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Short answer: yes, sometimes, but usually as a modest discount rather than a dramatic one. Many home insurers offer premium discounts for security devices, and cameras can qualify, particularly as part of a broader system that includes monitoring, alarms or smart-home integration. The discount for cameras alone tends to be smaller than for a fully monitored alarm system with professional response, because insurers weight monitored intervention — someone actually responding to an alert — more heavily than passive recording in their risk models.
Recommended Cameras and Systems
Best for a deterrent-and-recording combination insurers tend to view favorably.
Best for a complete monitored-style system for a discount application.
Best for an affordable way to qualify for a basic security discount.
Do Security Cameras Affect Home Insurance? What Actually Qualifies
Insurance discount programs vary considerably by company, but the general pattern favors comprehensive systems over standalone hardware. A professionally monitored alarm system with cameras integrated tends to earn the largest discount, because the insurer's actuarial data shows monitored response genuinely reduces loss severity and frequency. A self-monitored camera system, where you receive alerts but there is no third-party monitoring service dispatching a response, typically earns a smaller discount, and a single doorbell or one standalone camera often earns the smallest discount of all, or in some cases none.
The specific documentation an insurer wants also varies — some simply ask you to check a box confirming ownership during the policy application, others want more detail about the system's monitoring status and coverage. Calling your specific insurer and asking directly what qualifies is the only reliable way to know what your particular setup is worth to them, since generic online claims about discount amounts rarely match every insurer's actual program precisely.
Why Cameras Alone Rarely Move the Needle Much
From an insurer's risk perspective, a camera that records an event after it happens reduces loss less than a system that actively deters or interrupts an event in progress. This is the underlying reason monitored alarm systems consistently earn larger discounts than camera-only setups across most insurers — the actuarial data reflects genuine differences in claim frequency and severity between the two categories, not an arbitrary distinction. Cameras still contribute real value, both through deterrence and through documentation that speeds claims processing after an incident, but that value shows up more in claims outcomes than in the base premium calculation.
The Value Beyond the Premium Discount
Even where the discount itself is modest, cameras contribute to insurance outcomes in ways that do not show up as a line-item reduction. Clear footage of an incident speeds claim processing and reduces disputes about what actually happened, which matters more to most homeowners in practice than a small percentage off the annual premium. Some insurers also factor documented security measures into underwriting decisions more broadly, beyond the specific discount program, which can matter for policy renewal or coverage terms in ways that are harder to quantify than a stated discount percentage.
How to Actually Get the Discount
Contact your insurer directly and ask specifically what security measures qualify for a discount under your policy, rather than assuming a general online claim applies to your specific company and plan. Keep documentation of your system — purchase records, any monitoring subscription, photos of installed hardware — in case it is requested during the application or a subsequent audit. And revisit this periodically, since insurers occasionally update their discount programs and a system that did not qualify at your last renewal might qualify at the next one. See can insurance companies request my footage for the claims side of this same relationship, and do security cameras deter burglars for the underlying deterrent value insurers are ultimately pricing.