Has anyone here used CCW Safe or know of anyone who has?

[Snowdog]

My wife bought me a year subscription of CCW Safe (Defender plan with civil liability) based on a friend's advice. They've had it for years... though never used it.

A forum search only showed one mention of CCW Safe and the thread was 6 years old.

I have heard of other similar services, such as USCCA and US Law Shield. I understand the NRA has a service as well. I hadn't heard of CCW Safe, so I suspect they're a smaller outfit.

After looking over their site, it appears they offer quite a bit and funds for the attorney's fees, investigations, expert witnesses and such are paid up front in full with no caps. They promise to have a "crisis team" of lawyers by your side within 2 hours. Also, you don't have to pay back the funds spent by them if you accept a plea deal or are convicted. They also pay for appeals and also for any following civil lawsuits related to the incident. I'm not really seeing any downside other than the nearly $400 it costs each year.

The weapon doesn't have to be a firearm, it could be a knife, closed fists, etc (so long as it's in defense of life and not of property).

The only caveat I could find seems to be that they will not offer assistance if you were under the influence while not on your property or obviously in the wrong to begin with, such as being the aggressor or not under the real immediate threat of harm (shooting someone stealing your stereo perhaps). I have zero worries about that.

Does anyone have any experience with this company? Also, has anyone here on THR ever used or know of anyone who has needed such a service?

I'm fairly certain if I'm ever forced to shoot in defense, it will be seen justifiable with no charges... but I'm not completely certain. The civil liability is where I think this may be the most useful.
I'm guessing it's primarily paying for peace of mind when carrying, but it seems it might be useful if it all hit the fan in a hand basket or however that saying goes.

Thanks in advance.

 

[labnoti]

I posted a thread last week where I was inquiring about how to find a good criminal defense attorney. One of the videos I mentioned in my post was this one where the guest attorney explains he is partnered with CCW Safe. He doesn't "sell" in the video, but he does go on to give some meaningful advice about what kind of insurance not to get, and CCW Safe isn't one of the kinds of insurance he recommends avoiding.



I can't give any more advice on the insurance based on my personal experience, but I would suggest that whether you keep insurance or not, take some time to find a criminal defense lawyer by evaluating some of the ones you find are actually available to you. One mistake I think people who buy these insurance policies make is to pay for the policy that gives them some peace of mind that they'll have hundreds of thousands of dollars at their disposal to pay legal fees and leave it at that, without considering the significant task of figuring out how they could actually use those funds effectively. As explained in the video, just hoping the insurance company will find you the right attorney isn't a good plan because obviously, they have an incentive to pay as little as necessary. Even if you do find an attorney that will take as much of the insurance company's money as possible, it still doesn't assure you that you will be getting the best legal services for the insurance company's money. You can be sure the lawyer will get paid up front, and they won't go to prison if you lose.

 

[Snowdog]

That's sound advice, Labnoti. I appreciate the video too. I think I can find the time to find a good attorney in my area.

 

[Kendahl]

The lawyer in the Carry Insurance? video is Andrew Branca, author of The Law of Self Defense. CCW Safe is the insurance he chose for himself. The coverage they offer is very comprehensive but expensive. For example, CCW Safe says they will represent you after acquittal to get your case expunged and your CCW permit reinstated. ACLDN doesn't go that far but is much cheaper. Snowdog's wife bought him the Cadillac plan.

As far as being under the influence is concerned, it depends on the plan. ACLDN asks whether you were carrying legally at the time. In my state (Nebraska), the legal BAC when carrying is zero. If I have one glass of wine with a dinner out and have a DGU on the way home when my BAC is around 0.005, ACLDN will have nothing to do with me. Across the river in Iowa, where the limit is 0.08, they would represent me. (In either place, they would examine the evidence, to see if my actions appeared to be legal, before representing me even if I were stone cold sober. I think this would be true of any plan.) Whether CCW Safe is more flexible is something you should ask them yourself. Something CCW Safe says they won't represent you on is defense against domestic violence. If true, they wouldn't be of any value to someone in danger from a violent ex spouse or boy/girl friend.

In my opinion, the three most important features of a plan are:

• Represent you after defense using any method, not just firearms.
• Pay up front rather than force you to pay for your defense out of your own pocket and then reimburse you after you win.
• Pay a bail bondsman so that you don't sit in jail awaiting trial.

Branca has a longer list with additional, worthwhile considerations. Aside from the NRA's problems in New York, I'm not a fan of CarryGuard because it fails on the first two items.

As far as the worth of self defense insurance in general, I can think of three benefits:

• A lawyer will help you avoid ruining a good shoot by saying the wrong thing under the stress of an interrogation.
• Simply knowing that you will be competently represented has to have some deterrent effect on a prosecutor or plaintiff's attorney.
• Even after a good shoot, you can become the victim of a politically motivated show trial. George Zimmerman and James Love are examples. (I expect it was a rude shock to the prosecution when Mark O'Mara and Don West stepped up to defend Zimmerman even though he couldn't afford them.)