If you have rented an alarm system and you terminate your remote monitoring contract, the company renting you the equipment, could, in rare cases, charge fees if you cancel the rental before the scheduled end date.

Cancelling a rental

The Consumer Protection Act gives you the right to terminate a long term rental contract. It means you are ending the contract, but you will not be refunded for past paid leasing months. The merchant cannot prevent you from exercising this right.

In certain circumstances, the company can charge damages, within the limits of the contract provisions and the law. These are amounts claimed to cover the actual damages suffered. The company is required to minimize its damages.

Conditions for claiming damages

In order to claim damages, the merchant must have indicated in your contract the monthly cost of the alarm system rental. This cost must be indicated separately from the cost of remote monitoring services.

The fees billed must be directly related to the termination of the contract, otherwise, the company does not have the right to charge them. The merchant may therefore not charge amounts that they would have had to cover in any case if the full term of the contract had been completed.

The merchant cannot charge amounts that violate the terms of their own contract. Each case must be examined: the amounts claimed need to be analyzed to verify whether they correspond to the situation, in addition to conforming to the contract and the law.

Example of fees that cannot be charged

Fees that cannot be charged by the merchant :

• the remaining monthly payments in your contract;
• fees for the installation or de-installation of the alarm system;
• travel costs for the technician who will uninstall the alarm system;
• charges related to advance notice.

Top of page