BT Redcare announced earlier this year, that from the end of February 2024 they will stop selling any new alarm signalling products, and all product services will terminate on the 1 August 2025 if not before when any existing contracts expire.
What products did BT Redcare supply?
BT Redcare have provided alarm signalling products that work alongside and facilitate monitored electronic systems, such as fire and security systems, for 30 years. Over this time they have supplied a variety of products, and many of those products use analogue technology which will be incompatible with modern fibre broadband networks and therefore would have required replacement shortly in any event.
Some sources estimate that in February 2024 there were thought to have been c.120,000 live systems in the UK using BT Redcare products.
What were the advantages of BT Redcare products and monitored systems?
BT Redcare has been for a long time considered a key component of the monitored alarm system market in the UK. The products were designed to report faults in transmission to an alarm-receiving/monitoring station thereby removing the necessity for a manual visit to site or call to emergency or security services. This ensured that – in respect of security or fire systems – a rapid response would be achieved and damage reduced.
As you can imagine, signalling products like those supplied by BT Redcare that facilitate round the clock monitoring of an alarm system which in turn reduce the potential damage or delay in responding to an event, are welcomed by insurers, particularly property insurers. As a result, over time insurance policy coverage, in some cases or for certain trades, has become conditional on the existence of an automatic and monitored alarm system. The withdrawal of BT Redcare products, therefore, is a matter for discussion and consideration not just for risk mitigation, but for insurance policy application.
What should BT Redcare customers do next?
To ensure the continuation of your monitored systems, and potentially insurance coverage conditional on the existence of such systems, we recommend you act quickly. The 1 August 2025, or the termination of existing contracts, may come around sooner than expected.
An early consideration should be to establish the extent of any BT Redcare products with your electronic monitoring systems that you currently have in place, and to identify when current contractual services will expire.
BT Redcare products are not just found with fire and security alarms: sprinkler systems, water leak detection systems, and temperature controlled refrigeration and freezer units may all utilise BT Redcare products.
Customers should approach their existing alarm company to discuss the options available for switching to alternative alarm signalling products and to help identify the specification of the existing alarm system(s) which will be required.
Customers should consult with their broker/insurer and keep them updated on proposals for new signalling products and/or alarm systems. If the insurer has either relied upon your disclosure that you have monitored alarm protection, or if it is a condition of your policy coverage, then the withdrawal of the system may impact cover or be considered a material fact to disclose during the life of the policy.
Customers should refer proposed new products to their broker, to check it will be acceptable to insurers and any other interested parties (i.e. landlords or those with insurable interest in your property such as financial institutions/lenders).
Any replacement signalling product should be of an equivalent (or superior) performance standard to the BT Redcare product it is replacing.
For large or research focused Universities with remotely monitored fridges/freezers containing significant assets of value, we urge you to consider suitable alternative products to ensure continuation of remote monitoring which may be a condition of your policy coverage for refrigerated items.
If there are any queries with regards to the impact of the withdrawal of BT Redcare products, please do not hesitate to consult your Client Service team or Matt James – Client Director, Education.
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