U.S. Active Assailant Insurance Market Doubles Over Six Years as Inquiries Rise

U.S. inquiries about its active assailant coverage triple over the last year. The company recorded a serious uptick in interest following the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner last month, after which the suspect was charged with attempting to assassinate Trump.

Blackthorn also saw heightened interest after Charlie Kirk’s assassination in September, the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in 2024 and last summer’s deadly shooting in the midtown Manhattan skyscraper that housed the NFL headquarters.

Julian Vero, the company’s managing director and head of broking, said these incidents drive demand for coverage that traditional terrorism policies do not provide. "These events really lead to an uptick of inquiry, concern, worry and the need to protect their people by buying the active assailant or active shooter policy, which a traditional terrorism policy wouldn't be covering," Vero said.

"That attack with that lone wolf individual unsettled lots of people. " The market for active shooter and active assailant insurance policies has doubled in the last six years. Annual premiums for these products now total $100 million, according to the Financial Times.

Clients on average pay tens of thousands of dollars for active shooter or active assailant policies that provide $1 million in coverage, according to Reuters. The Independent reported that these policies typically cover property damage, legal costs and other expenses resulting from an armed attack. Active assailant policies first emerged in 2011 and grew more common by the mid-2010s.

They are designed to be aggressor agnostic, meaning clients are covered regardless of the attacker’s motive, according to Blackthorn’s website. "We’ve been speaking to clients, organizations, risk managers for five to 10 years about this risk," Blackthorn senior broker Thea Grootenhuis told The Independent.

All sorts of groups have sought the coverage, from religious institutions to nightclubs and major real estate investment trusts.

U.S. campuses have grown increasingly common. There were at least 78 school shootings in 2025, and there have been at least 24 school shootings in 2026 so far, according to a CNN data analysis.

"We certainly see these high-profile events lead to more inquiries to us, wanting our advice and help in this space, which, sadly, school shootings do not," Vero explained. U.S. saw more than 44,000 gun deaths, 35 percent of which were homicides, according to the Pew Research Center.

Political violence was on the rise last year, and an April report by Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative stated that 2026 is on a dangerous trajectory. U.S. lawmakers to study data from the increased events and work with the insurance market, response companies and first responders to better protect people.