What happens if my alarm monitoring company goes out of business?

Your alarm keeps sounding locally, but monitoring may stop, and the failure can be quiet. Certificated Alarm Receiving Centres are expected to have contingency arrangements to transfer monitoring, but the installer holding your contract going under is a separate risk — and your police URN depends on an approved company holding the maintenance contract.

Distinguish two failures. If the ARC fails, transfer arrangements usually exist, because a certificated centre has to plan for continuity. If the installer or reseller you contracted with fails, you may find the ARC has no direct relationship with you at all.

The URN is the part most likely to lapse. It requires a current maintenance contract with an approved company; if that company disappears, the condition is no longer met and police response can be withdrawn until a new approved company takes the system on.

Reduce the exposure now, cheaply: know which ARC actually monitors your system and its certification, keep your own copy of the system documentation and the communicator details, and know your account or URN reference. If you have those, a new provider can pick the system up quickly. Without them, a takeover survey starts from nothing.

This is also a reason to check Companies House on the entity you are contracting with, not just the inspectorate register.