Every few months I get a call from either an alarm company or a subscriber
asking me for advice on how to terminate an alarm contract so that the
subscriber can go with another alarm company. My response is invariably
the same, that I don't help subscribers break contracts because I represent
the alarm industry in its efforts to enforce its contracts. A noble
position, or is it that usually they are looking for free advice? If I was
persuaded to lend some advice, what would I be looking at? The most
obvious issue is whether the contract has expired; if it's in a renewal
term and if a renewal notice was properly served. This assumes of course
that there is a contract in the first place.
Often the subscriber, assisted by the new alarm company if there is
one, is claiming that the equipment, the service or both, are faulty.
Perhaps there has been an incident and the alarm didn't function, or
response time for service or monitoring was intolerably delayed, or
personality problems develop. Seldom is it as simple as a reduced price is
being offered for the same service, though is more than likely one of the
main reasons for the switch.
Service complaints, faulty equipment, delayed responses, all come under
the heading of breach of contract. The general rule is that once a party
has breached its contract the non breaching party need not further
perform. In other words, the breach by one party justifies termination by
the other party. But that's just the general rule. A better and more
careful approach would be to read the contract between the parties and see
what exactly constitutes a breach and what are the agreed remedies.
If a contract states that service is Monday to Friday, then the alarm
company's failure to make a weekend service call is obviously not a breach
of the contract. If the contract states that the subscriber's remedy if
the alarm is not working is to withhold payment for the month, then that's
the remedy and termination may not be acceptable.
Some other issues do come to mind. If it's a new contract,
residential, a three day notice has to be given and if it's not then the
contract is cancelable until it is given. If the contract has other flaws
that render is unenforceable, such as type size, then the subscriber is
free to terminate. So the first thing you need to do is look at the
contract to see if there is anyway out through its terms or because of
legal deficiencies in its execution or form. If you intend to get involved
in helping the subscriber establish that the alarm equipment or service is
substandard, then you are going to risk a battle if the alarm company
decides to sue the subscriber. You will become an advocate and expert for
the subscriber, probably for no compensation, and you may end up a
defendant in an action for inducing breach of contract. Make sure the
subscriber is worth it, and I'd still recommend that you stay out of it and
let the subscriber and its own counsel deal with the termination of the
alarm contract and its consequences.