Advertising Standards Authority rule: A home security alarm company claimed that summer holiday burglaries are on the rise.

  • Residential burglaries were reported to have increased in the summer according to verisure alarms
  • In June 2021, the alarm company aired an advertisement on television.
  • 18 complaints were made by members of the general public about the content of the advertisement. 
  • The ASA ruled that the ad is misleading and it cannot be rebroadcast. 










The regulators have stopped a security company from running an advertisement claiming that residential burglaries are on the rise in the summer months, without providing any evidence. 

Versiure, an alarm company ran a television ad in June and July 2021 that featured four people sitting at a table talking about home security and the fitting of security systems. 

Actor One claimed that there are so many burglaries in the holiday season. 

Advertising Standards Authority, however, ruled against the assertion that there was an increase of residential burglaries during holiday periods. 

Verisure attempted to defend its advertisement by claiming that their definition of holidays covered all statutory and general holidays, including April, May July, August, December, and September. 

18 individuals complained about the misleading nature of the advertisement and made a formal complaint to the Advertising Standards Agency. 

An advertisement by Verisure alarms made misleading claims about home burglaries

Verisure alarms published misleading advertisements about home intruders. 

The company claimed that residential burglaries increased over the summer holidays without having supporting evidence

According to the company, residential burglaries rose during summer vacations without any supporting evidence 

Verisure tried to defend their adversisement claiming their definition of holidays included any statutory or general holidays including April, May, July, August and September

Verisure sought to defend the adversity by asserting that Verisure’s definition of holidays encompassed all general or statutory holidays such as April, May and July.

Two studies were cited by the firm to support their claims. One piece of research found that 49% of respondents had been burglarized in any of five months. They claimed that a second study showed burglaries rates increased during bank holidays and summer vacation months. 

They also provided data from Greater Manchester Police, Metropolitan Police and Hertfordshire Constabulary to support their claims.  

According to the company, they wanted their “so many” burglaries spread across all holidays.  

The ASA stated that “There are so many thieves during holidays.” This would indicate an increase in burglaries over the summer vacation period. 

The ASA ruled there was no evidence to suggest an increase in residential burglaries over the summer period

The ASA ruled that there wasn’t any evidence suggesting an increase in residential burglaries during the summer.

It was stated that it “would likely influence consumers’ decision about whether or not they install alarms before this time”.  

According to the ASA in November 2017, 1,006 UK adults were asked if they’d been burgled. 

These figures revealed that 553 people had been burglarized, but only 20% were targeted during the holiday season. 

Another survey showed that 10% had been burglarized in July, and only 9% in August. 

The ASA stated that the research didn’t support the claims of an increase burglaries in the summer. 

According to the watchdog, advice received from Scotland Yard Police and Greater Manchester Police was not in support of the assertion that there had been an increase in burglaries during the summer.  

According to the ASA, the ad cannot be found again on any form. They also cautioned the firm against inferring that there were more burglaries during summer ‘without sufficient evidence’. 

MailOnline reached Verisure to provide feedback.  

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