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Every alarm sales page mentions the insurance discount, and almost every one of them quotes a percentage. Treat all of those percentages as decoration. Home insurance rates in the United States are filed by each insurer, state by state, and the credit for protective devices is part of that filing. Two companies insuring the same house can offer very different credits for the same equipment, and a third can offer none.
That does not mean the discount is a myth. It means the only number worth acting on is the one your insurer gives you for your address.
How the credit is actually structured
Insurers generally group these under protective device credits, and they tend to work in tiers:
- Local-only equipment that sounds a siren but calls nobody. This is the least likely to earn anything.
- Professionally monitored burglar alarm with a central station. This is the one written into most rate filings.
- Monitored fire and smoke detection, often credited separately from the burglar alarm, and sometimes worth more, because fire claims are larger.
- Water leak detection and automatic shutoff, which some insurers now credit as well, for the same reason.
- Sprinklers, rare in houses, but the largest credit where they exist.
Notice what is missing from that list: cameras and video doorbells. They are useful for evidence and for knowing what happened, but they are not usually what a protective device credit is written around.
The arithmetic that matters
Do this before you sign anything, not after:
- Ask your insurer, in writing: what credit applies to this policy for a professionally monitored burglar alarm, and for monitored fire?
- Turn the credit into dollars per year, not a percentage.
- Multiply the monitoring fee by twelve.
- Subtract.
In most households the credit does not cover the monitoring fee, and that is fine, as long as you know it going in. The credit is a discount on a service you decided to buy, not a reason to buy it.
Ask the second question too: does adding this equipment change anything else on the policy? Occasionally a home improvement triggers a re-rating or an inspection. It is rare, and it is better discovered in a conversation than in a renewal notice.
What insurers usually want as proof
- A certificate of installation or a monitoring certificate from the alarm company, naming the address and the monitoring service.
- The type of monitoring: burglary, fire, or both, and whether the signal path is cellular.
- The date it went live, because credits generally apply from that date or from the next renewal rather than retroactively.
Send it to your agent or upload it to the portal, then check the next renewal declaration page to confirm the credit actually appears. Credits that were promised and never applied are common enough that checking is worth the five minutes.
The thing worth more than the discount
A monitored fire and smoke detection system is credited by more insurers than a burglar alarm, and for a plainer reason: fire is where the large claims are. If you are already paying for monitoring, adding monitored smoke detection is usually a small increment on the fee and is the part most likely to earn a credit and to matter.
The same logic applies to water. A leak sensor under a washing machine or a water heater costs very little, and water damage is one of the most common home insurance claims there is.
What to ask, word for word
- “What protective device credits does this policy offer, and how much is each worth per year on my premium?”
- “Does the credit require professional central-station monitoring?”
- “Is monitored fire credited separately from burglary?”
- “What documentation do you need, and when does the credit take effect?”
- “Will the credit survive a change of monitoring company?”
Write down the answers with the date and the name of who told you. If the credit is not on your next declarations page, that note is how you get it fixed.
Related reading: Do Alarms Actually Deter Burglars? and The False Alarm Bill Nobody Warns You About.
Questions people ask
How much does a security system lower home insurance?
There is no national figure, because protective device credits are set in each insurer's filed rates, state by state. Ask your own insurer for the annual dollar amount for your policy and compare it with the annual monitoring fee.
Do cameras qualify for an insurance discount?
Usually not. Protective device credits are generally written around professionally monitored burglar and fire alarms, and sometimes water leak detection or sprinklers. Cameras are for evidence, not for the credit.
Does self-monitoring count for the discount?
Often it does not. Most credits require a central station and documentation such as a certificate of installation or monitoring. Confirm with your insurer before choosing a self-monitored plan on the assumption it will earn the credit.
Is monitored fire detection worth more than a burglar alarm?
For insurance purposes it frequently is, because fire claims are much larger than burglary claims. If you are already paying a monitoring fee, adding monitored smoke detection is usually a small increment and the part most likely to be credited.
Where these figures come from
- False Burglar Alarms, 2nd Edition, Problem-Oriented Guides for Police No. 5 US Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services · portal.cops.usdoj.gov
- Home Fires Ready.gov, US Department of Homeland Security · ready.gov
Figures last checked September 2026.
