Media Center

The headlines don’t seem to stop.

• 2 dead in shooting outside Southern California Secondary School
• 9 dead, 27 injured in shooting at Dayton, Ohio Entertainment District
• A shooting at Walmart Store in El Paso, Texas Leaves 22 Dead and at Least 24 Wounded
• Former City Employee Kills 12 and Wounds 4 at Virginia Beach Municipal Building
• 5 Killed at Manufacturing Plant in Aurora, 6 Police Officers Injured

According to the FBI, there were 277 documented active assailant events from 2000-2018 resulting in the wounding or death of 2,430 individuals. Unfortunately, the numbers have not regressed through 2019, rather, the frequency has continued at an alarming pace. According to Gun Violence Archive, a non-profit that tracks every mass shooting in the United States, there have been more mass shootings in 2019 (369) than days elapsed.

Aside from the sheer volume of incidents and number of casualties, of concern is the varied targets of such violence. Hospitality, retail, schools, office, industrial, health care, places of worship have all been targeted. No one is immune begging the question, are you prepared for an active assailant event?

Businesses are at risk of loss both financially and from a human capital perspective. Consider the following:

• How will you pay for the costs associated with injury or death to your employees or business invitees?
• Will your employees be as productive in the ensuing days or months after an event?
• Can your business withstand a shut down and the resulting loss of income associated with an event?
• What about your reputation?
• Can you pay for additional costs associated with the design and implementation of additional security measures to prevent future events?
• What about liability? Are you prepared to handle ensuing litigation?

Traditional property & casualty insurance policies may leave significant gaps in coverage and the potential for crippling uninsured losses. For example, a traditional property policy requires property damage to trigger business interruption coverage. Reliance on a general liability policy requires claims to be made and a finding of negligence before medical payments and funeral costs will be paid. Will injuries from an active assailant event sparked by a domestic dispute be deemed “within the course and scope of employment” as required to trigger coverage under a workers’ compensation policy? Will a claim by each victim be deemed one occurrence, or multiple occurrences triggering the payment of multiple deductibles?

The insurance industry has developed an Active Assailant coverage designed to plug the gaps in traditional business insurance policies.

A well-designed Active Assailant policy provides additional coverages, beyond third party liability, which will allow your clients to fulfill the duty of care obligations owed to employees, patrons, students etc. Coverage includes:

• Third Party Liability
• Medical expenses, counseling costs, and funeral costs for third parties and employees (starting on day 1)
• Death and disability benefits
• Pre and post loss advice from crisis management experts
• Employee retraining and recruitment costs
• Business interruption and loss of attraction
• First party property damage
• Off site coverage is available for sponsored events

Deductibles and waiting periods applicable to the coverage are negotiable and are often lower than those on traditional policies. Additionally, Active Assailant policies are written on a primary basis which may serve to protect the limits, and loss history, of your traditional property & casualty program reserving these programs for the types of losses in which they were intended to respond. Most importantly, all coverage grants in the Policy are triggered if an active assailant causes property damage OR bodily injury to one or more persons resolving the multiple triggers that would be required under a traditional insurance program.

Unfortunately, the threat of an Active Assailant event is a reality today. Have you explored an Active Assailant Policy to protect against these risks? Can you afford not to?

For more information visit our Active Assailant page or contact us here.

(Sources: fbi.gov)