Time to Check Those Burglar Alarms

December 18 - With the rise in the number of break-ins throughout South Africa - especially over the holiday season - homeowners are being warned to check their burglary alarm warranty clause on their insurance policies to ensure that they remain covered.

There are around 11,000 burglary claims in South Africa each month and in most cases, while there was a burglar alarm in place, it was either not activated or it was not correctly installed or in working order.

Many people believe that simply having a burglar alarm in place is enough to make sure that the insurance company will pay out if their is a break in or damage to household contents.

Unfortunately, the onus is on the homeowner to prove that the burglar alarm was set and in working order.

"The insured would have to prove that the burglar alarm/security system was indeed activated and/or in good working order at the time the theft took place," said Pravin Pather, the Technical and Risk Specialist at Centriq Insurance.

"Therefore, it is important to have your burglar alarm or security system tested by a reputable security or service provider at least annually to ensure that your system is sound and not in dire need of an upgrade," he added.

Pather said that many outdated alarm systems do not register with security providers once they are switched on.

"This means that the security provider will not be able to confirm that your alarm was indeed switched on at the time of the loss taking place," he said.

Pather said that if all the stipulations of the burglar alarm warranty clause are not followed, the insurance company will reject the claim.