Boundary vs Verisure

Currently, Verisure only provides a quote over the phone or in person, via their salespeople. The quote we received was verbally during a telephone call and then confirmed via email in January 2020. We made every effort to obtain accurate pricing and have indeed listed the lowest prices obtained to ensure our comparison is as fair as possible.

If you’d like to find Boundary’s prices, you can check the prices of alarm system bundles and our monthly plans.

Alarm Systems

For the simplest comparison, we’ve compared a custom quote obtained from Verisure with the Boundary equivalent. These are:

∗ Verisure equivalent – shock sensors

** Verisure equivalent – PIR with built-in camera

Costs of Ownership

Most homeowners keep their alarm system for an average of seven years or more, so it’s important to consider costs over several years.

Here’s a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) comparison between Boundary and the Verisure package detailed above.

✴ The Verisure monthly charge starts from £29.90 for the Residential Basic Kit. The additional £3/month is generated to show a like-for-like comparison with our hardware including an additional 2 shock sensors and 1 movement sensor with camera.

Verisure do offer additional products that Boundary does not such as their Zero Vision product, however for the sake of comparison these are not included. Prices are obtained from the Boundary website and from a custom quote provided by Verisure.

Adding Additional Sensors

If you want to add extra sensors to your Boundary system, you only pay for the cost of the motion sensors and contact sensors, it doesn’t increase your monthly fee.

With Verisure, your monthly fee will increase in addition to extra sensor costs, e.g. two additional movement sensors cost 2 x £90, plus an additional £4 per month or £48 per year.) The Verisure package includes their Zerovision product which is free for the first six months but thereafter adds £10/month to the monthly charge.

Ongoing Maintenance

Both Boundary and Verisure provide maintenance services included within the cost of the monitored plans. These cover:

• Replacement of the batteries within the sensors
• Maintenance services at any point during the lifetime of the contract to replace faulty equipment
• Boundary will also carry out an annual onsite audit of the system and a second, remote audit every year. This is a requirement for a Grade 2 monitored alarm system 

Installation options

Currently Verisure only offers professional installation which is included within the initial cost. With the Boundary alarm you can choose between self-installation and pro-installation (for an additional fee).

24/7 Monitoring and Police Response

If you choose Boundary’s Pro plan then your alarm will be professionally installed and monitored 24/7 by an alarm receiving centre (ARC). If there’s a break-in the police will be requested, with an immediate level 1 police response.

Verisure offer 24/7 monitoring but the ARC cannot request a police response unless there is visual verification, even then, as the Verisure system does not have a URN, no response is guaranteed. Should a response be given, it may be significantly slower. 

Verisure does have the ability to dispatch a private guard to your property in the event of a break-in at which point they are permitted to dial 999 from the scene of the crime, should a crime still be in progress. The table below explains in more detail what happens when a break in occurs:

Alarm Standards and Certification

These standards are recognised by insurers, alarm companies and the police. They indicate the reliability of the alarm against false alarms and therefore whether the alarm can request a police response.

** SSAIB certification only applies to our professionally installed product and does not extend to DIY installs

*** The NSI Gold certification for Verisure only extends to their Alarm Receiving centre

Level 1 Police response is only available for alarm systems that conform to a NPCC System Type A installation as detailed above. Type B systems cannot use the same “direct to Police” request from a monitoring centre or expect a Level 1 response. 

Alarm systems must also be supplied by a company accepted onto each Police forces compliant systems list.

The end result is that Police forces will treat Type A systems activations with a higher priority than those who do not have a URN issued.

Criteria for a police response

For your alarm system to be professionally monitored and registered with your local police force it must:

• Be a system that has a minimum grade 2 rating
• Have the system installed by an NSI or SSAIB certified company
• Be monitored by an Alarm Receiving Centre that is also certified by the NSI or SSAIB
• The supplying company be registered with the local police on their Compliant Systems list
• Have a URN (Unique Reference Number) issued by your local Police force after installation

More information can be found on the NSI website & SSAIB website.

Features

The Boundary system is packed with features and the table below shows a direct comparison with Verisure:

The Verdict

So there you have it, our comparison between the 2 alarm systems. To recap:

• Purchase experience

To buy a Boundary alarm, you design it on our website. Once you’ve placed your order, your alarm system gets dispatched to your home and should arrive in 2 days. If you choose Pro Install, it’ll arrive close to the date of installation. We will also never send salespeople to your front-door.

Verisure provides a quote over the phone or in person, via their salespeople.

• Initial cost + monthly subscription

You will see a comparison of these costs in the table above.

• Features

The Boundary alarm offers 4 prices plans with a range of different security features. Monthly costs range from £0 up to £25, so you’ve got total control over the choice you make.

Verisure gives you a custom package of features with support from a salesperson.

• Installation

Currently you can order the Boundary alarm to self-install. We expect to launch our Pro Installation service in the next couple of months.

With a Verisure alarm, self-installation is not offered.