USCCA Review [2024]: A Firearm’s Attorney Point of View

When it comes to the big names in the concealed carry insurance industry, USCCA will stand out as one of the best options. Amidst all the buzz, the most important question would be: Is USCCA The Best CCW Insurance? 

What makes our USCCA review different from the others? For your information, I am a firearms attorney and a certified insurance agent. Our research on USCCA extends beyond the surface as we look into the intricacies of USCCA’s policy evolution over the years.

Within this review, you will be able to confidently decide whether you should pick USCCA as your top pick for USCCA insurance or not. 

Note that USCCA made an update recently on their policieis, and I’ve looked into the revisions made to their policies. Although I had my reservations on it, I have to admit that I am impressed by the changes made. 

To put it simply, the coverage offered to you as a fellow USCCA member is pretty substantial, making it a great value proposition. These changes are so great that most of my friends have already started to join as fellow USCCA members, but did I follow suit? Stick with us till the end to find out!

What Makes Me Qualified To Review CCW Insurance Policies? 

When it comes to concealed carry insurance policies, especially in the realm of firearms, it can feel pretty complicated if you have not spent the same amount of hours as I have.

I’m not just any Tom Dick and Harry that you see on Reddit Reviews. I am a firearms attorney and a licensed insurance agent in 48 states (except for NY and NJ). When it comes to legal knowledge, especially in the realm of insurance and concealed carry weapons, I know the ins and outs of it as it’s the primary part of my job. 

I’ve spent countless hours going through all the legal documents to ensure what’s mentioned on USCCA’s site is not only correct but fully understood in terms of its context and not just on the surface level. There were even times when I sought clarity from USCCA for a couple of points so you can be rest assured that I know what I’m talking about. 

What is the US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA)? 

The United States Concealed Carry Association (USCCA) is an association that offers legal protection for self defense situations. It also offers comprehensive resources on CCW education and firearms training to equip its 300,000 active members in dealing with such scenarios.

As the saying goes ‘prevention is better than cure’, USCCA is one of the few that believes in equipping members with the skills to de-escalate a confrontation into a possible gun defense situation. 

That said, I can’t say that USCCA offers ‘CCW Insurance’. I only sometimes use this term to describe USCCA in this review as it makes it easier for readers like you to understand what it provides and it’s also the most frequently used term to describe such companies. 

To be more accurate, companies like USCCA are offering ‘self-defense liability insurance’. For USCCA, it’s a company that provides training and resources to its members while also giving them access to its ‘liability insurance’ that all members will be able to enjoy. 

These training and resources will include courses (often done online) such as the fundamentals of home defense, reading material such as their ‘Concealed Carry Magazine’, and they even host concealed carry expos.

With that, you should be able to tell that USCCA is one of the biggest players in the self defense liability insurance space just by looking at the scale of its member benefits, resources, and the level of coverage that its liability insurance provides. 

How Much Will USCCA Cost You? 

USCCA is offering 3 levels to its membership, each with different costs and benefits. While each tier offers different features and resources, they will be getting the same access to self liability defense protection ‘CCW Insurance’. 

If you’re looking purely for unlimited legal coverage when it comes to lawful self defense, then the Gold Tier (entry level package) should be able to do the trick. However, if what you want is to level up as a CCW user, we strongly recommend you to go with its Platinum Tier as it will be offering all the training and resources that USCCA has to offer. 

Which Package is Better For You?

USCCA is not like the other CCW insurance companies where different package will entitle you to different levels of coverage. Here in USCCA, they’ve decided to make it simple for you as you will be getting the same coverage regardless of the package you choose. 

So, what’s the difference? 

Training, training, and training. The most important question for you when you sign up for a USCCA package is do you need training? 

No, I only want access to its insurance coverage: Go with the Gold Tier

Yes, aside from its insurance coverage, I want to be better trained and equipped as I understand that dealing with firearms is much more than being covered when things get heated. 

If that’s the case for you, then you should go with their Platinum package. You will be granted access to its handgun safety, markmanship fundamentals, qualifications training, and many more. 

The other thing that I really appreciate from USCCA is that they are always giving away gifts or packages when you sign up. This is a nice gesture from them that you won’t be getting from other ccw insurance providers. 

What Does USCCA Actually Cover? 

Sometimes, pointing out what exactly is being covered by an insurance company can be a little complex. However, it’s your lucky day today as I’ve already broken it down for you with the table below. Beyond that, I will also be explaining further on what each one will mean to you. 

Details on USCCA Coverage:

• To summarize it for you, all 3 tiers of memberships will cover the following:
  
• Defense and Civil Expense: Unlimited
• Civil Damages Liability Max: $2 Million
• Covers Bail expenses: $100,000 of funds
• Per Diem Max: $750/day
• Annual Liability Insurance Limit: $2,000,000

What is Criminal Defense Coverage? 

Sometimes even when your gun use is justified as self defense, you might still be prosecuted. When such a case happens, you will need to hire a criminal defense lawyer to represent you in court.

As we all know, lawyers can be expensive and the USCCA now has no limit to how much they will be covering for your criminal defense expenses. Having unlimited legal defense for criminal cases is a big deal. 

What is Civil Defense Coverage? 

In cases where you’ve been found ‘not guilty’ as your defense is justified, you may still have to defend yourself against lawsuits from the person you’ve shot, their family members, or others. Defending from these lawsuits can be expensive despite not being criminal cases and as such, USCCA also provides unlimited civil defense coverage to its members. 

What is Civil Defense Liability?

In the case where you’ve lost your civil lawsuit, you will most likely end up having to pay for ‘damages’ to the plaintiff. While USCCA does not limit the defense coverage, they do have a limit for the amount of damages they’ll pay, which is up to $2,000,000 for now. 

Fret not as this should be more than enough for most Civil Defense Liability cases. 

What is Up Front Money?

Most of the time, members will require financial assistance with legal fees as they do not have hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in the bank to pay such fees despite the possibility of being reimbursed afterwards. As such, USCCA can provide the money upfront for you if necessary. 

Bail

I’m sure nobody wants to stay in jail until your trial is over and as such, you’re going to need bail coverage too. Lucky for you, USCCA will be providing up to $100,000 for bail bond funding. This will be the highest amount for any provider in the CCW Insurance space. 

Per Diem

As you attend your trials, there is a high likelihood that you will be unable to work for weeks or even months. In doing so, it will do pretty significant damage on your finances. This is perhaps one of the most important coverage that you want to have from your CCW Insurance provider. 

Good news for you is that USCCA will be paying you a ‘per diem’ allowance of up to $750 a day. This daily allowance will be able to keep you afloat as you attend your trials. 

Training Resources

I often tell the people around me that prevention is always better than cure, and this definitely applies to gun cases too. When you’re in a position of using your gun to defend yourself or your family members, you better be aware of what you’re doing and the possible repercussions of doing so. 

As a fellow Platinum USCCA member, you will be equipped with all the resources and training to aid you in avoiding unnecessary fights and the solutions to it if you do happen to get into a fight. 

What Doesn’t USCCA Include? 

Not available for Residents in Washington, New Jersey, and New York. Unfortunately, these state governments banned sales of ‘CCW Insurance programs. If you happen to be residing in either 1 of these states, you won’t be able to enjoy USCCA’s memberships. 

However, if you’re just visiting there, the CCW Insurance you’ve purchased will still work. So there’s not much to worry if you happen to be travelling to these states frequently. 

Is USCCA Better Than Other CCW Insurance Companies?

Among all the CCW insurance/memberships available, USCCA is the largest with over 300,000 members and still growing!

It’s also worth nothing that they offer the most educational and training resources to members. Here’s a summary comparison of how USCCA compares to its peers:

Features of USCCA

1. Unlimited Money Up Front For Legal Defense Costs

As mentioned above, having unlimited legal defense is amazing, but there’s almost no point to it if you have to cough up hundreds of thousands in legal costs up front. With USCCA, you won’t have to worry about this it will be paying all the legal defense costs upfront for you. 

2. Extensive Online Educational Resources

USCCA has a rich online library in order to equip its members with the necessary skills and precautions when it comes to handling concealed carry firearms. This in turn will make you more knowledgable and less likely to require any legal coverage to begin with. 

3. Freedom to Pick Your Own Attorney

There’s no point in having unlimited legal coverage if all the money will be going to an inexperienced attorney. With USCCA, you get to find the lawyer that’s best for your legal defense without having to worry about any upfront costs. 

4. Healthy Community and Huge Perks as Members

USCCA being one of the largest players in the ‘CCW Insurance’ field, not only offers good training, but also has a healthy network of members that could be going through the same situation as you! 

Besides that, it’s also partnered up with leading industry partners and many more to substantiate on its already rich online educational library. 

Our USCCA Review: Is It For You? 

When it comes to legal coverage and having a rich online learning library, it’s not difficult to say that USCCA emerges as one of our top picks for concealed carry insurance. 

When looking for concealed carry insurance, you must look for the following 3 criteria:

1. Money Up Front For Legal Costs
2. Per Diem Allowance
3. Freedom To Pick Your Own Lawyer.

For the case of USCCA, it has all 3 and hence, going with the United States Concealed Carry Association should be a no-brainer. 

What’s Great About USCCA?

We love that USCCA offers unlimited legal defense for both criminal and civil cases! You never have to worry about reaching a potential limit in your legal costs while attending trial. 

We also like the fact that they allow you to have the freedom to pick your attorney. I cannot emphasize enough on how big of a deal this is. While you may not believe it, there are actually many CCW Insurance companies that limit you with the attorney they have for you. 

When it comes to lawsuits on your own lawful self defense, I don’t like it that when some of the concealed carry insurance companies limit the attorney that you can pick to represent you.

God knows what their experience and skills are.

What if they aren’t qualified or aren’t the best fit for your case? Lucky for you, if you sign up with USCCA, you won’t have to worry about this and you can choose whoever you feel is the best candidate. 

The other thing that we absolutely love is not having to pay any fees upfront. While reimbursement may sound as good as money up front, I can assure you it’s not the same when you have to cough up hundreds of thousands of dollars upfront. 

When you’re already paying for legal coverage that will help pay for your legal defense, do make sure you’re able to get the money upfront to pay your attorney! With USCCA, we never have to worry about anything like this. 

Going through trials on your lawful self defense will usually take a toll on your personal finances as you won’t be able to attend work. As such, having a per diem allowance while in trial is very important! Your trial may last for months and you won’t want to be covering all your daily expenses out of your own pocket. 

While receiving a per diem allowance won’t necessarily replace your lost income, it will be a big help. Not to mention that USCCA also provides the highest per diem rate among its competitors. 

The other stand-out feature of USCCA is its commitment to educating its members to avoid and/or survive gunfights, and learning to handle situations right after the self defense incident. 

One nice little detail can be spotted on the back of the membership card, where they’ve included instructions for you such as ‘calling 911 first!’, then call USCCA, and instructions on how to deal with police officers. 

Furthermore, USCCA also comes with a rich online training library which makes it a class above everyone else. All their training and resources are extremely valuable and can even save your life in gun defense scenarios. 

One example would be USCCA’s series of ‘What Would You Do?’ where different gun defense scenarios are discussed and some of the best options for you will also be covered in such a situation. 

Where USCCA Can Be Better

One of the main concerns that we have from their policy is it’s ‘Recoupment clause’. 

From their policy, section 1 says:

“We shall have the right to seek recovery or recoupment from an “insured” the amount of any payments made to, for, or on behalf of the “insured”, including payments made to third parties, if it is determined that any such payments were made for matters not covered by this Policy or are otherwise prohibited by applicable law.”

This clause basically means that if your incident isn’t covered, or if you are found to be guilty of unlawful self defense or a law was broken such as unlawful firearm possession, you will most likely be required to pay back all of the money paid by USCCA for your case. 

At first glance, it does look quite scary as it could mean that if you’re found guilty of your incident, you could be in deep financial trouble. This is why USCCA always emphasizes on equipping its members with as much knowledge as possible when it comes to use of firearms for self defense. 

Good news for you is that we’ve found no incidents of this clause ever being used yet and there’s no guarantee that a guilty verdict on its own would be enough for USCCA to trigger this criteria. 

From the United States Concealed Carry Association’s point of view, I believe this policy is pretty reasonable as they have too many members to protect and they wouldn’t want to be spending money on someone that knowingly committed a crime. 

Final Verdict for this USCCA Review

With its latest update providing unlimited coverage for your legal protection, coupled with its rich online training resources, I think going for a USCCA membership is definitely a no brainer here. 

If you’re looking for the most well known and reliable CCW insurance provider, going with USCCA will definitely not go wrong. 

Most of my family members and friends are already USCCA members (but I selected this one). 

Most people I know weren’t discouraged by the clause above as they have been committed to guide members on the applicable law and to be a responsible gun owner, even when you have to defend yourself. 

The USCCA is one of the preferred choices for ‘CCW Insurance’ to most people for the reasons mentioned above. 

Why Should You Get Self Defense Liability Protection? 

The final decision to get gun defense liability protection is always up to you as everyone’s circumstances, budget, and risk tolerance are different and we simply cannot decide what’s best for you. 

However, what I can tell you is that if you do decide to do so, it’s a worth while investment in the long run. Why is that? 

Defending your case in both criminal and/or civil trials can be very expensive and time-consuming. Right after defensive gun use, the fight isn’t over even after you’ve settled your prosecution case (criminal). In many cases, it’s only just begun as there may be civil cases lined up behind. 

As a firearms attorney, I always remind my clients that prevention is often better than cure. In this industry, even if you ‘win’ in the case, the time and energy lost will never return. 

FAQ 

What is USCCA?

USCCA stands for the United States Concealed Carry Association. It’s an organization that provides legal protection, education, and resources for individuals who carry concealed firearms for gun-defense purposes.

What does USCCA offer?

USCCA offers various membership tiers that provide legal protection in gun defense scenarios, access to great training resources, and other benefits such as their Concealed Carry Magazine.

How does USCCA’s coverage compare to other providers?

USCCA offers competitive coverage compared to other concealed carry insurance providers. Their membership options provide varying levels of coverage for criminal and civil defense, as well as other benefits like per diem coverage and access to training materials.

Is USCCA worth it?

The value of USCCA insurance for self defense liability depends on individual needs and preferences. For those who carry concealed firearms and want legal coverage and access to resources, USCCA can be a valuable investment.

Can I choose my own attorney with USCCA?

Yes, USCCA members have the option to choose their own attorney to represent them in gun defense cases, although USCCA may offer recommendations or assistance in finding legal representation if needed.

Are there any upfront costs with USCCA?

Yes, there are upfront costs associated with USCCA, both on a monthly and annual basis. However, these costs provide access to legal protection and other benefits outlined in the membership package.

How often is the USCCA review updated?

The USCCA review is regularly updated to ensure accuracy and relevance. The reviewer makes efforts to keep the information current and reflects any changes to USCCA’s policies or offerings.