The following is a quick comparison of alarm installation & monitoring costs between AMCO's LiveTalk monitoring and ADT & Verisure.
> AMCO alarm: AMCO alarms cost, from £699 (or £279 if you've already got an alarm installed). Monthly monitoring cost: £18.99 a month. Minimum contract: 1 year
> ADT alarm: ADT alarms cost from £99 (for ADT's basic system) and £599 for ADT's standard system. Monthly monitoring cost: around £24.99 to £35 a month. Minimum contract: 3 years
> Verisure alarm cost: Verisure alarms cost from around £279 (with Verisure's standard discount, or £999 without). Monthly monitoring cost: around £47 a month. Minimum contract: 3 years
Apart from AMCO, all major alarm companies lock their customers into a non-negotiable 3 year contract. It's therefore important to look at how much your alarm will cost you over 3 years. Here's a quick cost comparison over 3 years (N.B. all prices here are provided as a 'guide'. Actual prices may vary):
As you can see, AMCO costs are c.£600 / £700 cheaper over 3 years - and prove even better value over a longer period, saving c.£200+ per year in the future.
Pay £18.99 not £47 a month
With AMCO you pay £18.99 a month, with a 12 month contract - not £47 a month whilst getting stuck in a 3 year contract. Unlike our competitors who are owned by big US companies, AMCO is a family-owned UK company who take a friendly consultative approach - and don't employ high-pressure sales people.
Get a quote for an AMCOLiveTalk system via the phone. We do all our quotes over the phone (they take no more than 10 mins) - so you can get a cost from us quickly. Call 0800 13 03 999or emailsales@amco999.com
Watch the video below before you give us a call to understand the different security equipment options available . . .
Already got an alarm? Upgrade to LiveTalk for £279
Even better news is that if you already have an old alarm, you can simply add LiveTalkto your system for just £279 - or possibly less, depending on the set-up of your existing alarm.
The great thing about LiveTalk is that it acts as a 'plug-in' to existing alarm equipment, meaning that you don't have to rip out / change what you've got, but instead just upgrade for £199 (along with the £18.99 monthly monitoring cost.
How LiveTalk monitoring works
AMCO’s monitored alarm systems are different as they come with LiveTalk Monitoring meaning that our 24/7 monitoring staff can immediately listen, talk and challenge intruders in your property.
The idea of our monitored alarm systems is that we immediately scare away burglars by talking to them via a 'speaker microphone unit' and call in the emergency services if necessary. Read more about LiveTalk here >>
What happens when an AMCO monitored alarm is activated
AMCO listens via microphone
Intruder breaks in and activates AMCO LiveTalk monitoring allowing AMCO to listen into property immediately.
20 seconds after alarm activation.
AMCO challenges via speaker
Intruder is startled by AMCO staff verbally challenging via a speaker in the property.
**Summer Offer** - Save up to £100 off your installation cost. Click here for more info >> Call now to secure your discount 0800 13 03 999
How AMCO’s pricing works compared to Verisure & ADT
AMCO has a different pricing structure than Verisure and ADT, with the customer paying more on day 1 but significantly less over a 3 year+ period. Watch the following video for more information . . .
Choose a bespoke & reliable alarm system
With AMCO's alarm systems, you're buying a bespoke system designed for your property, rather than an off-the-shelf product.
AMCO's wireless alarm technology is also best-in-class, using Texecom Premier Elite system with Ricochet wireless technology - meaning that wireless sensors 'dropping off' and not working is minimised. N.B. the reliability of lesser technologies IS a big issue with wireless alarms, so please be careful with the equipment you're having installed in your property (you don't want to be changing it in 12 months time!).
Read more about the specifications of AMCO's alarm equipment (both wired and wireless), via this link here >> Below are examples of different keypad options with our Premier Elite system . . .
Compare monitored alarm systems & alarm monitoring prices
The following is a more in-depth comparison between AMCO, ADT and Verisure alarm systems - including who supplies their security equipment & size of company.
AMCO
ADT
Verisure
Wired / Wireless
Wired or wireless
Wired or wireless
Wireless
Monitoring type
LiveTalk (audio-verification)
Call-back
Audio-verification (GSM only)
House / Flat / commercial
suitability
House or commercial
House or commercial
Flat / Small house
Manufacturer of alarm
equipment installed
Texecom
(UK)
Visonic or Honeywell
(US)
Essence
(Israel)
Size of Company
10,000+ customers
1 million+ customers
2 million+ customers
Company ownership
UK
US
US
Basic Smart Home functionality
No
Yes
Yes
Video camera sensors as standard
No
No
Yes
Advanced Smart Home
functionality
Yes (optional)
No
No
Online review rating
5 star
4+ star
1 star OR 5 star*
Rented or owned equipment
Owned
Owned or rented
Rented**
Minimum contract length
1 year
3 years
3 years
Standard basic install cost
c.£699
c.£599
c.£279
Monthly monitoring fee
£18.99
£25 to £35
£45+
3 year cost (example)
£1382
£1859
£1971
*N.B. reading reviews about Verisure either shows 1 star review, where people have had a terrible experience, or 5 star reviews. The 1 star reviews of Verisure are usually to do with terrible service or where people have encountered pushy sales people; the 5 star reviews seem to be written just after an alarm has been installed.
**N.B. with a Verisure system the system (hardware) is not owned by the customer but is owned by Verisure, and is rented / contracted to the customer. ADT provide two different options - owned or rented - depending on the contract the customer signs up to. With AMCO, the customer 100% owns the system.
Verisure or ADT or AMCO - which is best?
For a quick summary of which type of alarm is better - Verisure or ADT or AMCO - watch the following summary video . . .
Verisure change the contract length of their alarm systems. When they started out the Verisure contract was 36 months. At present Verisure have an offer of ‘no contract’ for their alarms, meaning in principle you can cancel whenever you like. That said, there are two things to consider with the Verisure no contract deal:
- Ease of cancelling a Verisure alarm: according to various reviews cancelling a Verisure alarm contract is more difficult than you might expect. Various reviews point out that Verisure are very proactive when it comes to selling its customers systems, however they are very slow in letting its customers cancel contracts.
- Technology lock-in: unlike other alarm companies, Verisure use a bespoke technology (manufactured by an Israeli company called Essence). Because the Verisure system is bespoke to them this means that once you cancel your contract with them your system is essentially useless / redundant.
Do Verisure increase monthly costs?
According to Verisure’s terms and conditions they are at liberty to increase their monthly prices whenever they like. This means that although you may start your contract with Verisure at £29 a month (for example), they can then increase this price over time - automatically increasing it via your Direct Debit.
Looking at past unhappy reviews of Verisure customers, increased monthly costs is one of the most common complaints and reasons for customers leaving Verisure - with some Verisure customers complaining that they’re now paying £50+ a month for their alarm - and some people pay £70 a month!
How to terminate contract with Verisure at end of contract?
At the end of your Verisure contract you can in principle freely cancel your contract with them. However, the issue many people seem to have with Verisure is that when you try to cancel your contract and monthly contract their team don’t respond - meaning that customers frustratingly carry on paying their expensive monthly fees and in some cases are issued with court summons by Verisure if bills aren’t paid.
‘We have been trying to cancel our contract since 10th October 2020, but Verisure have failed to confirm that our contract is cancelled. It is most frustrating especially as they have raised their monthly charges by more than £10 a month.'
Verisure do not have cancellation fees if you cancel your contract once your minimum contract length has finished. However, if you try to cancel your contract before the end of your contact you will be liable for a fee. N.B. one important thing to note is that you can cancel within the 14 day cooling off period, as per the UK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013.
Do I own my Verisure alarm system?
When you ‘buy’ a Verisure system you do not own your Verisure system, instead with Verisure you are technically leasing the system and therefore Verisure have the right to remove your equipment at the end of your contract / if you end your contract.
Are Verisure NSI insurance approved?
Verisure alarms are not NSI or SSAIB approved, this is because Verisure’s alarm systems do not comply with certain British standards (e.g. BS 8243) that are required for NSI / SSAIB approval. Although their alarm systems aren’t approved, Verisure’s monitoring station is NSI approved.
There's more details on NSI insurance compliance and why Verisure alarms could not be NSI registered on our website here, however the main fators include:
> System is portable & easily smashed:the Verisure alarm panel is portable, meaning that it could be easily smashed if left in a visible place and not covered by a detector.
> System is easily unplugged: rather than being hard-wired into a fuse spur, Verisure alarms are simply plugged into a socket, meaning they can be easily unplugged - providing a security risk, as the system could quite easily be mistakenly switched off - rendering it redundant (afer the battery runs down).
> No regular maintenance contract / visits: Verisure do not provide a regular 6 monthly maintenance check service, which is a British Standard requirement as per BS 9263.
The fact that the monitoring station is NSI approved but their alarm systems aren’t approved, often means that Verisure don’t meet the NSI insurance criteria - which requires your alarm to be NSI approved, rather than just the monitoring service.
3 reasons to choose AMCO's specialist alarms
1. Better monitoring
Our special LiveTalk monitoring gives you superior protection than standard "call-back" monitoring.
2. No long contracts
To keep things simple for you, we don't insist on long monitoring contracts. Our minimum contract length is 1 year NOT 3 years.
3. Low-cost monitoring
Our charges are up to 1/2 our competitors, saving you £££'s over the years + we have never increased charges to existing customers for 18 years
Give us a call & get a quote in less than 10 mins
We do all our quotes on the phone - they normally take less than 10 mins. Don't worry, we don't use high-pressure sales people, our pricing and product sells itself. Call us on 0800 13 03 999 or if out of hours, email sales@amco999.com
Save up to £100
**Summer Offer** - Save up to £100 off your installation cost. Click here for more info >> Call now to secure your discount 0800 13 03 999