Assault & Battery/Care, Custody & Control/Lost Key Coverage

Assault & Battery/Care, Custody & Control/Lost Key Coverage
September 5, 2019 GuardPro Insurance

When it comes to a General Liability insurance policy for security guards, there are three key endorsements that need to be on your policy: Assault & Battery, Care/Custody/Control, and Lost Key Coverage. Assault & Battery will cover you in the event a security guard mishandles or strikes someone on the premise of a contract. Care/Custody/Control will cover you in the event items you are responsible for patrolling/guarding are damaged or go missing. Finally, Lost Key Coverage will pay for the cost of re-keying a facility you are contracted to work in case you lost the key to said facility.

Any security guard company owner can see why these three coverages are crucially important, yet a lot of policies don’t include these coverages. Even when they are included, or added on, they typically have sub-limits. Sub-limits mean that you will be covered for a different dollar amount than your standard limits. Here is an example: You have a General Liability policy in place, covering you for $2MIL aggregate & $1MIL per occurrence. Fortunately, your policy has Assault & Battery included, but with sub-limits of $50,000 per occurrence. If a claim were to arise from your security guard hurting or mishandling someone, the insurance carrier would only pay for the first $50,000 of the claim, the rest would come out of pocket.

The example above is crucial in understanding that you need an insurance broker that is an expert in your field of work. While you may think you are covered because you see your limits, thoroughly reading your policy may reveal that you are wrong.