Withdrawal of BT Redcare: What does this mean for you?

What has happened?

By Howden

BT announced on 1 February 2024 that it is withdrawing Redcare operations on 1 August 2025. This has come as a surprise to the alarm industry and, whilst monitoring operations will continue for the next 18 or so months, customers of the service should be left in no doubt of the importance of this announcement. You will need to make necessary changes to your alarm installations to maintain appropriate remote signalling arrangements and to ensure your continued compliance with insurance requirements.

Certainly, in those instances where ‘approved’ remote signalling by an accredited alarm installer (NSI or SSAIB) is a condition of insurance contracts for both security and perhaps fire alarms, you will need to contact your intruder and fire alarm installers to discuss the provision of suitable alternatives

What it means for your insurance policy

The common requirement, when your insurance is subject to an intruder alarm condition, is that the system is maintained in full and efficient working order under an ongoing maintenance contract provided by an alarm company. It also requires registration with an alarm receiving centre, which is eligible for police response. 

It is also a further common requirement, that any alteration or substitution of any part of the intruder alarm system which would reduce the effectiveness of the system, must not be made without your insurer's written agreement. We would therefore urge you, where any changes to your current system have been made or are now required to be made, to contact us as soon as possible to discuss how best to maintain policy cover. 

Consequences of doing nothing

The consequences of failing to comply with an alarm condition within your policy would be extremely damaging to your business in the event of a claim. As we’ve outlined, your policy requires you to ensure the correct alarm and monitoring system is in place before the inception of your policy and before any loss. So a failure to comply with your alarm condition could mean that your insurer is unable to consider a claim. 

This is because it is common that an alarm condition will be underwritten as a “Condition Precedent to Liability”. This means that your insurers would be entitled to reject a claim in the event of a theft or fire (alongside other insured perils), because of non-compliance with the alarm condition, even if your insurer's position had not been prejudiced by the breach itself. 

What you need to do

To prevent that scenario from happening to you, it’s essential that you review your intruder alarm system and make any necessary changes before 1 August 2025, to ensure that you maintain policy compliance. 

Although the withdrawal of the BT Redcare service is some way off, there will likely be a spike in the demand for a replacement service which will increase closer to the point when the service closes. For insurance customers to meet the requirements of their policy conditions, the changes that need to be made must be done before the deadline. Under the circumstances, we recommend that you do this as soon as possible or, at the very latest, at renewal of your alarm contract.

BT advises that your usual BT Redcare contact will be on hand to help answer any questions you may have.