Alarms?

Hi all, still abit of a biking newbe, anyway I'm looking to buy a SV and wondered about the differences between an alarm and an alarm/immobiliser? How much do you think the latter would shave off my insurance? Bearing in mind my address - N1 London with no garage i'd like to shave off every bit of insurance possible.

Cheers
Sean

It might not be possible to get insurance in London unless you have an alarm

I'd get one that acts as an immobiliser as well - must be Thatcham approved or something like that in order to qualify

[northwind]

Don't get one that's just an immobiliser though... You'd get something off your insurance but they're pretty useless in practical terms. Well, unless you have a habit of leaving your keys in the seat lock, then its quite handy to have the immobiliser key seperate

spyball, meta , or datatool are the leading alarm manufacturers.

a decent alarm is gonna cost you 300 quid though.

you might get a discount off your insurance with one, but probably not 300 quid off.

carol nash give you an option where you get a big discount off alarms and security equipment when you get a policy with them .


bear in mind that especially in london, an alarm isnt going to deter a theif. you best to use several chains to secure it and park it out of sight (mabe use a cover too)

As Bikeageboy has said, a decent alarm is going to set you back at least £300 and you certainly aren't going to get your insurance down that much for fitting it!

I haven't got an alarm or immobiliser on my bike and its parked in Greater London on a street. Saying that, I am in a 'nice' part of Surrey so its not too bad.

Personally, I didn't bother getting an alarm fitted as IMHO its not worth the money or the hassle.

It doesn't make any difference to the insurance, but I have my bike chained to a tree using an Almax (spelling?) chain and the only way the bike could be nicked is if they cut the tree down and I would hope that someone would notice that.

i might add that i use the meta, as it is the loudest of the three i mentioned,

ive had the bike nearly 2 years. and its never been triggered by a theif.

i only really rely on it when im sleeping, as i can hear if someone is messing with my bike at home.

[northwind]

Originally Posted by Kate

As Bikeageboy has said, a decent alarm is going to set you back at least £300 and you certainly aren't going to get your insurance down that much for fitting it!

More to it than that though... Some alarms cover you for the cost of your excess... And you never know, it might actually save the bike from being nicked one day, with all its attached costs (loss of no-claims, excess, weighting of future policies, quite likely losing out on the value of the bike too)

If you fit one and nobody ever tries to nick your bike, then you could say that it's money wasted... In the same way as armoured gear seems expensive till you fall off.

Everyone to their own opinions, personally I don't see the point of alarms. How many times have you heard an alarm go off and just been irritated? No one is bothered anymore except thats its an irritating noise and hope it will stop soon.

I think the huge heavy chain wrapped around the bike and a tree is a better and cheaper deterrant.

[northwind]

Oh, definately. I don't have one either... But if I had the bike parked outside my window or something I would. If I'd had an alarm on the bike when it got knocked over outside my work, I would have been able to catch the idiot that did it, for example. But I rarely even chain mine up- there's only one chain on the market that'll resist good bolt croppers, the new Almax, and it costs £150 and weighs a metric ton. Anything else only deters kids and amateurs.