ELA app iconELA · For Jon, 13 October 2026

A UK version for assault and kidnapping?

What the UK already has, how a private service gets police to come, and where ELA fits instead.

What the UK already has

Free on most phones, cheap as an app, and an established market selling to employers.

WhatTypeWhat it doesPrice
iPhone Emergency SOSBuilt inPress the side button five times. It calls 999, then texts your emergency contacts your location and updates.1Free
Android Emergency SOSBuilt inPress the power button five times (Android 12 or later). It calls emergency services, shares your location with contacts and can record video.2Free
Apple Watch fall and crash detectionBuilt inCalls emergency services if you don't respond after a hard fall or a severe car crash, then messages your contacts with your location.3,4Free with the device
Hollie GuardFree appFrom the Hollie Gazzard Trust. An alert sends your location, audio and video to your emergency contacts.5,6Free
Hollie Guard ExtraA 24/7 monitoring centre takes your alert and escalates genuine threats to police with a URN, a police reference number. TSB gives it free for a year to customers facing abuse.5,7£7.99 a monthor £79.99 a year
PeoplesafeEmployersApp, devices and Apple Watch, linked to its own 24/7 alarm receiving centre. Accredited to BS 8484:2022, with URN police escalation.8,9On quote
StaySafeEmployersLone-worker app and cloud monitoring, certified to BS 8484. Alerts are monitored by the employer or an outside centre.10£3.30 a user a monthG-Cloud 14 list price

How common: the Crime Survey for England and Wales estimates 989,000 incidents of violence against people aged 16 and over in the year to March 2026, and police recorded 507,169 offences of violence with injury. The headline figures don't break out kidnapping.11

“Contacting the police” in the UK

There are two ways in. Only one gives a private service priority.

  1. Anyone can call 999, and phones already do it for free. A mobile caller who can't speak can press 55 when prompted to be put through to police. A silent call alone doesn't bring help: in 2020, of about 20,000 silent 999 calls a day, 55 was detected roughly 50 times.12
  2. Priority response runs through accredited monitoring centres. Under the police chiefs' (NPCC) rules, a centre that meets BS 8484, conforms to BS 5979 Cat II or BS EN 50518, and is certified by a UKAS-accredited body can apply to the police for a lone-worker URN. It costs £67.10 to £134.30 plus VAT a year, by number of devices, renewed each 1 April.13
  3. The operator must check before calling. They work out what is happening from audio or video and, where safe, contact the user. Police are called only if someone is harmed or at imminent risk, or a serious crime is under way. Lone-worker alarms then get a Level 1, immediate response, which the NPCC says “cannot be guaranteed”.13

What we'd need: our own certified 24/7 UK monitoring centre, or a contract with one that already holds URNs. Either way it's a new UK operation, not a feature.

What carries over, and what doesn't

Carries over

  • Hold to arm, and a countdown that sends from our servers even if the phone is taken.
  • Live location, trusted-contact alerts and the Apple Watch app.
  • The operations console and the case record.

Doesn't

  • The law-firm panel and consulate routes. An assault alert needs police, not lawyers.
  • The gap. In the UAE nobody covers arrest; in the UK, Hollie Guard and the lone-worker firms already cover assault.
  • Our desk as it stands. Police escalation needs a certified UK centre and URNs.

Better routes into the UK

ELA Travel: Britons arrested abroad

Recommended, after UAE launch
  • The gap is real. The FCDO can tell your family and give you a list of local English-speaking lawyers. It can't get you out of prison, pay for lawyers or give legal advice.14
  • Travel insurance is no fix. In the wording we checked, legal expenses cover pays to claim compensation after an injury and excludes defending proceedings brought against you. One specialist add-on covers a “consultation following arrest”.15,16
  • It uses our edge. Same hold, countdown and dispatch to a vetted lawyer, the consulate and family. Start with the UAE panel we're building, add countries one at a time, and sell through travel insurers.

License the engine

Side option
  • UK lone-worker firms already hold what we lack: certified centres, police URNs and employer sales.
  • We'd supply the app layer; they keep the certification and the police link.
  • Revenue is unproven. One exploratory conversation after the UAE launch, not before.

Sources

Each checked at source on 13 October 2026.

  1. Apple: Make an emergency call or text on iPhone or Apple WatchFive presses of the side button, calls 999, alerts contacts with location and updates. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  2. Google: Get help during an emergency with your Android phoneAndroid 12 or later; call, share location, record video. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  3. Apple: Use Fall Detection with Apple WatchCalls after about a minute without movement and a 30-second countdown. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  4. Apple: Use Crash Detection on iPhone or Apple WatchiPhone 14 or later, Apple Watch Series 8 or later. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  5. Hollie Guard websiteCore app free; Extra from £7.99 a month or £79.99 a year, with “URN escalation”. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  6. App Store (UK): Hollie Guard, Personal SafetyFree; location, audio and video to contacts; built by the Hollie Gazzard Trust. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  7. End the Fear: TSB offers free access to Hollie Guard Extra26 May 2025; one year free for customers fleeing or experiencing abuse. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  8. Peoplesafe: Lone Worker App24/7 alarm receiving centre, BS 8484:2022, Apple Watch; no public prices. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  9. G-Cloud 14: Lone Worker Employee Protection Services from PeoplesafeURN police escalation; BS EN 50518 centre. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  10. G-Cloud 14: StaySafe (EcoOnline UK)£3.30 a user a month; BS 8484; monitoring in-house or by an external service. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  11. ONS: Crime in England and Wales, year ending March 2026Released 23 July 2026. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  12. IOPC: Remember the Silent Solution22 April 2020; dial 999, press 55 if prompted. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  13. NPCC: Police Requirements for Response to Security Systems (PDF)March 2024; Appendix V covers lone worker services, sections 3.1.1 and 7 cover response levels. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  14. GOV.UK: Help if you're arrested abroadWhat the FCDO can and can't do; 24/7 line +44 (0)20 7008 5000. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  15. Snowcard: Travel legal expensesA UK travel insurer's wording: covers claims against a third party for injury; excludes defence and your own criminal acts. Checked 13 Oct 2026
  16. Arc Legal: Travel legal expensesSold as a section of travel policies; case types include “consultation following arrest”. Checked 13 Oct 2026