Insurance for Security Services

Security guards face unique challenges and must be adequately prepared for them. Likewise, the private security industry is growing and continuing to diversify into different sectors with a wide range of different job responsibilities and target markets. Getting the right insurance for security guards is key in making sure that your security guards and your firm are covered in case anything happens.

There are 2 main reasons why excess coverage policies are important for security businesses.

1. They come into contact with potentially aggressive individuals. Security guards have to monitor situations for danger, and sometimes that can mean approaching individuals and engaging with them, either to escort them from a building or to stop them from gaining further access. Even the most reasonable restraint can turn into a claim despite having no grounds for a claim, and even the most well-trained security guard can make a mistake. Ensure that your client is well-covered for any eventuality.
2. Their employees can be in dangerous situations. Depending on the size of your client’s company, there can be a lot of employees to cover, and all of them run a chance of injury each time they have a shift. This means that security companies need to invest in protective equipment that will need repairs and replacement over time, and it also means that your client needs adequate medical coverage for their employees depending on the state and their responsibilities.

If your client is an independent contractor or has a company that offers services as security guards, doormen, or security consultants, or works in armored cars or private patrols, having security guard insurance is necessary.

Here are some specific areas of coverage that your client’s security businesses may need:

• Property insurance: If your client is a security consultant, they will, of course, need coverage for their office. But companies that hire out security guards and vehicles have much more property that can be harmed during the day-to-day course of business: protective gear, communications devices and emergency radios, and even alarms or security cameras. Work with your client to make sure their insurance plan covers all of their property and equipment; not only will your client’s financial future be safer, but they’ll also continue to trust you with it.
• Professional liability insurance: Your client’s customers rely on their professional expertise. Whether the business plan focuses on protecting individuals, protecting property, or securely transporting goods from location to location, one misstep could spell claims and even lawsuits for your client. This event, alleged or actual, is likely to occur no matter how professional your client is, so walk them through the process to make it less stressful and to remove any surprise gaps in coverage now.
• Assault and battery insurance: This component of insurance covers your client and their employees in the event of an occurrence in which reasonable physical force is necessary to protect people or their client’s property. In the event that a security professional has to restrain someone in the reasonable course of fulfilling their job responsibilities, knowing that you’re covered in the event of a claim or lawsuit can help minimize the stress of an already stressful encounter.
• Abuse and molestation coverage: Sometimes security guards are required to use physical restraint and can be seen as the bad guy of a conflict. No matter the quality of the services a company offers or the true facts of the situation, having coverage in the event of allegations of abuse is critical to maintaining the function of the day-to-day business. Proactively having abuse and molestation coverage helps protect the asset of your client’s security company in the event of actual or alleged incidents.
• Errors and omissions insurance: Even if you have clients that offer security consulting instead of actual services or goods, they need to have a policy that protects their business from claims about the advice given to their customers.

Security companies face a lot of risks when they face the public. If you advise your clients to be proactive about finding excess coverage that fits their needs and business, you can lower the risk for everyone involved.

Insurance is about making your commercial clients feel secure, and even clients in the security business need that. Whether your clients offer direct security services or offer consulting services, tried and true methods might not be what their clients are looking for. As security companies try to find new ways of securing premises or surveilling potential threats, some of them won’t be sufficient and they will need coverage to respond to claims.

If you want to learn more about the different types of excess insurance coverage you should be offering your client, click here for more information about Prime Insurance Company.