Frequently asked questions

Please visit telecare24.co.uk/brochure/ to request a free info pack.

We’ll email you a link to download the brochure. We can also send it to you by post free of charge

Our brochure explains everything you need to know and makes it easy to understand the options and share these with your loved ones.

Prices vary depending on the plan that you choose. Please see our personal alarm plans page for quick links to more details about each plan.

Please note, there is a £45* setup fee for all new customers.

* All prices are excluding VAT, which 95% of our customers don’t pay.

This non-refundable fee enables us to prepare your personal alarm equipment and collate all of your medical and emergency contact details on our careline service systems.

You rent the equipment from us for the duration of your service. Your equipment must be returned to us at the end of your service agreement.

Legacy customers of our Buddi plan can keep their equipment when their service ends.

We can accept payment via credit/debit cards, Direct Debit, and PayPal.

Please note:

• Using a credit/debit card is the quickest way to pay, and can be done securely online or over the phone. This also helps us to process your order more quickly, dispatching your new alarm sooner.
• We do not accept BACS or bank transfers.

If you have a disability or a long-term medical illness, HMRC allows you to order a careline alarm from Telecare24 without paying VAT. We call this VAT exemption. (Please note, VAT applies to key safes, regardless of your VAT exemption status.)

To avoid paying VAT when you order from us, simply choose “I am exempt from paying VAT” at the checkout, and we’ll take care of the rest.

Learn more about VAT exemption and how you can take advantage of this 20% saving.

If you are ordering a careline plan on behalf of somebody who is VAT exempt then you do not need to pay VAT.

For more information on VAT exemption, please see our VAT exemption page.

Additional pendants and fall sensors are available at the checkout when placing an order for either our Pendant Alarm or Fall Alarm plans.

Please note, additional pendants or fall sensors are not available on our Go Active! plan.

This is an excellent idea if you have someone else living in your home who may also benefit from using a Telecare24 alarm, or if you would like another device handy in another location in your home.

If you order an extra pendant or fall sensor for somebody else, we’ll ask you for their medical and emergency contact details as well.

We are one of the only careline providers who allow you to join to our service even if you don’t have any keyholders living nearby; all we ask is that you install a key safe.

Having a key safe installed means we can still get you the help you need in an emergency, even if you don’t have a keyholder living close by.

You can either purchase a key safe from Telecare24 when ordering your careline plan, or you can arrange it yourself.

Learn more about key safes on our website.

No, you don’t have to have a keyholder to use our service.

We are one of the only careline providers who allow you to join to our service even if you don’t have any keyholders living nearby; all we ask is that you install a key safe.

Having a key safe installed means we can still get you the help you need in an emergency, even if you don’t have a keyholder living close by.

We’ll begin setting up your new careline alarm as soon as we have received your initial payment and your completed Service Agreement.

When we come to dispatch your new alarm, we will use Royal Mail’s Tracked 24 service, at no additional cost to you.

Please note, Royal Mail cannot guarantee next working day delivery to some addresses in the UK. For more details, please refer to our delivery page.

When you place an order you can choose the delivery address where we will send the new careline equipment to.

The simple answer is no, as everything is included in your plan.

• There is no charge at all if you have one of our digital personal alarm plans.
• If you still have one of our analogue personal alarm plans, when you raise an alert for help, your personal alarm unit will act like a phone and place a call to our control centre using an 0844 number. Please note that your telephone service provider may charge you for these calls if they are not included within your tariff. You should check with your phone service provider or visit Ofcom for further details.
  • *Using 0844 numbers for careline services is something that is recommended by Ofcom. We cannot change this number.

There is a 12 month contract on all of our service plans. This applies whether you select the monthly or annual payment option (on the pendant and fall plans) and always on the GO Active! plan. This period starts from the date we dispatch your equipment.

Please refer to our terms and conditions page.

We do not charge our customers a cancellation fee. However, our plans are subject to a minimum 12 month contract term. Please see our terms and conditions.

Our careline monitoring systems are easy to install and come with simple instructions in the box.

• If you have one of our digital plans then all you need to do is plug the base unit into a mains power socket.
• If you still have one of our analogue plans then you will also need to connect your telephone line to the personal alarm base unit. In the box you’ll find clear instructions on how to do this.
• The GO Active! GPS alarm equipment just needs to be charged using the charging cables that we provide.

Please note, when your landline switches to digital, you will need to upgrade your personal alarm..

We’ve made sure that your equipment is really simple to set up, but we are always happy to help if you need us to – just give us a call.

Our ‘at-home’ personal alarms have a range of up to 200 metres from the base unit*, which should be sufficient for use around the home and in the garden.

This is the approximate distance that you can be from the base unit while wearing your alarm, and still be able to activate your alarm to contact our monitoring team.

Please note that these distances can vary depending on things like the thickness of walls in your home, and other factors which are outside of our control.

The GO Active! GPS alarm doesn’t have a base unit. Instead, it has built-in GPS technology that lets our team know where you are, making it ideal for somebody who goes out and about most of the time.

The simple answer is yes, but it depends on the equipment you have.

For Pendant Alarm plan customers:

• The pendant has a battery life of 18-24 months, dependent on use. Our team will automatically be notified when the battery on your pendant runs low. When this happens, we’ll reach out to arrange a free replacement.
• In the event of a power cut, the base unit features a backup battery that will last up to 48 hours dependent on use, ensuring your careline service remains intact while your mains power is restored. Keep in mind that if the backup power has run out, the wearable alarm will not do anything when activated.
• If you have broadband in your home and your base unit is connected directly to your broadband router, your alarm will only work if the broadband router is still powered on.
  • To ensure your protection in situations like this, upgrade to our new Digital Pendant Alarm plan which uses SIM technology, keeping you connected when your broadband fails.

For Fall Alarm plan customers:

• The fall sensor has a battery life of 18-24 months, dependent on use. Our team will automatically be notified when the battery on your fall sensor runs low. When this happens, we’ll reach out to arrange a free replacement.
• In the event of a power cut, the base unit features a backup battery that will last up to 48 hours dependent on use, ensuring your careline service remains intact while your mains power is restored. Keep in mind that if the backup power has run out, the wearable alarm will not do anything when activated.
• If you have broadband in your home and your base unit is connected directly to your broadband router, your alarm will only work if the broadband router is still powered on.
  • To ensure your protection in situations like this, upgrade to our new Digital Fall Alarm plan which uses SIM technology, keeping you connected when your broadband fails.

GO Active! GPS alarm plan customers should simply remember to keep the device charged.

If you order one of our digital plans, the simple answer is no.

• Our digital plans are unaffected by the digital switchover as they use SIM technology and not the landline telephone network.

• If you still have an analogue alarm plan, then you have to have a working landline telephone in the property.

Please note, if you have an analogue personal alarm then you will need to upgrade your personal alarm when your analogue landline is disconnected.

No idea what we’re talking about? Learn more about the digital switchover, or give us a call and one of our friendly advisors will be happy to talk you through what’s happening.

On our pendant and fall plans, your alarm will work up to 200 metres from the base unit. That’s comfortably enough for most homes and gardens.

Please note, these distances can be affected by things like the thickness of the walls in your home, and other factors.

Our GO Active! GPS alarm works anywhere in the UK where there is a mobile network signal available. It uses built-in GPS technology that lets our team know where you are, making it ideal for somebody who goes out and about most of the time.

The wearable device you get with our Pendant Alarm plan is available in either a wrist-worn or neck-worn fashion.

The wearable fall sensor that comes with our Fall Alarm plan is wrist-worn only.

The GPS device that comes with our GO Active! plan is a neck-worn model which can also be kept in your pocket.

• Important notice: If you have a pacemaker, the GO Active! device must not be worn around your neck and must be kept at least 25cm away from your pacemaker at all times.

Our equipment can be worn in bed quite comfortably, but you may take it off at night if you wish.

Should you decide to take your alarm off at night, we recommend keeping it close by – for example, on your bedside table.

The equipment you get with our digital personal alarm plans uses mobile phone technology (also known as GSM) to communicate with our careline team. In order to ensure the best possible service, these personal alarm devices come fitted with a SIM card that connects to the strongest signal of any mobile network that is available in your area – right across the UK.

Please note that the mobile network coverage in your area and the strength of the signal that you are able to receive inside your home are elements that are outside of our control. To check the strength of the mobile network signals in your area, use this Mobile Coverage Checker.

Rest assured, if the mobile signal isn’t very strong in your home, our alarms can also be plugged into a broadband router to keep you connected and protected.

If you still have our analogue personal alarm plans, they work using the landline telephone service in your home. You will need to upgrade your personal alarm when your analogue landline is disconnected.

No idea what we’re talking about? Learn more about the digital switchover, or give us a call and one of our friendly advisors will be happy to talk you through what’s happening.

If you are unsure which personal alarm plan is the most suitable for you, give us a call and we’ll help you find the plan that’s right for you.

Yes. Most broadband providers automatically enable Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP), which allows you to make calls through your internet connection. However, we recommend confirming with your provider to ensure VoIP is enabled on your broadband.

At Telecare24 we put ‘Unsteered’ SIMs in our digital alarms, something that sets us apart from other providers.

Unlike ‘Steered’ SIMs which many of our competitors use, our ‘Unsteered’ SIMs automatically seek and connect to the strongest mobile network signal available in the area. This means that our devices are not limited to specific network providers but instead intelligently connect to the most robust signal in your location.

A ‘Steered’ SIM will only connect to the specific networks that your alarm provider allows, meaning you could be left without service while there is a perfectly good signal from another network available.

This ensures a more reliable and efficient communication experience, optimising the effectiveness of our alarm systems for your safety.

The pendant alarm, fall sensor, and GO Active! GPS alarm are rated as IP67 water resistant so that you can comfortably wear your alarm whenever you take a bath or shower.

The IP67 rating means that the alarm can be dropped into a body of water up to a meter deep for as long as half an hour.

To raise the alert, just press the emergency call button that is located on your wearable device.

Pendant alarm and fall alarm customers can also press the emergency call button on the included base unit.

If you have a fall alarm or a GPS alarm, your device can automatically detect a heavy fall and raise the alert for you, even if you can’t.

We’ve got a great video to show you – click here.

When you activate your alarm, our friendly team will begin speaking to you in a matter of seconds.

On our pendant and fall alarm plans, we’ll speak to you via the loudspeaker and microphone that are built into the base unit.

On the GO Active! GPS plan, we’ll speak to you through the loudspeaker and microphone built into the portable GO Active! device.

The fall sensor technology inside our fall alarm and GO Active! GPS alarm devices is designed not to trigger if thrown on the floor or dropped.

When you activate your alarm, we’ll talk to you through the speaker and microphone on the base unit.

GO Active! GPS alarm customers – we’ll talk to you through the loudspeaker and microphone built-in to your portable device.

Our GO Active! alarm allows you to speak to us through the device.

Our Pendant Alarm and Fall Alarm plans do not have a built-in microphone or speaker on the device that you wear. Instead, the base unit has an integrated sensitive microphone and a loudspeaker, so we’ll talk with you this way.

If we cannot reach you via the base unit, we will call your landline to ensure everything is okay. If there is no response on the landline we will call keyholders or, if the situation requires, the emergency services.

If you have trouble hearing us when we speak to you through your alarm base unit, we will call your mobile phone to ensure everything is okay.

If we still can’t talk to you, we’ll call one of your emergency contacts to check that you are okay.

As a last resort or if the situation requires, we’ll call the emergency services.

We have a dedicated page for this.

Please visit Upgrade Instructions for Existing Telecare24 Customers for more details on how to upgrade your analogue Telecare24 personal alarm to one of our new landline-free options.

We have a dedicated page for this.

Please visit Upgrade Instructions for Existing Telecare24 Customers for more details on how to upgrade your analogue Telecare24 personal alarm to one of our new landline-free options.

Our careline monitoring systems are easy to install and come with simple instructions in the box.

• If you have one of our digital plans then all you need to do is plug the base unit into a mains power socket.
• If you still have one of our analogue plans then you will also need to connect your telephone line to the personal alarm base unit. In the box you’ll find clear instructions on how to do this.
• The GO Active! GPS alarm equipment just needs to be charged using the charging cables that we provide.

Please note, when your landline switches to digital, you will need to upgrade your personal alarm..

We’ve made sure that your equipment is really simple to set up, but we are always happy to help if you need us to – just give us a call.

You can download a digital copy of our alarm user guides using the links below.

Pendant Alarm plan customers:

If you have a Novo base unit:

• Analogue connection (via landline): Download
• Digital connection (landline-free): Download
• How to use your pendant / how to test your alarm: Download

If you have a Tynetec base unit:

• Download

If you have a Doro base unit:

• Download

If you have a TeleAlarm® base unit:

• Analogue connection (via landline): Download
• Digital connection (landline-free): Download

Fall Alarm plan customers:

If you have a Novo base unit with a Smile fall sensor:

• Analogue connection (via landline): Download
• Digital connection (landline-free): Download
• How to use your fall sensor / how to test your alarm: Download

If you have a Novo base unit with a Vibby fall sensor:

• Download

If you have a Doro base unit:

• Download

If you have a TeleAlarm® base unit:

• Analogue connection (via landline): Download
• Digital connection (landline-free): Download

GPS plan customers:

If you have a Chiptech™ GO Active! device:

• Download

If you have a Buddi device:

• Download

If you have our digital pendant alarm or our digital fall alarm, you should place your base unit down near an available mains power socket – an extension lead won’t be suitable. Ideally, this will be somewhere central in your home or in the room where you spend most of your time.

If you have broadband, we strongly recommend plugging the base unit into your router using the ethernet cable provided, so make sure the base unit can reach your broadband router as well.

Connecting your base unit to broadband enhances the way the alarm operates, giving you an extra layer of security with a secondary connection.

If you still have one of our analogue plans, you should set it down near your master telephone socket and/or broadband router, depending on whether you have already had your traditional home telephone line upgraded to a digital one.

• Need some clarification? Give us a call and one of our friendly advisors will be happy to help.

If you are a GO Active! GPS alarm customer, we recommend setting the charging cradle down in your bedroom – near your bed on a side table or dresser.

You should check all your equipment at least once a month and make a test call to our team. It gives you the reassurance that your alarm is working and lets us know it’s fine too.

We include a test reminder sheet when we send out equipment to our customers, and we suggest keeping these sheets near their units and check off each calendar month as and when that month’s test has been completed.

If you do not have one of these sheets and would like one, you can download a test sheet online. You can also contact our office and we’ll post one out to you completely free of charge.

For instructions on how to test your equipment, please consult your user guide. A paper copy will have arrived in the box with your alarm.

New customers can add a second user to a careline plan while going through our online checkout. Look for the ‘Customise’ button when you find the plan that you are looking for.

As an existing customer, you’ll need to get in touch with our team – we can process your order for additional equipment over the phone.

In both cases, we’ll ask you for the new user’s medical and emergency contact details, so please have these to hand.

Adding a second user to your careline plan is an excellent idea if you have someone else living in your home who may also benefit from Telecare24’s emergency service.

Calls from our emergency response centre will show as an unknown number.

Whilst we understand this is not ideal, it is a safety procedure to stop emergency contacts from returning calls directly, which could delay calls from users in need.

However, our team will leave a voicemail with a contact number to call back on if we are unable to reach you.

If any of the details we hold for you have changed then you need to let us know at the earliest possibility. We have a dedicated form you can submit online at telecare24.co.uk/update-your-details/.

Examples of details we occasionally need to update include but are not limited to; changes to your telephone number or address, new medical conditions, a change to your key safe code, or changes to your key contacts.

Rest assured, we store this data securely and only share vital information with the emergency services if the situation requires it.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of our service, accounts cannot be paused or placed on-hold.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your situation.

If you are going to be living at a different address for less than 1 month then we would not recommend taking your pendant or fall alarm equipment with you. If you will be living at a different address for more than 1 month, get in touch with us to discuss what to do with your equipment.

If you have a GO Active! GPS alarm and you are temporarily going to be living somewhere else, you should take your device with you.

Please let us know whenever your address changes so that we can keep our records up to date.

If you are already a customer and you would like to change your plan with us, please contact us to discuss the options available to you.

Please note, charges may apply.

Please get in touch with our team to arrange replacement(s) for your lost equipment.

Please note, charges will apply.

It is extremely rare for our devices to develop a fault. However, in the unlikely event that an issue occurs, please call our customer services team in the first instance.

We’ll automatically be notified when the battery on your wearable device runs low. When this happens, we’ll reach out to arrange a free replacement.

For Buddi or GO Active! GPS plan customers; if you are having issues with charging your device, please contact us directly.

We’re sorry to hear that you are unhappy with something.

To make a complaint, please send an email to [email protected] – and be sure to include your account number (starts with ‘TC’) so that we can easily find your records. A member of our team will contact you within 48 hours during business hours.

Alternatively, send us a message using the form on our contact page.

We have a dedicated form for that.

Cancel Your Service

A refund typically takes up to 28 days from when we receive your returned equipment.