Home Security Alarm monitoring fees
Home monitoring services are used to call the police, an ambulance, or fire truck, when a home alarm is set off. In many cases, they will try to call you first, to see if the alarm is false, and you can cancel the alarm when providing the monitoring service with the secret password. There can be many fees associated with home alarm monitoring.
Many companies charge a setup fee, which can be between $30 and $150. This fee is usually reduced or waived if you are using the same company to monitor your alarm as installed the alarm.
Many states or localities charge a fee just for having monitoring service. This ranges from $40 to $380 per year. This may be charged to you directly from the government or added to your monitoring bill.
Almost all localities in the U.S. charge a fee for responding to false monitoring alerts, though usually the first false alert is not charged. This fee for this usually rises after each false alarm response, and can rise from $100 to over $1,000. The monitoring company may also charge a fee for multiple false alarms.
Separate and additional fees might be charged for different monitoring services, such as fire, break-in and medical monitoring.
Monitoring services usually require the purchaser to agree to a minimum one year contract, and can charge either monthly, or in advance for a year or more.
Most service contracts for monitoring can be broken or ended for a substantial fee.
Usually, you must have a land line telephone line to use the monitoring service. Radio or cellular backup alarm reporting services are also available, usually for an additional charge, however, this can also be a real lifesaver as well.
Most companies also offer free testing services, to make sure the connection is functioning properly.
Most home insurance companies will give a discount to homes fitted with a security system and monitoring.
Some companies, usually found on the internet, are reliable, and charge $10 per month, with a yearly contract for monitoring, but require you to set up the alarm system to connect with the monitoring company yourself.