Safe, or other more cost-effective services if they feel that the premier security system providers cost too much.
Yet justifying the cost with a fabled discount only leads to heartbreak.
