This article contains several interesting provisions from agreements that agencies require their customers to sign. Of course, to protect themselves, not their customers.
The majority of security agencies assume that nobody analyses provisions of agreements very thoroughly. So you can write there whatever you wish.
One of agreements of a certain security agency contains the following provision:
This indicates that the agency will immediately undertake all possible actions. But what kind of actions? Who decides what is possible? This is what the agreement is for, isn’t it? But what happens when the agreement does not contain any specific provisions?
This is just the beginning. Because, as we read on, we learn that:
The agreement should clearly specify things for which the customer pays.
For the arrival? 30 minutes of parking (we will go back to this later)? Or maybe you pay for Netflix at the construction site? Do you think this is a joke? Then check another example out…
This is a provision of one of agencies concerning this issue:
“Agreement No. … for performance of video monitoring services using a monitoring tower”.
It is very easy to perform this agreement. Did we switch the monitoring on? Yes, we did. So now you must pay us! But what for? For the video monitoring service. But what are the results of this monitoring? None… It is not known, who watches what. But it is known that the customer gets nothing out of it. And it may turn out that as a customer, you must pay additionally for this!
This is an example from one agreement:
“When any technical problems with normal operation of the CCTV tower occur, in particular, a connection between it and the Contractor’s Monitoring Centre is broken, the Contractor shall undertake necessary and immediate activities to diagnose and remove the failure. The Parties jointly agree that should the incident provided for in the preceding sentence occur, prevention and monitoring vehicles of the intervention patrol shall be used as a replacement security measure until the failure is removed, unless, for objective reasons, e.g., difficult access, a fortuitous event, and/or insufficient number of intervention patrols available, such service cannot be ensured in a given case. The replacement measure shall be used when it is possible to organise and operate it in the area where the protected facility is located.”
Again, we see very clearly specific actions of the agency: it will undertake necessary and immediate actions.
Meaning what? It is not known, who, when, what and how. But wait a minute, we have a prevention and monitoring vehicle ensured! Oh well… the grounds are secured, we can wait for the repair. But wait a moment: unless this service cannot be provided in a given case! Of course, for objective reasons. “The replacement measure shall be used when it is possible to organise and operate it in the area where the protected facility is located.”
So, you have a CCTV system. It broke down or there is no connection. According to the agreement signed by you, not only the repair can last for ages, but also now you will be left without any protection. For objective reasons?
Now, do you understand why these services are so cheap?
Because the security agency basically bears no costs. Pure business. If it started to act whenever necessary, its costs would be higher, so the price also would be significantly higher. The price of “security” is of enormous importance, because it immediately tells you what you can expect. You get what you pay for, meaning, you get almost nothing when the amount is small. And sometimes you pay a contribution to the agency business! You know now that you have to be lucky for the monitoring to operate correctly, because when it is down then usually your premises are without any protection.
One of these agreements sums it up as follows:
“The Contractor shall not be held responsible for any damages resulting from incorrect operation of the Monitoring System caused by the Customer’s failure to provide fuel in the power generator.”
OK, you can foresee the lack of fuel and fill the tank to its capacity. Maybe you are lucky. But what about situations against which you cannot secure yourself? For example, when weather conditions deteriorate?
One of agreements explains this situation in the following way:
Do you think it is an exception when the agency transfers its problems with security onto the customer?
Now I will show you one of more interesting provisions suggesting that even a thief must be authorised to steal:
“The Contractor shall not be held responsible for damages resulting from incorrect functioning of the Monitoring System in consequence of interference with the Monitoring System by any third parties unauthorised by the Contractor”.
A simple GPS jammer is enough for the security agency to wash its hands of the theft. ‘We looked and we looked, and suddenly, the image disappeared because the connection was broken, so we ceased to look.’
This is the case when the site is only observed, without being protected. Because agencies undertake mainly to observe:
Watching over and finding intruders. It is a kind of an agreement that is easy to perform. “We watched and we found.” Aha. And there are no grounds for paying any damages for theft from the construction site because it was not what the agency agreed to do!
These phrases are very important for the Insurer whose policy protects the agency, because with such provision, contractual terms and conditions are met when the intruder was discovered, and the compensation is not due!
Unless the situation is as follows, as one of such agreements specify:
Do we pay for the loss from our own policy and bear costs of higher premiums?
Not always:
Now, let us think, the agency “protects’ many facilities. A theft occurs at a few of them, and the payment is made from one pool of the sum guarantee under the insurance policy. And what will happen when that amount is too low?
Nothing. According to the above contractual provision, the “protected” company is not entitled to anything. The Customer cannot stop paying amounts due to the Contractor in relation to claims notified to the Contractor to remedy its loss, and cannot deduce amounts of notified claims for damages from amounts due under invoices. Additionally, the discussed agreement contains a reservation that the Customer is obliged to pursue all claims directly from the insurer!
Insurers are not so keen on paying compensations, and their GTC may contain traps like a requirement to install on a protected construction site a permanent masonry fence understood as a fence permanently attached to the ground that is stable and permanent. Whoever has such fence at their construction site, has a chance to receive a compensation from the policy. Those who do not have it, each time can expect a refusal to be paid the compensation according to that provision of GTC. And when the insurer does not find any catch to refuse to pay the compensation, then it at least will reduce its amount by the deductible. One of the agreements specifies it as 10% of the sum insured, but no less than PLN 2000. This means that no compensation will be paid for losses below that value, and payments for those exceeding that amount will be reduced by it.
The agency gives itself a right to terminate the agreement at any time, without clearly specified criteria.
Because the soup was too salty:
“When the Contractor is not able to provide services specified in the Agreement, for reasons independent of the Contractor, it is entitled to terminate the Agreement with an immediate effect.”
Nobody.
What is certain is that a merest trifle will suffice to be called by the agency and hear: that’s it, from now on you are not protected by anybody.
What is more, in such case an old Polish saying ‘the agency may sit or lie, it is still due its pay’ comes true:
Of course, the presented examples do not cover all provisions used by agencies in their agreements to protect their interests instead of customers’ facilities. I hope that your next agreement with the security agency will be fair and specific. Because, in fact, on this document depends what you pay your security agency for. And a question may come to your mind:
Is there any agency in the Polish market that does not use any catches in its agreements, but informs about the scope of its services in an honest and specific way?
Yes, there is one such agency. Storm Gray Unit.
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