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26 ¦ APRIL 12, 2021 NEWS

Active Shootings: Helping a Business
Survive a Mass Casualty Event

By Chantal M. Roberts and Nancy Germond

Are those firecrackers? Is a
car backfiring? Perhaps
there’s a disturbance of
some kind. Today’s insureds
rarely consider if an active
shooter incident can occur on
their property. Unfortunately,
active shooter or “active as-
sailant” incidents are more
prevalent in the United States
than ever before. Due to the in-
creasing occurrence of this type
of loss, businesses who face this
situation may find themselves
without coverage for many During an active assailant incident, bullets, explosions or the police knocking
claims that arise post-event. down doors to gain access to the interior will damage a building. If a business
These uncovered losses can
include post-traumatic stress has the “special” cause of loss form, the insurer will probably cover the
damages if the insured meets all other insurance provisions.
(Photo: @prathaan – stock.adobe.com)
(PTSD) treatment, structural
improvements of buildings, post-event security or cover the damages if the insured meets all other
uncovered workers’ compensation claims. insurance provisions.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security
defines an active shooter as “an individual ac-
Active assailant occurrences in the United tively engaged in killing or attempting to kill
States people in a confined and populated area, typical-
For the standardized business owners coverage ly through the use of firearms.” Definitions play
an important role because not all active assailant
(BP 00 03 07/13) (BOP) and the commercial gen- insurance policies define an event in the same
eral liability (CG 00 01 04/13) (CGL) forms “occur- way. The incident can include a shooting, a stab-
rence” has the same definition meaning “an acci- bing, an explosion such as the Boston Marathon
dent, including continuous or repeated exposure to bombing or individuals driving automobiles into
substantially the same general harmful conditions.” a crowd.
These standard commercial policies could leave in-
sureds with large, uncovered losses which would Insuring agreements, definitions and exclusions
exceed their policy limits and litigation costs which differ among insurers. Historically, active assail-
could devastate a small-to-medium sized company. ant policies stemmed from terrorism and kidnap

Liability exposure is not the only peril faced
by insureds. During an active assailant incident, and ransom policies. However, as these horrific
bullets, explosions or the police knocking down events escalated and the types of damages began
doors to gain access to the interior will damage the to increase, underwriters and claims professionals
building. Provided the business has the “special” recognized that these policy forms failed to meet
cause of loss form, the insurer would probably their clients’ needs.

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