Issue:
Is surge protection something you should be offering your subscribers? What potential liability are you exposed to if you don't offer it? This topic is raised by the Oklahoma Alarm Association newsletter.
Discussion:
Surge protection has long been an alarm industry concern. Once of the earliest "disclaimers" in the alarm contract was a provision excluding service coverage for any damage caused by electrical surge, lightening or otherwise. The reason for the exclusion was no doubt the problem that electrical surges were common place, unpredictable, difficult to reliably protect against, and caused extensive damage. Has technology changed so that you can now offer protection against electrical surges? I don't know the answer to that, and leave it to the tech experts. I will however address the legal liability issues that the issue raises.
If technology exists then there is good argument that you should be offering it. Your subscriber is entitled to know what services and technology is available. You should not assume that your subscriber has the knowledge to understand that obviously there is more technology or services available. In fact, you can almost count on any subscriber who suffers a loss to claim that it was your expertise relied upon and that you failed to adequately or properly inform the subscriber of your system's limitations, deficiencies and other equipment and services. The statement in your contract that you have "offered additional and more sophisticated equipment for more money" will not be enough, especially if the facts of the incident are horrific enough.
It should be obvious that any electrical system or appliance is susceptible to damage from electrical surges. I don't know if its an item of equipment that really needs to be identified, offered and included with a separate disclaimer notice. On the other hand, it's easy enough to add this item to the Disclaimer Notice. If you're still not using the Disclaimer Notice you should get it today at www.alarmcontracts.com. It will have surge protectors as one of the items suggested but not included in the system.