A security company in Orlando lands its biggest contract yet: weekend coverage for a resort hotel near Lake Buena Vista, plus overflow staffing for a trade show at the Orange County Convention Center. The hotel’s risk manager sends over the insurance requirements the same afternoon, asking for higher liability limits than the company carries, assault and battery coverage at the full limit, the hotel and its management company as additional insureds on a primary and non-contributory basis, and a waiver of subrogation. The owner calls his agent assuming it’s a certificate request. It turns out to be a policy problem, and the contract starts in ten days.
That situation is common in Orlando because of who hires security here. The market is built around hotels and resorts, conventions and events, gated communities and a growing downtown nightlife district, and each of those clients brings its own contract requirements and its own kind of claim. Here is how that shapes the coverage an Orlando security company needs.
Who hires security in Orlando
The work most Orlando guard companies actually do falls into a handful of categories. Hotels and resorts along International Drive, Lake Buena Vista and the tourist corridor hire contract security for lobbies, parking garages, pool areas and overnight patrol. The convention center and the venues around it bring a steady stream of trade shows, conferences and concerts that need crowd control and access management. Gated master-planned communities across Orange, Osceola and Seminole counties, and the vacation home resorts around Kissimmee, Davenport and ChampionsGate, hire gatehouse officers and roving patrols. Downtown Orlando’s bar and club district needs door staff and event security on weekend nights. And steady construction across Lake Nona, Horizon West and the surrounding growth areas creates demand for job site security.
The large theme parks mostly run their own in-house security operations, so for most contract companies the opportunity is the hotels, venues, communities and businesses around them rather than the parks themselves.
Assault and battery is still the central question
Whether the post is a hotel lobby at midnight, a convention hall exit, a gatehouse or a downtown club door, the most likely serious claim against a security company is a physical confrontation that ends in an injury. Many general liability policies exclude assault and battery entirely, and others cover it with a sublimit far below the policy limit. For a guard company, that coverage should be included at a limit that matches what your contracts require, and Orlando hotel and event contracts frequently ask for the full limit. Our guide to assault and battery insurance for security guards in Florida explains how those exclusions and sublimits work.
Downtown nightlife deserves its own note. Door and crowd work at bars and clubs produces more assault and battery claims than almost any other post, and some carriers price it separately or decline it. If your company works nightlife, even on a few contracts, it needs to be on the application.
Families, children and abuse coverage
Orlando’s hotels, resorts, vacation communities and event venues put guards in regular contact with families and children. That makes abuse and molestation coverage a real consideration rather than a formality, because many security policies exclude it, and an allegation against a single officer can draw in the company, the client and the property. Our article on abuse and molestation insurance for security guard companies covers what to look for.
False arrest and professional liability
Detaining a guest who turns out to be innocent, removing someone from a hotel or event without clear cause, or a missed patrol round followed by a theft can all lead to claims for false arrest, wrongful detention, defamation or negligent security. Those claims fall under personal injury coverage and professional liability, and both should be confirmed as included rather than excluded on your policy.
Armed or unarmed
Most hotel, community and event posts in Orlando are unarmed, but some clients ask for armed officers on specific shifts or sites. A policy written for unarmed operations generally excludes claims involving firearms, so any armed post, even one, needs to be disclosed and covered. The price and the number of carriers willing to write the account change significantly once armed guards are involved. Our comparison of armed and unarmed security guard insurance in Florida goes into the differences.
What hotel and event contracts ask for
Large Orlando clients tend to have detailed insurance requirements written by their own risk management departments. Expect requests for additional insured status for the property owner and the management company, primary and non-contributory wording, a waiver of subrogation, higher liability limits often met with an umbrella or excess policy, and sometimes specific language about assault and battery limits. These are endorsements on the policy, not just entries on a certificate, so they need to be in place before you bid. Our guide to what your contract requires from your insurance policy explains each term.
Gated communities and construction sites
Gatehouse and patrol work for Central Florida’s master-planned communities is usually lower in assault exposure than hotel or nightlife work, but it carries its own issues: access control disputes with residents and visitors, vehicle incidents at the gate, and HOA contracts that ask for the association and its management company as additional insureds. Our article on HOA insurance in Orlando covers what those associations carry on their side.
Construction site security is mostly overnight theft and access control. The claims are less frequent, but contracts with general contractors often carry the same additional insured and waiver requirements as hotel work.
Vehicles and employees
If your officers patrol in company vehicles, those need a commercial auto policy. If they drive their own cars between posts during a shift, hired and non-owned auto coverage protects the company when one of them has an accident on the clock.
Security is not construction, so in Florida workers’ compensation is required once a company has four or more employees, counting part-time officers. Most hotel and event clients require it regardless of headcount. Paying officers as independent contractors doesn’t avoid the obligation when they work your schedules, wear your uniform and take direction from your supervisors.
Licensing
Orlando security companies operate under the same state licensing as the rest of Florida: a Class B agency license, Class D licenses for officers, and Class G licenses for armed officers, issued by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Carriers ask for these on the application, and clients increasingly ask for them alongside the certificate.
Worth confirming on your policy
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Assault and battery included at the limit your contracts require
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Nightlife and event work disclosed if you do any
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Abuse and molestation coverage for posts with families and children
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Personal injury and professional liability, including false arrest and negligent security
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Armed posts disclosed and covered, if you have any
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Additional insured, primary and non-contributory, and waiver of subrogation endorsements
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Umbrella or excess limits for hotel and event contracts
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Commercial auto or hired and non-owned auto
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Workers’ compensation counting part-time officers
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Class B, D and G licenses current
For a broader look at the coverage and pricing, see our security guard insurance in Florida page, along with how much security guard insurance costs in Florida and the biggest security guard insurance claims in Florida.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current licensing requirements with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Talk to Prestige Insurance Group
Prestige Insurance Group works with security guard companies across Orlando and Central Florida, including companies serving hotels and resorts, convention and event venues, gated communities, nightlife and construction sites. We’ll review your current policy against the contracts you have and the ones you’re bidding on, and compare options with carriers that write armed and unarmed security.
Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
Orlando: 407-993-2331
Miami: 305-969-8776
Stuart: 772-247-3788
Prestige Insurance Group, License L057894
