Retailers and insurance experts have expressed concerns about alleged pressure selling, system failures, misleading information and insurance risks related to leading security company Verisure. The global company, which offers security solutions for commercial and domestic properties, including smart alarms and CCTV cameras, has contested the claims.
Verisure claims its Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) will respond to an activated alarm, on average, in 45 seconds, evaluate the situation and activate its security alarm protocol, if necessary. It also states that any customer can benefit from technical assistance 24 hours a day.
Better Retailing has spoken to independent retailers who’d experienced cases of the security system failing during incidents of theft. Ravi Raveendran’s Colombo Food & Wine in Hounslow was subject to a knife-point robbery on 5 February. Raveendran claimed Verisure refused to call the police when the panic alarm was activated due to “an issue with the camera visuals and audio”.
According to Raveendran, a Verisure technician later told him that the company had received a warning before the incident that the Verisure camera in his store was disconnected. Raveendran accused the company of not acting on the information.
Challenged on the incident, Verisure said it “conducted a comprehensive investigation” finding that the alert was acted on “within seconds” by contacting the customer. The company added: “Unfortunately, the customer’s camera was not connected to the Wi-Fi of the premises. As a result, the evidence required by the police to make an emergency response was not available.”
Responding to Verisure’s investigation, Raveendran told Better Retailing: “They had failed to contact me about [the camera being offline]. They should notify the customer when this occurs, instead of discovering the failing at critical moments. I’ve not made any changes to my Wi-Fi or settings, so it would be inaccurate to suggest the camera connectivity issue is anybody’s fault but theirs.”
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Lakshman Thirunavukkarsu, owner of Sam Convenience Store in Ferndown, Dorset, experienced a break-in during 2022, and claims his alarm system failed to sound.
“[The thieves] tried to break down the glass doors for 15 minutes and the alarm didn’t sound,” Thirunavukkarsu said. “It only went off when they had left, and then the police were called. If it had worked, I wouldn’t have lost anything.”
In response to these claims, a spokesperson for Verisure said: “We looked into the details regarding Mr Thirunavukkarasu and we can confirm that the alarms were triggered immediately when the break-in happened. Around one minute later our operator was already looking into the case, verifying the images transmitted by the camera, and also requesting additional images from the system to confirm the intrusion. Immediately after this, around three minutes after the alarms were triggered, the police were already on their way, following our alert to them.”
Last year, Verisure came under fire amid claims of misleading consumers and mis-selling products from BBC’s Watchdog. Similar claims have been made about the company’s commercial offers.
While Verisure states that its ARC is certified by leading certifier SSAIB, insurance experts have claimed that other parts of Verisure’s operations do not carry the certifications required by some business insurers, putting stores at risk of having claims rejected or policies voided.
Managing director of Falcon Insurance Pinder Singh Dhaliwal warned: “We called both the approval bodies, and both confirmed only its call centre is approved but its equipment isn’t. If you have one of these systems fitted to your business premises or your home and the insurance is subject to a security alarm being fitted, you might find you will not be covered for theft or attempted theft.”
In response to these claims, a spokesperson for Verisure explained: “Verisure is proud to protect over five million families and small businesses around the world. Our TrustPilot rating in the UK has over 28,000 reviews, nearly 90% of which are at four or five stars.
“The safety and security of our customers is our top priority. We take customer concerns very seriously and always investigate thoroughly. With regard to our certification, our ARC is certified from SSAIB. SSAIB is a renowned certification body that specialises in ensuring the quality and compliance of organisations in our industry. This certification from SSAIB reflects our commitment to maintaining the highest standards.”
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