Does Your Company Need Active Shooter Insurance?

A brick and mortar business wouldn't think of operating without fire insurance. And yet, did you know that a workplace shooting is more likely to happen than a fire? 

The fastest growing type of murder in the United States is workplace violence. Most people are unaware of this reality, which is why the idea of active shooter insurance is just catching on for businesses, schools, and other organizations.

Why is active shooter insurance necessary?

One of the questions employers often ask is, Why do I need active shooter insurance if I already have general insurance? The answer is simple: General insurance is insufficient and unreliable in the case of an active shooter incident.

General liability insurance policies do not activate unless a lawsuit is filed against the company where the shooting took place. Lawsuits take months and often years to resolve, and in the end, if your company is not held responsible for the shooting, then your insurance is not responsible to compensate your for your losses.

What does active shooter insurance cover?

An active shooter event creates an overwhelming amount of monetary losses. There are also intangible costs associated with such an incident. Active shooter insurance covers both of these losses:

Tangible Costs Covered by Active Shooter Insurance

• Medical Bills. Worker's comp does not cover employees injured during an active shooter incident.
• Funeral Costs and Death Benefits. If lives are lost during an active shooter event at your company, then your company will be responsible for funeral costs and death benefits.
• Trauma Counseling. An active shooter event is not something people bounce back from after taking a few days off. Most times, extensive counseling is necessary.
• Victim Compensation. Depending on the situation, employers are often required to compensate employees affected by an active shooter event. 
• Litigation. Taking legal action may be necessary, and active shooter insurance will help to mitigate the costs, if not cover them completely.
• Reconstruction and Refurbishing. The physical damage a building experiences during an active shooter event is significant. What's more, many companies choose to either tear down and rebuild their structure, or they significantly redesign it in order to remove any reminders of the traumatic events that occurred.
• Improved Security. After a shooting, most businesses will reevaluate and upgrade their security systems. If security is not addressed, employees will likely infer that their company doesn't care about their safety. 

Intangible Costs Covered by Active Shooter Insurance

• Damage to your business reputation. As new stories are published and the community talks about the active shooter incident at your company, people are usually looking for someone to blame. Unfortunately, if blame is shifted in your direction, your business's reputation could suffer as a result.
• High turnover among workers. Regardless of how well an organization handles the aftermath of a shooting, they are likely to experience high turnover. This can cause a financial strain on the business, and active shooter insurance can help compensate for that.
• Business interruption. Businesses are usually forced to close for a period of time after a shooting. With no money coming in, insurance is necessary to keep the business from shutting its doors permanently.

What active shooter insurance policies should you watch out for?

Before choosing an active shooter insurance policy, read the fine print carefully. Some policies do not cover the following:

• Acts of terrorism
• Shootings that fail to meet a specified casualty threshold
• Shootings committed by employees (as opposed to individuals not associated with your business)
• Vehicle damage
• Mental anguish or domestic violence affairs

Any of the above scenarios are likely to be true in the event of a workplace shooting, so if you're going to get active shooter insurance (and you should), then you want to be sure you're covered in these circumstances.

A Right Response

We are surrounded by risk, and unfortunately the likelihood of an active shooter event happening at your workplace is too high to ignore. We encourage you to protect your company with active shooter insurance coverage. We'd also be more than happy to discuss opportunities to practice preparedness through Active Shooter Response Training for your corporate team. Contact us today to learn more!