Political violence has become a meaningful exposure for U.S. businesses. This was underscored in 2020, when widespread protests and riots across the United States resulted in more than $2 billion in insured losses, the largest political violence loss event in U.S. history. In the years since, election-related unrest, public demonstrations, and isolated acts of violence have continued to surface across diverse markets. For your clients, this creates a dangerous coverage gap that could leave them financially exposed.
However, the insurance market is adapting to this new reality. Crisis management insurance has emerged as the specialized solution designed specifically to address these growing political violence, sabotage, and terrorism exposures.
In this guide, we’ll introduce Distinguished’s Crisis Management Insurance program and its three distinct coverage options designed to address different aspects of political violence and active threats. We will also introduce what crisis management insurance is, who needs it, what it covers, and why Distinguished is the right choice when it comes to filling these critical coverage gaps for your clients.
What is Crisis Management Insurance?
Crisis management insurance is specialized coverage that protects businesses against financial losses from a variety of political violence and malicious damage events. This includes, but is not limited to, covered damages that arise from:
- Terrorist activities
- Deliberate acts of sabotage
- Civil unrest
- Strikes
- Riots
- Active assailant attacks
Crisis management insurance should be viewed as supplemental coverage that fills critical gaps left by standard property and liability policies. Most standard property policies don’t cover the many additional crisis-response costs that follow a political violence or active assailant event, like employee counseling, crisis consultants, or extended business interruption. Crisis management insurance is specifically designed to address these exposures, providing comprehensive protection that standard policies simply don’t offer.
Who Needs Crisis Management Insurance?
Crisis management insurance is particularly valuable for clients operating in high-traffic or high-profile locations where there is an increased risk of political violence or active threat events.
Prime candidates include:
- Commercial property owners with multiple locations or high-value assets in urban areas
- Hospitality businesses, including hotels, resorts, and conference centers that host large gatherings
- Retail locations, particularly those in high-traffic shopping districts or malls
- Stadiums and entertainment venues where large crowds gather for events
- Real estate portfolios with diverse property types and locations
- Municipalities managing public buildings and spaces
- Educational properties (particularly for Active Assailant coverage), including schools and universities
- Properties located near politically sensitive areas such as government buildings, public squares, embassies, or courthouses
However, it’s important to remember that even if your client is not a “prime” candidate, this kind of coverage should be considered when discussing coverage options with your clients. Increasingly, civil unrest isn’t confined to major metropolitan areas. Recent events have shown that protests, riots, or active shooter events can erupt in mid-sized cities and suburban areas, meaning businesses across diverse locations should evaluate their exposure, not just those in urban centers.
Why More Businesses Should Consider Crisis Management Insurance
Businesses should consider purchasing crisis management insurance because these sorts of events are becoming more common and costly across the United States. These statistics give you a sense of why more people are turning to crisis management insurance:
- Active shooter events have increased 70% when comparing the period of 2020 – 2024 to the previous 5 years.
- There were at least 300 cases of political violence across the U.S. between 2021 and 2024, more than any other period since the 1970s.
- Nearly 30,000 protests took place across 2,900 unique U.S. cities and towns in 2023, meaning even businesses in smaller towns could be affected.
Unfortunately, these kinds of events can create substantial financial risk for business owners, especially when public safety is affected. Beyond the immediate property damage, political violence and active assailant incidents can lead to complex liability claims, business interruption losses, and extensive crisis management costs that most insurance programs don’t cover.
For instance, if your client runs a mid-sized retail business that is affected by violent civil unrest, their property insurance would likely cover them for damages like broken windows and vandalism. However, they likely would not be covered for:
- Temporary relocation costs while repairs are made
- Employee counseling services for staff who witnessed the violence
- Security consultants to assess vulnerabilities and prevent future incidents
- Increased security measures during the restoration period
- Legal defense costs if customers or employees file claims
- Business interruption extending beyond the physical repair timeline
- Cleanup of hazardous materials (like tear gas or pepper spray)
Crisis management insurance from companies like Distinguished can help provide the specialized coverage needed for these additional expenses, so your client isn’t left paying out of pocket.
What About TRIA?
Many brokers and their clients assume that standard property policies provide adequate protection for terrorism and related events through the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). However, TRIA coverage has significant limitations and should not be relied upon for coverage.
First, TRIA only applies to events officially certified as acts of Terrorism by the U.S. government. This certification process is narrow and restrictive. For instance, losses under $5 million aren’t eligible for certification, and TRIA only responds once large aggregate industry loss thresholds are met (currently over $200 million of accumulated loss per event). Up to this point, no event has met these thresholds, including the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013 and the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016.
More importantly, TRIA doesn’t respond to non-certified terrorism, sabotage, civil unrest, or active assailant events. Plus, many standard property policies exclude or severely limit coverage for exactly these types of events. This creates a dangerous situation where insureds believe they have protection when meaningful coverage gaps actually exist.
Crisis Management Insurance from Distinguished fills these gaps by providing standalone coverage that doesn’t depend on government certification, aggregate thresholds, or minimum loss requirements. Your clients get protection that responds when they need it, not only when specific administrative and financial criteria are met.
What Does Distinguished’s Crisis Management Insurance Cover?
Distinguished’s Crisis Management Insurance program is available nationwide and consists of three specialized coverage options, each designed to address specific political violence and active threat scenarios. Here’s what each product offers:
Sabotage, Terrorism, and Violent Acts Insurance (Paladin)
Paladin brings Terrorism, Sabotage, and Active Assailant protection together in one flexible solution built for today’s risk environment.
Key coverages include:
- Broad definition of Sabotage and Terrorism, including lone actors
- Coverage for both certified and non-certified acts
- Denial of access covered even without physical damage
- Ongoing Loss of Attraction coverage
- No deductible regardless of the underlying property policy
- Active Shooter coverage as standard
Optional coverages available:
- Active Assailant coverage, including liability
- Increased cost of working
- Terrorism Liability
- Strikes, Riots, and Civil Commotion
Plus, Paladin features a selective portfolio approach, so you can pick and choose what to cover and at what limit, making Paladin completely customizable to fit your client’s needs and risk appetite.
Strikes, Riots, and Civil Commotion Insurance (Shield)
Shield standalone coverage addresses the rising losses from civil unrest events while providing up to $150 million per location in capacity.
Key coverages include:
- Extra expense coverage for additional costs in excess of normal operating expenses while the property is repaired or replaced
- Coverage for both certified and non-certified acts
- Selective portfolio approach for customized coverage selection
- Losses arising from a listed political or social peril
- Denial of access coverage if an authority deems operations must cease, either wholly or partially
- Low deductible regardless of the underlying property policy
- Access to experts in Political Violence threat and risk analysis
One advantage of this coverage is that it offers a broad definition of Strikes, Riots, and Civil Commotion. This means your client will be covered when malicious damage is linked to unrest, along with other civil disturbance scenarios that traditional policies might not recognize.
Active Assailant and Deadly Weapons Insurance (Halo)
Halo focuses on both prevention and comprehensive post-incident support for active assailant and deadly weapons events. Coverage is available up to $20 million per location.
Key coverages include:
- Primary liability coverage for lawsuits arising from bodily injury caused by either an active assailant or a deadly weapons attack
- Property Damage and Business Interruption coverage up to the policy limits
- Accidental death and dismemberment (sublimit of $50,000 per person)
- Medical expenses (sublimit of $25,000)
- Coverage against the threat of a deadly weapon attack, with unlimited crisis management fees that don’t erode the policy limit
- Low deductible regardless of the underlying property policy
Optional coverages:
- Post underwriting review
- Action plan webinar
- Access to the deadly weapons protection portal
A Halo policy covers a wide variety of weapons, including portable firearms, explosive devices, knives, syringes, medical instruments, corrosive substances, other handheld devices used to cause harm, and road vehicles used by assailants. Unlike narrower “active shooter” policies that only respond to firearm incidents, this coverage protects against the full spectrum of modern threats.
What are the Benefits of Partnering With Distinguished?
Distinguished brings several competitive advantages to crisis management insurance that make these products attractive for both you and your clients.
- High-capacity limits: With coverage available up to $150 million per location for Terrorism & Sabotage coverage, $150 million per location for Strikes and Riots, and $20 million per location for active assailant events, these policies can protect even large, high-value properties.
- Flexible coverage structure: The selective portfolio approach allows clients to pick and choose what they want to cover and at what limit, with coverage limits selected based on actual exposure and asset concentration rather than being tied to underlying property policy limits.
- Specialist underwriting: Policies are underwritten by specialists focused specifically on Political Violence risk rather than property catastrophe models.
- Favorable deductible terms: Low or no deductibles, regardless of the underlying property policy, make these products particularly attractive when standard property policies carry high deductibles for similar perils.
- Comprehensive coverage with adaptive terms: From denial of access and loss of attraction to crisis management fees and liability coverage, these policies address the full financial impact of political violence events with policy language designed to respond to evolving threat scenarios rather than narrow or outdated definitions.
- Strong financial backing: Lloyd’s of London (AM best-rated A+) provides the financial strength and claims-paying ability that gives clients confidence in their coverage.
- TRIA-independent coverage: Unlike traditional terrorism insurance that requires TRIA certification to trigger, Distinguished’s crisis management policies provide standalone protection that responds regardless of government designation, eliminating coverage gaps.
For brokers, these products open up new opportunities to provide value to existing clients while differentiating your agency in the marketplace.
How to Submit Business to Distinguished
Getting started with Distinguished’s Crisis Management Insurance products is straightforward. For Sabotage, Terrorism, and Violent Acts coverage (Paladin), submissions can be made through the Broker Connect portal.
For Strikes, Riots, and Civil Commotion Insurance (Shield) and Active Assailant and Deadly Weapons Insurance (Halo), send risk details to [email protected].
If you have any questions about what Distinguished covers, please reach out to our team at [email protected].
Crisis Management Insurance FAQs
Can these policies be purchased together?
Yes. Depending on your client’s needs, they can purchase one, two, or all three products. The Sabotage, Terrorism, and Violent Acts policy (Paladin) includes Active Shooter coverage as standard and offers Strikes, Riots, and Civil Commotion as an optional add-on. The standalone products can complement Paladin or be purchased separately based on specific coverage needs.
Does Distinguished offer this coverage nationwide?
Yes, we are proud to offer our Crisis Management Insurance program across all 50 states.
How does the ‘selective portfolio’ approach work?
The selective portfolio feature allows clients with multiple locations to choose which properties to cover and at what limits. This means they can allocate higher coverage limits to high-risk or high-value properties while providing lower limits or no coverage for properties with less exposure. This flexibility helps optimize premium spend while ensuring adequate protection where it’s needed most.
