KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** Commercial Frustration as defense to alarm contract December 4, 2024 ************************* K&K Holiday Party 2024 – Napco will be providing grab bag gifts to dealers attending ************************** The K&K Holiday Party will be on December 12, 2024 in Old Westbury, NY from 6:30 to 9:30 PM. If you are coming you should have RSVP'ed to Kathleen Lampert at 516 747 6700 x 319 or KLampert@Kirschenbaumesq.com or Amy Laveglia at 516 747 6700 x 313 or ALaveglia@Kirschenbaumesq.com or on the sperate invite. Special thanks to Napco who is promising to have give away grab bag gifts. It's a surprise and you won't want to miss out. Thanks to Dick and Donna Soloway and the Napco crew for their support and generosity. *********************************** Dealer and CS decide to pay for subscriber’s burglary loss *********************************** Ken, We have a 10 year customer whose business was broken into and the central station failed to dispatch. In addition, for some unknown reason the back door sensor (wired sensor connected to a 2gig takeover module) did not work. It has worked every time we have tested it but there is video of the door opening during a time we know the alarm was set. Interestingly, the door did alarm as the burglar exited the building. The failure was equipment related and human error at the central station, nothing that our company did wrong. The central station has offered to give me a $4000 credit that I will pass on to this client to compensate for the damage and loss. They are willing to sign something if needed. Do I need to have them sign something stating that they will not take further legal action? My expectation is that with the payment 1) No future legal action 2) Dealer is not admitting fault 3) NDA - they won't disclose the payment privately or publicly 4) They do not post anything negative about Dealer or speak with the press to give attention to the matter. Name withheld ******************************** Response ******************************** This is a good example why central stations routinely require the Dealer to indemnify the cs if a subscriber makes a claim. Here the Dealer believes there was equipment failure because no signal was transmitted when the burglars entered; it triggered the alarm when the burglars left. The cs magnanimously agreed to give the Dealer a credit, essentially indemnifying the Dealer, instead of the other way around. This is also an example of a Dealer deciding to put “customer relations” ahead of “contract enforcement”; deciding to pay the subscriber for the loss rather than remind the subscriber that the K&K contract has provisions exonerating the Dealer, and CS, from any liability for the loss. It may be a sound business decision since the loss is only $4000. But more on that below. In order to effectuate the “settlement” a full release is required by the subscriber. In this case the Dealer didn’t want to spook the subscriber so a “watered down” release was drafted, omitting legalize and unnecessary puffery that lawyers love adding to documents so they can pad the bill. So here’s the but; we added a no responsibility provision – a denial of liability – to the release form. Nevertheless, this settlement creates a bad precedent. The next time it happens the loss could be much greater than $4000 and neither the Dealer nor cs will want to pay that loss. The loss might exceed the insurance coverage that the Dealer has; perhaps the cs too. Exposure to liability is the most important feature of the alarm contract. Dealers are familiar with central stations, E&O insurance companies and potential buyers of the alarm contracts inquiring about the contracts, and the protection afforded by the contracts is the issue they are really looking at. Alarm companies are exposed to unimaginable liability and the first layer of defense is the K&K Standard Form Agreements. ******************************** STANDARD FORMS Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
