Active assailant insurance, explained plainly.
Coverage for the liability, care for victims, closure and crisis response that can follow a violent attack at your location, set next to what your general liability, property and workers’ comp policies already do.
By Sam Alishahi · CA Insurance License #4348151 · Reviewed November 2026 · How this page is researched
Where your other policies may stop short
CISA, using the FBI’s definition, describes an active shooter as one or more people actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area. Active shooter policies were written for that kind of event, and the Reinsurance Association of America notes the coverage isn’t limited to firearms; active assailant coverage can extend to other weapons, such as motor vehicles. The RAA says the coverage was first useful to universities and has since grown to hotels, hospitals, businesses and other places where many people gather.
Your current policies may already respond to part of an incident, so I start there. Workers’ comp generally covers medical costs for employees hurt at work. A general liability policy may pay for bodily injury and defense costs, but some carry assault and battery or firearms exclusions, and some courts have held that a shooting wasn’t an accidental “occurrence” under the policy. Business income can be a gap too: a general liability policy may not pay lost income when law enforcement closes a site. I read what you have, then show what a standalone active assailant policy would add, so you can decide whether it’s worth it.
- Third-party liabilityClaims from people hurt at your location, with defense costs and judgments or settlements.
- Victim benefitsMedical bills, death benefits, funeral costs and crisis counseling; on some policies, paid without anyone having to sue.
- Business interruptionLost income after an attack, and on some policies, after an attack near your location.
- Crisis responseServices before and after an incident, and on some property programs, the cost of renovating or rebuilding.
What underwriters will ask
Having these ready means I can go to market on the first call. The quote form asks for the same things, and anything you don’t know yet can wait.
- The organization: what you do, and the address of each location.
- People on site: employees, and the most visitors you have at one time.
- Security: guards, locked or badge entry, and any written emergency action plan.
- Training: active assailant or de-escalation training for staff, and when it was last done.
- Current policies: general liability, property, workers’ comp and umbrella declarations pages.
- History: any violent incidents or threats at your locations, and the date you want coverage to start.
What a written emergency action plan covers
CISA's Instructional Guide to the CISA Active Assailant Emergency Action Plan Template, dated February 2025, explains each section of a fillable template. It notes that an attack is not limited to firearms and could involve edged weapons, vehicles or explosives. The template has ten sections:
- Applicability and scope (separate plans may be needed for primary and off-site locations)
- Key roles and responsibilities
- Floor plans and maps
- Facility emergency access preparedness
- Emergency communications
- Procedures for evacuation, lockdown and shelter-in-place
- Response procedures during an incident, including when law enforcement arrives
- Accountability
- Recovery
- Training and exercises
Two details matter when you apply for coverage. The guide lists an insurance representative among the outside partners to consult when you build the planning team, next to law enforcement, the fire department and emergency medical services. It also says to review the plan annually and update it for changes in threats, incidents, resources, policies, facilities or equipment, and feedback from exercises. CISA calls its recommendations options for consideration, not mandates.
For individual response, the guide names models such as Run-Hide-Fight. Ready.gov says getting away from the attacker is the top priority, to hide if you can't evacuate, and to fight only as a last resort. When law enforcement arrives, it says to remain calm, follow instructions and keep hands visible and empty.
A dated plan with a dated review answers several underwriting questions at once. If you run a church or an event venue, send it with your application.
California school safety plans and drills
In California, each school district and county office of education is responsible for comprehensive school safety plans for its schools serving kindergarten through grade 12. Education Code 32282 lists what the plan must include, among them procedures for tactical responses to criminal incidents, including individuals with guns on school campuses and at school-related functions. Procedures to prepare for active shooters or other armed assailants must be based on the specific needs and context of each school and community. The plan must be evaluated at least once a year.
If the plan prepares for armed assailants with a drill, the section sets these limits:
- No high-intensity drills. These are drills with simulations that mimic an actual incident, such as makeup showing wounds, people acting as the assailant or victims, or instructions for pupils to resist an assailant by throwing objects, attacking or swarming.
- No real weapons, gunfire blanks or explosions.
- Trauma-informed design. Content and terminology are age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate, developed with school personnel, including school-based mental health professionals.
- Notice and opt-out. Parents, guardians and staff get advance notice of the drill and its expected length, announcements come right before and after, parents and guardians are notified afterward, and parents or guardians can opt their children out.
The section does not mention private schools, which can still use the CISA template above. For the underwriter, have the date of the last plan evaluation, the date of the last drill and how parents were notified.
Planning for the weeks after
CISA's guide treats recovery as its own section of the plan. It notes that a site may be inaccessible for an extended period after an attack, and it asks organizations to plan for how they will function immediately after an incident and in the months and years to follow. Its business continuity checklist includes:
- How long the organization can withstand a disruption to daily operations
- How it will sustain or re-establish its most essential functions
- Alternate work sites if the site is too damaged, unsafe or still an active crime scene, with agreements set up in advance
- Plans to protect critical information, records and IT systems
The guide also lists insurance providers among the community resources for recovery, along with grief counselors, employee assistance programs and lawyers.
If a site could be closed for weeks, I read how the business income section of your property policy or business owner's policy handles a closure by civil authority, and how an active assailant policy's business interruption part is worded. Whether any loss is paid depends on the policy wording and the facts, which the insurer decides.
Active assailant insurance, answered
Does general liability cover a mass shooting?
It may cover part of it. A general liability policy can pay for bodily injury and defense costs, but some exclude assault and battery or firearms, and some courts have held that a shooting wasn’t an accidental “occurrence.” I read your policy’s exclusions before you decide anything.
Does terrorism insurance cover an active shooter?
Not always. Under federal law, the Secretary of the Treasury has to certify an act as terrorism, which includes finding it was part of an effort to coerce the U.S. civilian population or to influence government policy by coercion, and no act can be certified unless insured property and casualty losses exceed $5 million in total. A shooting may not meet that test, so read how your terrorism coverage defines a covered act.
Does workers’ comp cover employees hurt in a workplace shooting?
Workers’ comp generally covers medical costs for employees injured at work, and employees who witness an attack may be eligible for benefits for PTSD or other psychological effects. In most states it’s the employee’s sole remedy against the employer, though some courts may allow exceptions. Workers’ comp is for employees, not customers or visitors.
Who buys active assailant insurance?
AM Best reported in 2018 that large organizations bought first, such as larger school systems, health care systems, parades and high-profile events, and that smaller ones, such as churches, day care centers and delis, were then seeking coverage. The RAA notes the coverage was first useful to universities.
Do I need it if I already have liability and workers’ comp?
Not necessarily. A law professor quoted by AM Best said many of these losses are already covered if an organization has liability, workers’ comp and health insurance. A standalone policy can add victim benefits that don’t require a lawsuit, crisis response and lost income, so I lay the two side by side.
Do you offer active assailant insurance outside California?
Yes. Clients across the country send the same quote form. Sam Alishahi is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, DC and places policies there directly. The shopping across carriers works the same way. Rules, minimums and markets differ by state — see insurance requirements by state.
Official sources
- CISA: Active Shooter Preparedness
- CISA: Active Assailant Emergency Action Plan product suite
- CISA: Protecting Houses of Worship
- Reinsurance Association of America: Active shooter insurance
- AM Best, Best’s Review: A Response to Tragedy (December 2018)
- OSHA: Workplace violence
- Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, as amended, section 102 (15 U.S.C. 6701 note)
- CISA, Instructional Guide to the CISA Active Assailant Emergency Action Plan Template (February 2025)
- Ready.gov, Mass Gathering Incidents
- California Labor Code section 6401.9
- California Education Code section 32281
- California Education Code section 32282
- OSHA, Workplace Violence: Enforcement
Send your current policies. I’ll read them first.
Your general liability declarations page and the number of locations are enough to start.
Alishahi Insurance · Saman Alishahi, independent insurance broker, California License #4348151. General information, not a quote or a promise of coverage; coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued.
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