Adjua Fisher for Risk and Insurance magazine discusses active shooter insurance – relevant for hotels

02 April, 2019 Insurance

Adjua Fisher, on 1 March 2019, wrote the informative article, “Is Active Shooter Insurance Becoming a Risk Management Necessity?” for Risk and Insurance.

In the article, Fisher asserts that, out of 500 workplace homicides in 2016 in the US, close to 80 % resulted from shootings.

Fisher goes on to say that, “Active shooter insurance, also known as ‘active assailant insurance,’ is a type of gap coverage used to supplement general liability insurance, covering unexpected expenses stemming from a shooting, like funeral costs, death benefits and more.”

Such insurance is becoming more common because of the above cited statistics.

Muir Analytics collects hotel violence data from all over the world, and it has multitudes of hotel shootings in its database ranging from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and Latin America. The US, however, has more hotel shootings than any other country, all of which are intricately profiled in the SecureHotel Threat Portal’s US hotel violence profile.

Incidents like this one in the US are not uncommon: “Hotel guests awoken, evacuated amid active shooter search in MA,” ABC 7 WWSB, 26 March 2019.

Because of the scale of incidents, and because of the liability risks, active shooter insurance is something hoteliers should consider. It is not just about casualties, either. It’s also about business losses and lawsuits over emotional and mental trauma.

Proper hotel violence risk analyses, based on comprehensive data like that contained in the SecureHotel Threat Portal, can serve as actuarial information to help underwriters and brokers calibrate risks, secure proper financial backing, and write effective, named peril policies.

Sources and further reading:

Hotel guests awoken, evacuated amid active shooter search in MA,” ABC 7 WWSB, 26 March 2019.

Is Active Shooter Insurance Becoming a Risk Management Necessity?,” Risk and Insurance, 1 March 2019.

Copyright © Muir Analytics 2019