Beat the burglar - but at what cost?

Adding extra security measures to cars and homes may not have the desired effect on your insurance premiums, according to research from Tescocompare.com, the car and home insurance comparison site.

Tescocompare.com assessed the impact on insurance premiums when adding an alarm to your car or house and found that while these extra security features no doubt deter potential burglars, this does not seem to translate into lower insurance premiums.

The average saving on your annual home insurance premium from adding an alarm to your property is only £5, while a car alarm will only save you just over £1.70 on average off your annual car insurance.

Paul Baxter, Director of Commercial and Partnerships at Tescocompare.com, says: "Hardly a day goes by when we don't see a story about crime in the papers and it is therefore not surprising that people are doing more and more to feel safer in their homes and to protect their belongings. It is of course true that fitting alarms to your home and car may deter potential burglars and thieves from breaking into your house or car. However, if you are planning on adding extra security like this, solely because you want to lower your home or car insurance premium, you may find it does very little to bring down costs. Our figures show that an alarm fitted to your house on average saves you just under £5 on your annual home insurance premium, which clearly isn't very much compared to the cost of installing and maintaining a burglar alarm.

"When it comes to car alarms, the savings to be had are equally small, with most insurers offering no discount at all for adding extra security devices to your car. Some insurers however, such as the AA offered over £18 discount on the quote we ran for a car with added security alarm.

"Installing alarms to your property or car will no doubt go some way to offering you peace of mind, but if you are planning on saving money on your insurance premiums you should make sure you check your options first. If you own a high value car for instance, some insurers may insist on an alarm to insure the car. It is definitely worth running a range of quotes on an insurance comparison site prior to fitting any alarms to make sure you are aware of the best insurance options for you, whether this is with or without added alarms."

For more information, visit tescocompare.com