Armed Security &Executive Protection Insurance.
Armed security and protection firms operate where standard CGL forms exclude the core exposure of the work itself. Assault and battery endorsements, professional liability, and the right carrier appetite are what make the program function.
CGL form exclusions eliminate the core exposure.
A standard CGL policy issued to a contractor doesn't have to do anything special when the contractor's work — installing pipe, paving a road, framing a building — doesn't involve intentional physical engagement with people. Armed security work does. Standard CGL forms generally exclude or sublimit assault and battery, which is precisely where the security firm's actual claim activity concentrates. Without the right endorsement, the policy doesn't cover the work the firm actually does.
The Assault and Battery Endorsement
The assault and battery endorsement modifies the standard exclusion to provide coverage for claims arising from intentional engagement work, subject to specific terms, sublimits, and procedural requirements. The endorsement language varies materially across security insurance markets — affirmative coverage versus carve-back coverage, primary versus excess application, defense within or outside limits. Specialty placement focuses heavily on form selection.
Professional Liability — The Service Inadequacy Claim
Executive protection firms increasingly face professional liability claims alleging that the protective service itself was inadequate — wrong threat assessment, wrong protocols, wrong staffing, wrong decisions in real time. The exposure is conceptually parallel to errors and omissions in other professional service categories, and standard CGL does not respond to service inadequacy claims.
Program architecture for an armed security / EP firm.
CGL with Assault & Battery Endorsement
The foundation coverage. Standard CGL with affirmative assault and battery endorsement, firearms-specific scope, and appropriate per-occurrence and aggregate limits.
Professional Liability / Security E&O
For service inadequacy claims — threat assessment, protocol selection, staffing decisions, and real-time judgment during incidents.
Commercial Umbrella / Excess
Corporate, government, and high-net-worth client contracts routinely require liability limits well above standard security firm program defaults.
Commercial Auto — Armored / Protection
Protection detail vehicles, armored transport, executive transport, and patrol fleet. Specialty endorsements address protective driving and tactical operations.
Workers Compensation
Security officer and executive protection officer classifications including armed posts, mobile patrol, and protective detail work.
Employment Practices Liability (EPLI)
For employment-related claims from security officer staffing, terminations, training, and high-turnover dynamics common in security operations.
Employee Dishonesty / Crime
For officer-customer interaction exposure, key access scenarios, and theft/embezzlement scenarios in protected environments.
Armed security insurance — answered.
What insurance do armed security and executive protection firms need? +
Armed security and executive protection firms need a coordinated program addressing the elevated severity of armed engagement work and the unique exposure of protection details. The complete program includes commercial general liability with assault and battery coverage and firearms-specific endorsements, professional liability for the security service work itself, commercial auto for protection details and transport, workers compensation for security officer classifications, employment practices liability for security staffing, employee dishonesty for officer-customer interaction exposure, and commercial umbrella to satisfy contract requirements common in corporate, government, and high-net-worth client engagements.
Why does armed security insurance need an assault and battery endorsement? +
Standard commercial general liability policies typically exclude or sublimit coverage for claims arising from intentional acts including assault and battery. Armed security work, by its nature, involves the potential for physical engagement with subjects — restraint, defensive force, and in rare cases the discharge of firearms. Without an assault and battery endorsement, coverage may not respond to the central claim categories the firm actually faces. The endorsement modifies the standard exclusion to provide affirmative coverage subject to specific terms, sublimits, and procedural requirements.
What is professional liability for an executive protection firm? +
Professional liability for executive protection firms addresses claims alleging that the firm's protective services were professionally inadequate — that the threat assessment was incorrect, the protective detail was understaffed or undertrained, the protocols were inappropriate for the threat environment, or that decisions made by the firm's principals during an incident were professionally negligent. Standard commercial general liability addresses third-party bodily injury and property damage but generally does not respond to professional service inadequacy claims.
Adjacent service hubs.
Four generations of specialty placement.
Kelly Insurance Group traces its lineage to 1881 — from Pittsburgh's Grant Street to a specialty brokerage placing programs for security and protection firms operating in a market where assault and battery form selection alone can determine whether coverage responds. Specialty placement is the difference between a program that protects and a program that doesn't.
READ THE FULL HISTORY →Specialists in security firm placement.
Armed security and EP programs require brokers who understand assault and battery endorsement scope, professional liability for protective services, and the carrier appetite spectrum for armed engagement work. Our team has placed these programs.
MEET THE KIG TEAM →Client Portal · COIs on Demand
Most KIG clients receive access to our custom client portal for 24/7 certificate generation — essential for security firms managing per-contract, per-detail, and per-venue certificate requirements across simultaneous engagements.
Discuss your security firm program.
Tell us about your operation — service mix, engagement tier, client base, and the contract requirements you need to satisfy. We structure programs around the actual exposure profile.
- Armed and unarmed contract security firms
- Executive protection and personal security firms
- Celebrity and high-net-worth protection firms
- Armored transport and cash-in-transit firms
- Mobile patrol and response firms
- Event security and venue protection firms
- Corporate and embassy protection contractors
- Hospital and healthcare facility security firms
// COVERAGE AVAILABILITY, TERMS, AND ELIGIBILITY VARY BY CARRIER, STATE, AND INDIVIDUAL RISK. ASSAULT AND BATTERY ENDORSEMENT LANGUAGE AND LIMITS VARY MATERIALLY ACROSS CARRIERS. THIS PAGE DESCRIBES COVERAGE CONCEPTS GENERALLY. CONTACT KIG TO DISCUSS YOUR SECURITY OPERATION. KIG TRACES ITS AGENCY LINEAGE TO 1881.