BT Redcare Alarm service
Important customer update

BT Redcare is the most widely used alarm monitoring service and it’s expected that this withdrawal could impact over 100,000 business and personal customers who will need to find an alternative solution before the Redcare operations close next summer.

Crucially, many business insurance policies rely on customers having an alarm monitoring service in place. Therefore if you are a BT Redcare customer you will need to find a like-for-like replacement that is deemed to be appropriate by your insurer.

If you’re unsure whether the withdrawal of the BT Redcare Alarm service will impact your insurance, contact our team who will be happy to review your insurance policy to see if you will be impacted by this announcement.

BT has made this decision because of upgrades to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) with outdated analogue lines being upgraded to digital lines. The Redcare Alarm service relies on analogue phone lines to operate and consequently, the existing network used by the Redcare Alarm service will soon be redundant.

Essentially, the existing analogue system is being replaced with a modern, digital network and therefore any fire or intruder alarm monitoring systems used at a business premises that use the Redcare Alarm service will need to be switched over to a system that works on the new digital network ahead of the deadline in 2025.

Businesses which currently use the BT Redcare Alarm service will need to ensure they have an upgraded system in place before the August 2025 deadline. It’s critical that businesses consider their existing insurance provisions as changing an alarm system could mean changes need to be made to any related insurance policies to ensure they remain valid.

It is recommended that businesses contact their fire or intruder alarm service provider in the first instance to check if their system will be affected. If so, the alarm provider may be able to provide further information on what upgrades they are rolling out to ensure that their monitoring service is not interrupted once the Redcare system has been switched off.

The sooner businesses can have these conversations the better, as this will reduce the potential risk of downtime in any existing alarm monitoring systems. It’s crucial businesses act now to beat the rush in order to allow the alarm companies ample time to visit businesses and install replacements. Installation costs are also expected to rise closer to the deadline as demand for alarm fitting services increases.

In short, it could. The withdrawal of the BT Redcare Alarm service could invalidate insurance cover if a like-for-like system is not introduced in good time.

If you are worried about the impact this could have to your insurance, in the first instance you should contact your alarm service provider to discuss your options. If you have any questions related to how this could impact your insurance, contact our team to speak to an expert.