How Much Does Security Guard Insurance Cost? 2026 Rates

Most security guard companies pay between $1,100 and $1,800 a year for the core policies that keep them in business, which works out to roughly $91 to $150 a month. That range assumes a fairly standard book of work, as unarmed officers posted at offices, retail, or residential buildings.

Where you land depends almost entirely on what your guards actually do. The U.S. private security industry is enormous, with around 870,000 contract guards working nationwide and a market worth close to $47.8 billion as of 2023 (Statista), so insurers have plenty of loss data, and they price each operation on its specific risk. An armed guard standing watch over a jewelry store is a different animal from an unarmed concierge in a quiet lobby, and the premiums reflect that.

How Much Does Security Guard Business Insurance Cost?

On average, security guard businesses spend between $1,100 and $1,800 a year on a full package, or about $91 to $150 a month. These are estimates. Your actual premium depends on the size and scope of your operation.

No two security companies price the same. An unarmed guard at a quiet medical office pays far less than an armed guard protecting a jewelry store in a busy downtown district.

The work you take on does most of the heavy lifting. Armed contracts, high-traffic venues, and cash-in-transit jobs all carry more exposure than static unarmed posts, and that shows up in the quote. Location matters too, since urban areas with higher crime rates tend to cost more than suburban or rural posts.

A few things shape what you’ll pay:

• Armed vs. unarmed work, which is by far the largest factor in your premium.
• The type of accounts you guard, such as bars, nightclubs, events, and cash transport, sit at the high end.
• Payroll and the number of guards are the main drivers behind your workers’ comp cost.
• Claims history, where prior use-of-force or injury claims raise rates and a clean record lowers them.
• Coverage limits and endorsements, since higher limits and add-ons like assault and battery cost more.

Knowing which of these applies to your operation makes it much easier to budget realistically and avoid paying armed rates on an unarmed crew.

Average Security Guard Insurance Costs For Coverage Types

Each policy handles a different slice of risk. Knowing the typical cost and what each one actually covers helps you build a package that fits the work you do rather than a generic checklist.

• General liability insurance: $91 per month
• Business owner’s policy: $82 per month
• Professional liability insurance: $156 per month
• Workers’ compensation insurance: $75 per month
• Commercial auto insurance: $137 per month
• Commercial property insurance: $111 per month
• Cyber liability insurance: $152 per month

General Liability Insurance

General liability for a security guard company averages about $91 per month. It covers third-party bodily injury, property damage, and advertising injury. If a visitor trips over equipment your guard left in a building lobby and gets hurt, this is the policy that responds to their medical bills and your legal defense.

Most security owners miss one thing about this policy. A plain general liability form frequently excludes assault and battery, and physical contact is a routine part of the job. Escorting someone out, breaking up a fight, detaining a suspected shoplifter, all of it can lead to an excessive-force allegation. If your policy has an A&B exclusion, the carrier can deny your most likely claim outright. Assault and battery coverage closes that gap, and you shouldn’t assume plain general liability handles use of force.

Typical limits are $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate. Cost moves with your services, whether you run armed or unarmed posts, the accounts you hold, contract requirements, and your claims history.

Average annual premiums by state:

All state figures in this section are national-average premiums adjusted for state-level differences. Your real number depends on armed vs. unarmed payroll, number of guards, account type, claims history, and how each carrier underwrites security risk.

Assault & Battery Liability Coverage

This is the coverage that should keep security owners up at night, and it’s the one routinely left out of a standard package.

Because guards are paid to physically intervene, allegations of excessive force are common, and standard commercial general liability forms often carry an assault and battery exclusion. Add an A&B endorsement or a standalone policy, and your defense costs, settlements, and judgments tied to use-of-force claims get picked up. Without it, those same claims can fall through the gap entirely.

Use-of-force litigation regularly runs into six figures before it is resolved, and if your carrier denies the claim under an A&B exclusion, your business absorbs the defense costs and any judgment on its own. That is why I treat A&B as core for any company with armed guards or accounts that involve crowd control.

Pricing varies too much to quote a flat monthly figure, since A&B is usually added as an endorsement priced on top of your general liability based on your armed exposure and account mix. Get it quoted as a line item rather than assuming it’s baked in.

Business Owner’s Policy (BOP)

A BOP averages about $82 per month for security companies. It bundles general liability with commercial property at a lower combined price than buying them separately, protecting you against third-party claims as well as damage to your office, furnishings, and gear. If a fire takes out your computers and case files, the policy helps cover repair and replacement.

Liability limits typically run $1 million per occurrence and $2 million aggregate, with separate property limits based on the value you insure, and your cost depends on revenue, payroll, location risk, and any endorsements you add, such as equipment breakdown or extra expense coverage. Confirm one detail before you sign, because a BOP’s general liability piece can carry the same assault and battery exclusion. Make sure A&B is endorsed rather than assumed.

Average annual premiums by state:

Professional Liability Insurance

Professional liability for security companies averages about $156 per month. Also called errors and omissions, it covers claims that your company failed to perform its duties properly and caused a client a financial loss. For a security firm, that usually means a negligent security claim: a client argues your guards didn’t do the job they were contracted to do and something went wrong as a result, like a theft or break-in on your watch.

The line gets blurred, so be precise. If a guard physically tackles the wrong person and injures them, that is a use-of-force claim that belongs under assault and battery, not professional liability. E&O is about the service and the judgment calls, not the physical contact.

Limits often start at $1 million per claim, with higher limits sometimes written into client contracts. Cost tracks with your services, years in business, limits, and claims history.

Average annual premiums by state:

Cyber Liability Insurance

Cyber liability averages $152 per month, and honestly, for most small guard companies, it sits well below A&B and workers’ comp on the priority list.

It pays for the fallout from a cyber incident: lost income, forensic investigation, data recovery, regulatory fines, and customer notification. The case for it gets stronger if you store meaningful client data, run access-control or camera systems tied to a network, or hold detailed background files on personnel. If you’re a small operation that keeps little sensitive data, you can probably treat this as optional.

Average annual premiums by state:

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Most states require workers’ comp the moment you hire your first employee, and for a security company, it averages around $75 per month. It pays medical bills, rehabilitation, and lost wages when a guard is hurt on the job. Picture a guard who breaks a leg restraining an aggressive trespasser: workers’ comp covers the medical treatment, a share of lost wages during recovery, and support for longer-term issues like PTSD.

Benefit levels are set by each state. Premiums ride mostly on your payroll size and the class of work your guards do, plus your claims record and any documented safety and training programs.

Average annual premiums by state:

Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto matters most if you run mobile patrol; if your guards only work static posts, it is a smaller concern. It averages about $137 per month and covers vehicles your business owns or uses for accidents, theft, vandalism, and damage. A marked patrol car that gets T-boned while circling a client’s parking lot is exactly the kind of loss this responds to, including third-party claims.

Typical limits run around $1 million combined single limit. Cost depends on how many vehicles you run, how often, your guards’ driving records, and whether you add hired and non-owned auto coverage for personal vehicles used on patrol routes or site checks.

Average annual premiums by state:

Commercial Property Insurance

Bought on its own, commercial property for a security company usually runs about $111 per month. It covers your building and its contents against fire, theft, vandalism, and certain weather events, so if a fire destroys your computers and monitoring equipment, the policy pays to repair or replace them. Limits are based on the replacement cost of what you insure, and premiums turn on the building’s age and construction, fire protection, the value of your equipment, and local crime rates.

Average annual premiums by state:

Security Guard Business Insurance Costs By Provider

Pricing swings a fair bit by carrier, and some insurers know the security trade far better than others. Brownyard’s Brownguard program, for instance, has written security guard coverage since 1950 and builds assault and battery and firearm exposures into its forms. Use the table below for a sense of average annual cost across mainstream carriers.

These reflect typical liability, property, and professional coverage for a standard security operation. A specialist program that prices armed work and A&B properly can beat a cheaper headline quote that leaves use-of-force claims exposed.

What Factors Impact Your Security Guard Insurance Costs?

Underwriters build your premium around your overall risk profile. For a security company, these are the levers that move it most, roughly in order of weight.

Armed vs. Unarmed Operations

This is the dominant factor. Armed guards carry far more exposure than unarmed officers, so carriers price armed payroll much higher. With roughly 240,000 armed guards against about 763,000 unarmed guards in the U.S. (Zippia, 2025), most of the industry is unarmed, and mixing the two without clear payroll separation can mean paying armed rates across your whole crew.

Type Of Accounts You Guard

Where your guards work changes everything. Bars, nightclubs, cannabis dispensaries, special events, and cash transport sit at the top of the risk scale, and minimum annual premiums for that kind of work can start around $20,000. Quiet retail, office, and residential posts price far lower.

Payroll And Number Of Guards

Workers’ comp is rated on payroll, so a bigger headcount means a bigger premium. More guards also means more chances for an incident, which feeds into your liability rate.

Claims History

Prior use-of-force or injury claims mark you as a higher risk and push rates up. A clean record, especially with documented training behind it, can earn discounts.

Location

High-crime and urban posts cost more for both liability and property coverage than suburban or rural sites with fewer losses.

Policy Limits And Deductibles

Higher limits protect you better but cost more. A higher deductible trims your monthly premium while raising what you pay out of pocket on a claim.

Endorsements

Add-ons like assault and battery, firearm liability, and hired and non-owned auto tailor the policy to your real exposure. For most guard companies, A&B is the endorsement that closes the biggest gap, not optional padding.

Insurance Provider

Carriers don’t price security the same way. Specialists in the trade often quote sharper rates for armed and unarmed work and write the right endorsements without a fight. Comparing several quotes is the easiest way to spot an outlier.

How To Lower Your Security Guard Insurance Costs

Coverage is non-negotiable, but the premium isn’t fixed. These moves actually shift the needle for a security operation.

• Separate Armed And Unarmed Payroll. Report armed and unarmed payroll under their correct class codes. Lump them together, and you risk getting charged armed rates on unarmed guards, which is one of the most common ways security firms overpay.
• Document Your Training. Use-of-force, de-escalation, restraint, and firearm certifications are the single biggest influence on your A&B and workers’ comp pricing. Keep training records current and hand them to your underwriter at renewal.

• Manage Your Claims And Incident Records. Tight incident documentation, body cameras, and post reports help defend claims and show carriers you run a disciplined shop. Fewer and better-defended claims keep your experience rating in check.
• Match Limits To Your Contracts. Buy the limits your client contracts actually require rather than the highest number on offer. Over-buying limits is money spent on protection you’re not obligated to carry.
• Adjust Your Deductible. A higher deductible lowers your monthly cost. Just keep it at a level your business can absorb if a claim lands.