(Pendants may vary)
The reason is usually simple and practical rather than dramatic. When you share a home, a fall, a dizzy spell or a sudden illness is noticed quickly. When you live on your own, being able to raise help yourself — from the floor, from the garden, from the bathroom — is the thing that has to be arranged in advance.
That applies to plenty of people who would never describe themselves as vulnerable: someone recently widowed, someone recovering from surgery, a person managing a long-term health condition, an adult whose family live several hours away, or anyone who simply spends long stretches of the day and night with no one else in the house.
A monitored alarm is not a change of lifestyle. It is a wearable button and a phone line that never rings out — designed to be the thing that lets you carry on living independently rather than the first step towards giving that up.
Choosing on behalf of a parent or relative? Our guide to personal alarms for older people covers that conversation in more detail.
This is the question that matters most when you live alone, so here is the honest answer.
When you press and hold the SOS button — or when fall detection triggers — the device calls our monitoring centre over the mobile network and opens a hands-free voice channel. You do not need to reach a phone, unlock anything or remember a number.
An operator answers with your file already on screen: your name, your address, the health notes you have given us, your nominated contacts in the order you chose, key-holder details and whatever else you have asked us to record. The device's location is shown alongside it.
They speak to you first. If you can tell them what has happened, they act on it. If you cannot answer, they do not simply hang up — they treat the silence as a reason to escalate, working through your contacts and, where the situation calls for it, requesting the emergency services and passing on your address, access details and medical notes.
Once help is arranged, they stay on the line with you rather than leaving you alone with it, and they can let your family know afterwards so you are not left making those calls yourself.
Genuine features of the Go watch and the One pendant.
Press and hold and the device calls our monitoring centre itself. There is no phone to find and no number to dial.
A speaker and microphone in the device mean you can talk to the operator hands-free, even if you cannot get up.
Included as standard, for the times you cannot press the button yourself. More on fall detection alarms.
Your location is sent with the call, which matters when you are out on your own. See GPS personal alarms.
No phone line and nothing to top up — see alarms without a landline.
IP67 water resistant against everyday rain, splashes and temporary water exposure, and it needs only a regular top-up on the charger.
Older home alarm systems were built around a base unit plugged into a phone line, with a pendant that worked within range of it. That is fine in the living room and useless at the end of the road, which is why we do not use that design.
Our devices carry their own mobile connection, so the same protection applies in the kitchen, in the garden, at the bus stop and on a walk. For someone living alone, that removes the awkward question of whether to take the alarm off when going out — the answer is simply no.
Coverage is honest rather than absolute: the device needs usable mobile signal, which covers the overwhelming majority of everyday places but is never universal, particularly in remote countryside or deep inside large buildings. If you have a specific location in mind, our team will happily check it with you before you order.
Both have SOS, two-way speech, GPS and fall detection. The difference is how you prefer to wear it.
Best suited to: people who are out and about and want their alarm always on the wrist, plus health and wellbeing tracking.
(Pendants may vary)
Best suited to: people who dislike wearing a watch, or who want one large button and nothing else to learn.
Relatives sleep, travel and work. Our monitoring centre is staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so no single person has to be permanently reachable.
You can be a nominated contact without being the emergency response. Operators handle the call, make the decisions and update you afterwards.
Nominated family can check the device's location, battery and alert history in the TrueKare app, with the wearer's knowledge — not behind their back.
Framed well, an alarm is the reason someone can keep living alone rather than evidence that they should not. That framing matters more than any feature.
Everything is included in one monitoring plan — the device, the 4G SIM and round-the-clock UK monitoring.
Adult plans cost £32.99 a month, £89.99 every 3 months, or £299.99 a year (from £24.99 a month). A 30-day money-back guarantee applies, subject to our returns policy and terms.
The equipment is supplied for use with the monitoring service and remains the property of Medi Alarm 247 Limited, so it is returned when the service ends, in line with our terms and conditions.
Full breakdown: personal alarm costs and prices.
The device calls our 24/7 UK monitoring centre and switches to hands-free speech, so you can talk without holding anything. An operator sees who you are, the notes on your file and the device's location, then talks to you about what has happened and arranges the right help — a reassurance call, a nominated contact or key holder sent round, or the emergency services if that is what the situation needs. They stay on the line with you until help is with you.
Yes. The Go watch and the One pendant each have their own mobile SIM and GPS built in, so they work wherever there is usable mobile coverage — the garden, the shops, a walk, on the bus or visiting family. There is no base unit to stay within range of.
No. There is no phone socket to plug into and no Wi-Fi requirement. The SIM is included in your plan and there is nothing to top up.
Automatic fall detection is included as standard on both devices, which matters most when you live alone and cannot rely on someone else noticing. No fall-detection system can identify every fall, though, so the SOS button remains the surest way to raise help when you are able to press it.
A trained operator in our UK monitoring centre, staffed 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It is not an automated message and it is not an overseas call centre.
Many people choose one precisely because they are independent. A mobile alarm is not about giving anything up — it is a way of carrying a route to help with you so you can keep doing the things you already do, including going out on your own.
Talk it through with our UK team — coverage where you live, which device suits you, and what happens when you press the button. No pressure to order.
Phone lines open Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm. Go and One: 24/7 monitoring, 365 days a year. Junior: family monitored via the app only.
