Monitored alarm costs: AMCO, ADT & Verisure

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 £799 (or £385 if you've already got an alarm installed).  Monthly monitoring & maintetance cost: £21.99 a month.  Minimum contract: 1 year

> ADT alarm: ADT alarms cost from around £99 (for ADT's basic system) and £599 for ADT's standard system.  Monthly monitoring cost: around £25 to £35 a month.  Minimum contract: 3 years

> Verisure alarm cost: Verisure alarms cost from around £799 (for their Grade 2 package).  Monthly monitoring cost: around £37.90 a month.  Minimum contract: 3 years

*N.B. these costs were last updated on 9/2/24.  Verisure & ADT costs vary depending on deals - including minimum contract length.  We'd always recommend checking the exact detail.

Comparing alarm costs over 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):

> AMCO: Install cost £799.  Monthly cost: £21.99 x 36 months = £1590

> ADT: Install cost £599.  Monthly cost: £37.90 x 36 months = £1859

> Verisure: Install cost £799.  Monthly cost: £37.90 x 36 months = £2163

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 £21.99 not £47 a month

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 LiveTalk to 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.

5 seconds later.

AMCO alerts emergency services

AMCO alerts police. Intruder runs away quickly (empty handed).

10 seconds later.

Save up to £100

**Winter 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.

*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 alarm costs: key facts & costs

What’s Verisure contract length?

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!

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.

The fact that Verisure do not make the 'ownership' element clear to customers has landed them in a lot of hot water recently, along with accusations of them being mis-leading - as per this BBC Watchdog exposé:

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 SSAIB 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 SSAIB 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 / SSAIB 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 enquiry@amco999.com