A recent case in Illinois involved an alarm company and a waiver of the subrogation provision in the alarm contract.
The plaintiff was an insurance company whose insured was covered under a homeowner’s insurance policy. The alarm company defendant was contracted by the plaintiff’s insured to install a security system, monitoring for security alarm, police emergency, and fire alarm in exchange for a monthly fee. The system was designed to monitor and transmit alarms that would notify the alarm company and/or the fire department in the event of a fire or the detection of smoke. Subsequent to the execution of the contract, the plaintiff’s insured entered into an oral agreement with the alarm company to repair or replace a smoke detector that had been damaged by the plaintiff’s insured and to restore the fire detection system to “full operational status.” The alarm company replaced the smoke detector, but did not finish all of the necessary repairs. The alarm company advised the insured that the upstairs detector/alarms had to be replaced because both detectors/alarms worked together to operate, but failed to advise the plaintiff’s insured of the repercussions of the incomplete repair, only that the alarm company would return to complete the necessary repairs, which was not done.