We Offer Efficacy as Standard: Why Failure to Perform Coverage Matters to Alarm Installers
If your alarm system fails at the moment, it’s needed most. What happens next, and who pays?
That’s the question at the heart of efficacy insurance, and it’s one that catches many alarm installation businesses off guard. Standard public liability insurance doesn’t always cover it, and the difference between being protected and being personally liable can run to hundreds of thousands of pounds.
What is efficacy cover?
Efficacy insurance (sometimes called failure to perform cover or inefficacy cover) protects your business against claims that arise when a product or system you’ve installed doesn’t function as intended.
This is distinct from standard public liability insurance, which covers bodily injury or property damage caused by your actions or negligence. Efficacy cover specifically addresses the situation where the system itself fails in its core purpose, and a financial loss results directly from that failure.
For alarm and security installers, this distinction matters enormously. The systems you install exist precisely to prevent loss. When they don’t, you’re the most obvious person for a claimant to pursue.
What scenarios lead to a claim?
Here are three realistic situations where efficacy cover becomes critical:
✔ An intruder alarm fails to trigger during a break-in at a commercial property. The business suffers significant stock loss and property damage overnight. The client’s insurer pays out and then pursues a recovery claim against you.
✔ A fire detection system in a warehouse doesn’t respond to a fire developing outside business hours. The resulting damage is extensive, and the installation is scrutinised as part of the loss investigation.
✔ An access control system fails to prevent entry to a restricted area. A third-party gains access, and losses or injuries follow.
In each case, the question isn’t just whether the equipment was faulty. It’s whether the failure of your installed system caused or contributed to the loss, and whether your insurance responds to that claim.
Why standard policies often don’t cover it
Most general trades policies and broad public liability insurance products exclude failure to perform as a deliberate underwriting decision. Covering a guarantee of outcome is a materially different risk from covering accidental damage during installation, and most generalist insurers won’t take it on.
The result is that alarm and security businesses can end up with a policy that looks comprehensive on paper but leaves their largest realistic exposure uncovered.
How Alarminsure is different
Efficacy cover is included as standard in Alarminsure policies; you don’t need to negotiate for it or pay extra for it as an add-on. It’s there because the team understands the sector and the genuine risks alarm installers face.
With over 30 years’ experience in the industry, Alarminsure’s policies are also designed to satisfy the insurance requirements of the leading industry inspectorate bodies, which increasingly expect evidence of cover that goes beyond basic liability.
Check whether your policy covers this
If you’re not certain whether your current alarm company insurance includes efficacy cover, it’s worth finding out now, before a claim forces the issue.
To get a quote or speak to the team about what’s included in your cover, call 08000 710 999 or email info@alarminsure.com.