Honeywell to Drop ‘First Alert’ Brand in New Dealer Program
First Alert Professional, the iconic brand for Honeywell’s security dealer program, is being phased out in favor of a Honeywell-branded program. Dealers need not fret about existing alarm subscriber contracts.
Honeywell is phasing out its "First Alert Professional" moniker in favor of a Honeywell-branded dealer program.
Honeywell launched its First Alert Professional dealer program some 25 years ago for alarm installers who wanted to standardize on Honeywell products and become part of a large network of like-minded dealers.
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Now Honeywell is phasing out the iconic First Alert dealer branding in favor of a Honeywell-branded program. Ken Kirschenbaum, a leading attorney in the alarm industry, recently answered a First Alert dealer inquiry about the new program, and whether it would necessitate new contracts for existing alarm subscribers.
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Kirschenbaum, SSI‘s Legal Briefing columnist, responded in his industry legal E-mail newsletter “The Alarm Exchange” (subscribe here). Following are his remarks:
Dealers need to sign a new dealer agreement. The new agreement is substantially similar to the First Alert agreement. The most significant provisions are that:
• The dealer needs to carry one million dollars minimum E&O insurance and name Honeywell as an additional insured.
• The dealer needs to indemnify Honeywell if there is any claim, including, defective products manufactured by Honeywell.
• If the dealer has a contract with its subscriber [and would be a fool if it didn’t] then the same protective provisions must inure to the benefit of Honeywell.
These provisions aren’t really new because they are in the First Alert program agreement.
The good news is that unlike alarm.com, the Standard Form Agreements do not need to be changed to accommodate the Honeywell dealer program or doing business with Honeywell. As some of you may know, if you do business with alarm.com you must either incorporate specific terms protecting alarm.com in your contract or use a rider. Since I don’t think the alarm.com terms are helpful to the dealer I offer a rider.
We will make a slight change in the Standard Form agreements to accommodate Honeywell’s terms, but you won’t need a separate rider or agreement signed by your subscriber. The change to the Standard Forms will be to include manufacturers under the subcontractor provision, extending the protection of the contract to Honeywell. The change will be available with the January 2016 update.
More from Ken Kirschenbaum at alarmcontracts.com.
SSI continues to report this story.
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