Does our church insurance cover active shooter or security incidents?

Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies may provide some coverage for liability and expenses arising from a shooting or violent incident at your place of worship. However, coverage can be restricted, limited, or even denied, due to various exclusions and how they are interpreted by the insurance carrier. For example, some policies exclude incidents when the employee is the perpetrator, firearm-related violence, or injuries resulting from criminal acts. In certain situations, carriers may also attempt to apply terrorism exclusions or classify injuries to employees as workers’ compensation claims instead of liability claims.

Even when coverage applies, CGL policies often do not address important costs such as crisis response, counseling services, or temporary security measures following an incident.

These limitations within standard CGL policies have led to the development of specialized active shooter coverage, typically offered as stand-alone policies or endorsements for an additional premium. These policies are generally triggered by a premeditated, violent attack involving an armed assailant, and includes benefits such as medical expenses, loss of income, disability or death benefits, funeral costs, counseling services, rehabilitation, legal expenses, and business interruption.

Given the realities of today’s environment, church representatives should be connecting with their agent often to be proactive in understanding their coverage and potential gaps. While rare, these incidents happen without warning, and having the right protections in place is an important part of safeguarding your operations, and most importantly, your people.