Active Assailant Risk: Data Demands to Underwrite a Deadly Peril

Active Assailant Risk: Data Demands to Underwrite a Deadly Peril

From The Political Risk Podcast by David Benyon

March 26, 2026 · 47 min · Season 1 · Episode 65

About this episode

This episode explores the rise of active assailant risk and the demand for data-driven underwriting in the context of crisis management and political violence insurance.

A special episode exploring the rise of active assailant risk and the growing demand for data-driven underwriting in a rapidly evolving threat landscape. Joshua Watson, senior underwriter, war and terrorism, North America, at Markel International, joins Gamze Tekin, senior product owner at Concirrus, to examine how this peril has moved to the forefront of crisis management and political violence insurance. The discussion explores what makes active assailant risk distinct, from its frequency characteristics to its human and financial impact. Active assailant is a peril on the rise, with protection gaps facing corporate buyers, near-daily incidents taking place, and changing US state regulation on workplace violence. Conversation turns to the underwriting challenges for a peril that is far removed from physical damage focus of most PV perils. Additional challenges include managing aggregation and portfolio exposure, and the limits of traditional data when assessing fast-moving, unpredictable threats. The final section focuses on closing the data gap, from real-time risk visibility to AI-enabled underwriting tools designed to support better decision-making in complex scenarios. With…

People in this episode

Host: Gamze Tekin

Guest: Joshua Watson

Topics covered

  • active assailant risk
  • data-driven underwriting
  • crisis management
  • political violence insurance
  • underwriting challenges
  • real-time risk visibility
  • AI-enabled tools

Keywords

  • active assailant
  • underwriting
  • crisis management
  • political violence
  • insurance
  • data gap
  • risk visibility
  • portfolio exposure
  • workplace violence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Markel International, Concirrus

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