The coverage offers business income, reward money for information leading to the capture of the perpetrator, a public relations consultant and a crisis manager.
PRODUCT: Workplace Violence Protection.
COMPANIES: Berkley Program Specialists and StarNet Insurance Company, which are both W.R. Berkley Companies.
BEST RATING: A+
AVAILABILITY: Workplace Violence Protection is available to agents and brokers on two platforms: Talage and Semsee.
FOCUS: In 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice reported a yearly average of 1.3 million nonfatal violent crimes in the workplace from 2015 to 2019. Meanwhile, OSHA found that workplace violence is the third-leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in the U.S. To respond to the reality of violence in the workplace, Berkley Program Specialists launched Workplace Violence Protection.
“Workplace Violence Protection offers more triggers and coverage than the older and more limited active shooter products," says Greg Douglas, president of Berkley Program Specialists. “As a result, in addition to our research and conversations with agents about the product, we sought out experts in this space, which, combined with our product expertise, allowed us to create the portal and the policy."
COVERAGE DETAILS: Workplace Violence Protection offers business income, reward money for information leading to the capture of the perpetrator, a public relations consultant and a crisis manager. Other benefits include biohazard clean-up, extra expenses (location and employees), security, funeral expenses, counseling and travel expenses.
UNDERWRITING: To make the process as easy as possible for agents, Talage and Semsee have streamlined systems that handle quotes, payment, binding and issuance. If agents are on the platforms to quote other coverages such as general liability, business owners policy or workers compensation, application information auto-populates.
Most industry classifications are accepted, including manufacturers, contractors with fixed and varied worksites, offices, retail operations, agriculture, production, transportation, wholesale and more. However, health care, government entities and schools are ineligible.
TARGET: Small and midsize businesses.
COVERAGE AVAILABILITY: Workplace Violence Protection product is available in 24 states: AL, AR, AZ, CA, CO, CT, FL, IA, IL, KS, MI, MN, MO, NC, ND, NE, NM, NV, OH, PA, SD, UT, VA and WI.
CONTACT: Chris Ellis, senior vice president, Berkley Re Solutions; 800-974-5714.
Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.
