Twitter chat goes deep into active assailant coverage, the risk that 'isn't going away'
The wide-ranging chat saw the panel revealing some sobering statistics about the rising threat of violence in the workplace.
At some point in the ”Violent Risks: Active Shooter Insurance & Deadly Weapon Protection” Twitter chat, every panelist expressed some version of this warning: No one is immune from these kinds of attacks.
Lucy Straker, terrorism underwriter at Beazley, emphasized that “every single person has exposure. You do not have to be a target to be a victim and unfortunately we cannot afford to look away.”
“Many of these incidents arise out of personal/domestic violence that comes into the workplace, so NO BUSINESS IS IMMUNE today,” remarked Nancy Germond, executive director of risk management and education at the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America.
The wide-ranging chat, which covered such subjects as policy exclusions and law enforcement assessment influence on policy responses, also saw the panel revealing some sobering statistics about the rising threat of violence in the workplace.
“Per OSHA,” said Kathleen Maria Bonczyk, founder and executive director of Workplace Violence Prevention Institute, “at least 2 million Americans are at risk of workplace violence each year, with occupational homicide the third leading cause of occupational death at the present time.”
“The U.S. is seeing unprecedented levels of gun violence — nearly 2 mass shootings a day. This risk isn’t going away,” said Straker.
The panel stressed the importance of crisis response policies. “Most of them cover response coverages that the traditional markets are not,” said Paul Marshall, managing director and underwriter for McGowan Program Administrators.
“These policies are designed as a program,” explained Straker. ”They go so much further than traditional insurance options as they focus on protecting your people, your reputation, and your brand as well as indemnification.”
Bonczyk also noted that these policies “help to insure pre-loss compliance.”
And demand for these types of policies, according to Germond, is “way up.”
“We always work to keep our agents aware of emerging risks; this is certainly one big one. More agents now offer as part of their normal risk review,” she said.
“Our programs have seen tremendous growth over the last 12 months even through Covid due to increasing political violence and overall stresses,” agreed Marshall. “I feel there’s a big trend as far as organizations wanting to help victims rather than litigation.”
Noting the sharp increase in clients purchasing standalone cover over the past five years, Straker said, “Many clients used to be in denial that this could happen to them. They relied on traditional cover. Some agents and brokers weren’t aware of the standalone market. As violence continues to escalate more people are seeking more robust definitive solutions.”
Among those solutions is prevention of these incidents.
“Too many people focus on response only. Yet, we also need to know how to prevent these events. Prevention starts with identifying and reporting violent behaviors,” said Straker.
Bonczyk agreed. “No one just ‘breaks.’ There’s an element of planning over days, weeks, even months and during the same these perpetrators leak violent intent usually on the internet.”
Germond suggested reaching out to local law enforcement agencies who can recommend experts and even provide training for employees. “It’s better to be prepared for a violent incident than to be caught flat-footed,” she said.
As if there weren’t enough good reasons already for agents and brokers to review these risks with all their commercial clients, there’s also the threat of litigation.
“We were seeing massive lawsuits and litigation regarding these mass shootings and I feel agents and brokers can and will be held accountable if they do not share,” said Marshall.
Bonczyk concurred, “In states where extra-contractual statutory bad faith litigation is permitted, an agent may be brought in as a possible defendant as well, or even in a common law theory.”
“As an agent, we want to never answer the question: ‘Why didn’t you tell me there was a coverage I could have bought that would have protected my assets?’” said Germond.
“This isn’t just about insurance,” said Straker. “It’s about protecting your people, your brand and your reputation also.”
Check out highlights from the chat in our Twitter moment, and follow #ActiveShooterRisk to see the full discussion.
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