With additional security (i.e. patrols, access gates, cameras, etc) lower the HOA and individual owners’ insurance?

Your insurance rates will decrease when you are living in a community that has increased security, but you must understand what kind of security is in the community. Your insurance carrier is going to ask you may different questions about the security in the area, and you must be prepared to answer their questions when you are filling out your application for homeowner's or renter's insurance.

Is There A Gate?

A gated community is the simplest form of secure community that you can have, and you must make sure that understand how the gate works. Your insurance company will ask you if you use a keypad to get in the gate, or you may be let in by a security guard who is checking all cars that come into the community. Someone who sits in a guard station at the entrance to the community does not constitute full-time security, but their presence does decrease your insurance rates.

Walls

The walls in your community go around the border of the community to make a real difference. Insurance companies will not pay for a wall that only extends a few yards past the guard station at the front of your community. A wall that goes around the whole property is one that will make your home truly secure, and the insurance company will take the wall into consideration when rating your policy.

Full-Time Security

A full-time security detail should be present 24/7, and the details should be patrolling your community at all times in a marked vehicle. The people who would rob homes in the area are not likely to enter your community when there is marked security on every street. A full-time security detail does not just sit at the guard station and check vehicles in. Someone could enter the community somewhere else, and that could be a problem for the people who are writing your insurance policy. Your policy cannot have a discount attached if your area is not properly secured.

Cameras

Security cameras are a serious security measure in your community that your insurance company will pay for when the cameras are monitored. Thieves are more likely to be caught if they are on camera, and you must ask your community board of directors if the cameras are monitored. Your insurance company will want to know if the cameras are looked at all the time, and you will get peace of mind from knowing that someone is watching out for you.

Reducing your insurance premium is possible if your community has the increased security listed above. If safety is a primary concern and you are looking to move, do not look past these security options when you choose where you want to live in the future.