Owning your own home

What's the difference between ADT and Simplisafe in terms of cost?
ADT have lost a lot of market share to Verisure in the last few years in UK and in the US Simplisafe/Frontpoint have done something similar. You should be able to get a keen price by threatening to leave and if not there's plenty to choose from

I wonder if it'll keep working just without the remote serving bit. That'd be an option.

You can pay people to come and fiddle with it to make sure it keeps working.

What's the difference between ADT and Simplisafe in terms of cost?

Yes - that's what I'm trying to work out. Premium Simplisafe is £19.99 a month, but you'd got to buy a couple of hundred quids worth of stuff to replace what I've currently got. It would pay for itself over a couple of years.

My ADT has been doing that price creep over the past five or six years to £34 a month, which is too much.
However, I know that some of the backup sims on DIY systems (used to, when I fitted ADT) call a premium phone line once a night as a health check, which added up a little bit. I don't think simplisafe does but just wondered.

Ha! An option if you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who get things done!

I'd probably say that Verisure have offered you X, you've been a loyal customer and contract started at Y and has now moved to £34 p/m which is no longer competitive or market. You'd ideally avoid the hassle of installing a new system but unless they reduce price that is what you will be doing (dunno what your contract is re: notice period). If they're halfway competent they should match the price and sign you onto an extended contract

I got my M&S renewal policy through and it's increase by 12% - haven't made a claim. If I apply through their site as a new customer it gives me the same price as I'm paying today, they can't apply this discount online, so I have to cancel and then get a new policy. Bonkers.

I assume home monitoring is not covered by the upcoming FCA ban on insurance price walking?

Like, just stop paying?

One reason to have an alarm system is for your insurance company which will require a maintenance contract.

When we moved into this house it had an ADT monitored system. We replaced it with an un-monitored one from someone else. The control box had to be replaced as ADT use custom firmware.

We never told our insurance company we had one. Partly out of lazyness, but also that we didn't want the setting of the alarm to become a requirement for insurance payouts (we do always set it, but just in case you forget and that's the one time you get burgled ....)

@Tenderloin - thanks, Verisure chap coming on Monday to give a quote. Plus it has new toys like video doorbells and the rest...

The only "hidden" fee with Simplisafe is when your smoke alarm falls off the ceiling and activates some kind of test while you are out and the system calls the wrong number (your wife instead of you) to check and she doesn't answer then a dude physically calls round to check everything's OK then they charge you £120 for the callout.

Fit your sensors properly and answer your phone when they call to check everything's OK. And remember your safeword or they either won't get off the phone or they'll send someone round.

And remember your safeword or they either won't get off the phone or they'll send someone round.

Oklahoma!

Brilliant - thanks very much.

Ours wasn't that, and trying to remember what it actually was at 2am the only other time they called(when the other smoke alarm fell off the ceiling - I'm clearly shit at mounting smoke alarms), was not condusive for getting back to sleep.

And remember your safeword or they either won't get off the phone or they'll send someone round.

Oklahoma!

Fire!

Yeah this is sort of what I'm expecting, I'm hopeful that if i get the cellar done properly this will help.

Looks like we are a week or two away from exchanging, so it appears I'm actually leaving London.

If a Victorian terrace maybe reference traditional colours (greens).

I trust any website this shit when its talking about traditional things.

Thanks - I think we're happy with the existing wall colours (It's a Victorian end of terrace).
The disagreements are more to do with flooring and general design/look/theme.
The kitchen isn't the biggest and is a slightly odd shape which makes it feel cramped.
There's a horrible free standing fridge freezer which we inherited with the house and we prefer integrated which would potentially free up some space too.
We moved from a 60s house which had large square rooms and where we'd lived for 11+ years so we're not used to period properties.
The wife is constantly changing her mind about how it should look.
She won't really listen to me, especially as I find it really hard to visualise rooms, so I think farming it out to an "expert" would really help.

Nah, its all just process.
Decided what theme/vibe you want, a house needs a theme.
Decide what colours/items fit that theme.
Pair.
Profit.

Also modern house for Inso obvs.

seems a bargain to me....... pizza oven too

She likes Elizabeth Roberts and Rose Uniacke designs.
No reason we couldn't just take their IG inspiration.
Would save a fair bit of £

For the true victorian experience give yourself a little lead or arsenic poisoning too

Has anyone got any experience of barn conversions, in particular, financing the works? Any recommendations on lenders would be good.

I have two sets of system shelving we probably won’t use.

Black Vitsoe - three rails, 2 90cm shelves and 1 90 desk shelf + 4 60cm shelves all 30cm deep

And

Off white custom thing we bought off the OG velorution when it closed. 4 beech rails and an unholy number of off white shelves that can be shelf or magazine display type.

If anyone is after this kind of stuff let me know and post some more pictures. Would need collecting from Ealing ASAP.

I'd be interested in pictures of the Vitsoe please.