Smart home products make your life easier, keep your home safer and now can save you even more money.
Several major insurance companies are offering discounts when policyholders have smart home products like smart thermostats and lighting control.
According to an article in TecHome Builder, “This is the next phase in insurance,” said senior insurance analyst Laura Adams with the consumer website Insurancequotes.com.
Insurance companies have long offered discounts to homeowners with professionally-monitored security systems. The theory is that they will have to pay less in losses because these homes are far less likely to be burglarized. An additional discount is given for homeowners who add a monitored smoke and/or carbon monoxide detector to their system. Here are three reasons why you need a monitored smoke detector.
Now insurance companies are extending those discounts to additional products that will also help to minimize loss.
Liberty Mutual offers a Smart Home Discount Program based on data shared through standalone smart home devices. This helps the insurance company to better understand how the home is being used and also to sooner detect abnormalities and issues.
State Farm offers discounts for specific devices and the level of monitoring.
It’s important to remember that all security system monitoring is not equal. Insurance companies are certainly aware of that.
“In terms of discounts, what you’re looking at on average is seven percent on homes that are monitored by a system that alerts directly to police and fire departments and around a two percent discount on homes that are self-monitored,” says State Farm spokesman Dave Phillips. Quote from TecHome Builder.
QEI Security & Technology would fall into the seven-percent category because we offer 24/7 professional monitoring through a CSAA 5-Diamond monitoring center. The monitoring center is also responsive to our smoke and carbon monoxide detectors that are connected to the security system.
As insurance companies realize the benefits of smart home products, and as more and more smart home product manufacturers are lobbying insurance companies, it is very likely additional discount programs will be available soon.
If you are considering a security system – or if you already have one – call your insurance company to determine if you are eligible for any additional discounts. Your savings may more than pay for the smart home product upgrades.