CCW SAFE Review [2023]: Written by a Firearms Attorney!
CCW Safe offers unlimited legal coverage for concealed carry defense from a legal “dream team.”
In this CCW Safe review, we’re going to explore the details about the legal services and coverage they provide so that you can make an informed decision about whether CCW Safe is the right for you based on your situation – there’s no way I can possibly tell you which comapny is right for you (or even if you should get coverage).
However, what I can tell you is this: After comparing the main CCW insurance options available, I purchased CCW Safe for me and my family.
But before we begin, I want to let you know that some of the links below are affiliate links that can help us keep our ammo budget going but they will NOT affect your price nor do they affect our advice.
In this CCW Safe review, we’re going to cover:
- What is CCW Safe?
- How Much Does CCW Safe Cost?
- What Does CCW Safe Cover?
- Which Plan is Right for Me?
- CCW Safe vs Other CCW Insurance
- CCW Safe Review: Our Take
- Pros and Cons to CCW Safe
- Final Grade on CCW Safe
However, if you’d like to just jump to whether I trust them, and whether or not they are better or worse than the other CCW insurance options out there, then you can hop over to our Best CCW Insurance Comparison.
WHAT IS CCW SAFE?
CCW Safe offers funding for your legal protection for self-defense scenarios. Although these services aren’t really “CCW insurance,” it’s the easiest way to explain what they provide.
It can be VERY expensive to defend using your firearm in self defense. If you need to defend against a murder or manslaughter charge, expect to pay at least a few hundred thousand dollars. Mind you, this may apply even if you do everything correctly.
As an attorney, one of the first things I tell my clients when they’re trying to figure out how to handle a particular problem is “it’s often better to avoid a fight than it is to win a fight.” That’s because “winning” can be VERY expensive when legal costs are involved.
HOW MUCH DOES CCW SAFE COST?
CCW Safe’s plans range from $149 to $499 per year depending on the legal protection you’re interested in and your status as a First Responder and/or CCW holder.
Here’s a basic summary of each CCW Safe plan with the monthly and annual cost for each plan. In the next section, we’ll get more into the specifics of what each CCW Safe plan covers.
If you still want some help deciding on which plan to get, check out our Which CCW Safe Plan is Right for Me? section below.
CCW Safe Plan Pricing
| Feature | Defender | Protector | Ultimate | Constitutional Carry | Home Defense |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan Summary | Basic CCW Plan | "Defender" plan for Mil/LE | Premium CCW Plan | non-CCW Carry States | In Home Only |
| Monthly Price | $18 | $16 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Annual Price | $209 | $179 | $519 | $299 | $299 |
| See Plan | See Plan | See Plan | See Plan | See Plan |
WHAT DOES CCW SAFE COVER?
It is important to know exactly what is and isn’t covered by CCW insurance companies. Two of our three “must haves” in concealed carry insurance (covered in more detail below) are getting your money up front and the ability to choose your own lawyer.
All three of our “must-haves” are covered by CCW Safe. Unfortunately, not all CCW insurance providers offer these benefits.
So, to help you make up your mind with CCW Safe, here is what they offer.
CONCEALED CARRY PERMIT PLANS
If you have a valid concealed carry permit (CCW), these are the plans you should be looking at.
| Feature | Protector | Defender | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Price | $16 | $18 | n/a |
| Annual Price | $179 | $209 | $519 |
| CCW Required? | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Criminal Defense | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Civil Defense | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Civil Damages | Not Included - can be added | Not Included - can be added | $1 million for primary member (others can be added) |
| Locations Covered | 47 States | 47 States | 47 States |
| People Covered Outside Home | Plan Holder | Plan Holder | Plan Holder and Spouse |
| People Covered Inside Home | Family | Family | Family |
| Up Front Bail Bond Funding | $50,000/$500,000 | $50,000/$500,000 | $100,000/$1,000,000 |
| Per Diem / Compensation in Court | $250/day | $250/day | $350/day |
| Crime Scene Cleanup | $3000 | $3000 | $3000 |
| Psychological Support | $1500 | $1500 | $6000 |
| See Plan | See Plan | See Plan |
NON-CCW PLANS
If you live in a “Consitutional Carry” state and don’t have a valid CCW or if you are only looking for protection within your home, these are the legal protection plans you should be looking at.
| Feature | Constitutional Carry | Home Defense |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Price | n/a | n/a |
| Annual Price | $299 | $299 |
| CCW Required? | No | No |
| Criminal Defense | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Civil Defense | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Civil Damages | Not included - can be added | Not included - can be added |
| Locations Covered | Home state only | Primary Residence |
| People Covered Outside Home | Plan Holder | none |
| People Covered Inside Home | Family | Family |
| Up Front Bail Bond Funding | $25,000/$250,000 | $25,000/$250,000 |
| Per Diem / Compensation in Court | $250/day | $250/day |
| Crime Scene Cleanup | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Psychological Support | $1,500 | $1,500 |
| See Plan | See Plan |
WHAT CCW SAFE OFFERS
Unlimited Criminal Defense Protection: Please know that you can be prosecuted even if you are innocent! This means that you can be involved in a perfectly justified self-defense shooting and you might still be paying a few hundred thousand to defend yourself.
Unlike some other concealed carry insurance options, CCW Safe offers UNLIMITED criminal defense protection.
If you choose to carry a firearm for self defense and you choose not to have CCW legal protection coverage like CCW Safe, then please be prepared to come up with this money on your own.
Unlimited Civil Defense & Liability coverage: In addition to potential criminal defense costs, you might have to defend yourself against civil (non criminal) lawsuits from the person you shot, their family members, or others. These costs can actually be higher than your criminal defense costs.
Again, while some other options place a limit on the amount they’ll cover, CCW Safe provides an unlimited amount of coverage.
Up Front Money: CCW Safe provides needed money up front. This is a significant feature – if the ccw insurance company you’re looking at doesn’t offer this, run! After all, what good is it to get a $500,000 reimbursement check if you already had to uproot your life and/or sell everything you own to come up with the money in the first place?
If you’ve got a few million dollars sitting around just in case you need to use your firearm in self defense, then you can stop reading, this may not be for you.
Bail: Unless you want to stay in jail until your trial is complete, you might want bail money coverage. Depending on your plan, CCW Safe provides up to $1 million in bail coverage.
Per Diem: In addition to the actual legal expenses you might incur after using your CCW to defend your or your family’s life, you should also consider any money you’re going to lose by not being able to work while you’re sitting in a trial (which can be months in extreme situations).
This is another “must have” feature for us: a daily amount you get paid to cover your loss of income called a “per diem.” CCW Safe pays up to $350 per day.
WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED WITH CCW SAFE
No Sales in NY, NJ, WA: Just recently the local governments for these three states banned the sales of “CCW insurance” programs. This doesn’t necessarily mean that your CCW insurance won’t work if you’re visiting there, it just means you can’t buy it if you live here. We’ve read information online that claims that CCW Safe can still cover residents in these states because of their unique structure, but these simply aren’t true. Unfortunately, CCW Safe confirms that they can not sell coverage to residents in these states.
Training and Resources: Unlike other options, like USCCA, they do not focus on a library of training and resources.
Which Plan is Right for Me?
If you’ve been looking into legal protection for self defense, you already know that it can be difficult to determine what each plan offers and which is right for you.
As we mentioned above, we can’t possibly tell you what plan is best for you. Heck, we can’t even tell you if this type of legal protection is right for you (let alone which plan to get).
However, to try and clear up some confusion, here is a summary of who each CCW Safe plan is best for:
Concealed Carry Permit Holders: If you’re a valid CCW holder, you’re likely going to want one of the CCW plans: either Protector, Defender, or Ultimate (this is the plan I purchased).
There are effectively two plans/coverage levels: the basic, and more affordable, level is Defender whereas the premium plan is Ultimate.
The third plan, Protector, is effectively a price discount on the basic Defender pland for retired law enforcment or military.
These plans cover concealed carry with a permit (or HR 218) across the country (47 states).
Concealed Carriers in “Constitutional Carry” States: If you live in a state that allows concealed carry without a permit AND you don’t have a permit, then Constituional Carry is likely the plan for you.
This plan only covers in your home state.
Those Looking for Coverage in their Home Only: If you aren’t “out and about” carrying a concealed firearm and only want legal protection while insid eyour home, then the Home Defense plan may be for you.
Note: all plans by CCW Safe cover your family (children under 18) while in your primary residence.
CCW SAFE VS OTHER CCW INSURANCE:
CCW Safe offers best-in-class legal defense coverage with no limits for criminal or civil defense coverage.
Although there are other options with no coverage limits, they can lack other important features that CCW Safe has like getting your money up front, picking your own lawyer, or getting a daily per diem payment.
And USCCA offers those important features plus a TON of extra training and resources, however, they place limits on the amount of criminal and civil defense they’ll cover.
CCW SAFE REVIEW – OUR TAKE
The choice whether to get CCW insurance coverage, and which CCW insurance is best for you, is a personal choice for you and your family to make based on your specific circumstances, budget, risk tolerance, and more. This is true of any “insurance” decision.
However, I’m going to review CCW Safe to help you make the best decision.
The easy part up front: CCW Safe has arguably the best legal coverage available for concealed carry and would be a great option for most people. They earned the #1 spot in our Best CCW Insurance Guide but that’s only because the #2 spot places limits on the amount of coverage they offer.
When looking at CCW insurance options, we strongly recommend choosing an organization that AT LEAST includes our three basic concealed carry insurance requirements:
- The ability to choose your own attorney
- Money up front, and
- A daily allowance (per diem) to help offset time off of work
CCW Safe has all three.
What we like about CCW Safe: The legal team and legal experience of CCW Safe is very strong.
This is not to say that other providers don’t also have good legal support. In fact, we know of a subject matter expert firearm attorney that works for both USCCA and CCW Safe.
However, CCW Safe is the only legal service provider for concealed carry that claims it is the only company to successfully defend a self-defense 1st degree murder case.
We also like what we’ve heard about their response after their services are called upon.
What we don’t like about CCW Safe: Although you can choose your own attorney, the attorney must be vetted through CCW Safe. This is difficult for us to include in the “we don’t like” section because, honestly, it is quite reasonable that they would want to have some control over the legal team being used if they want you to be successful and don’t want to waste money.
CCW Safe Review Conclusion: CCW Safe is a strong contender if you’re considering legal protection for CCW.
In fact, we’ll go so far as to say that it appears to be the best legal coverage. However if you’re looking for a lot of extra training and resources, you might want to check out USCCA.
CCW Safe Pros and Cons
- Unlimited Criminal Defense Coverage
- Unlimited Civil Defense Coverage
- Legal Dream Team
- Choose Your Own Lawyer
- Daily Per Diem
- Money Up-Front
- Limited Extra Training or Resources
- Your Attorney Must Be Approved
Report Card | ||
Cost | The price is competitive with the higher-end CCW insurance options and you’re getting arguably the best legal coverage. | A |
Coverage | Best in class legal coverage. | A+ |
Features | They provide or “must have” requirements in addition to valuable deep-dive legal analysis of real self-defense use cases. | A |
Value | Although no extras are included, you’re getting solid legal coverage for the price. | A- |
Our Grade
A+
Reviewed by Ryan Cleckner
Reader’s Grade
A-
Based on 16 Reviews
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About Ryan Cleckner
Ryan is a former special operations sniper (1/75 Ranger) and current firearms attorney, firearms industry executive, university lecturer, and bestselling author of the Long Range Shooting Handbook.
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Am I missing something? On the spreadsheet for the different plan features, you show “unlimited” coverage for a civil judgement on the
DEFENDER plan but on the application portion you discover that there
Is NO coverage unless you pay an additional $200.00 annually. Not a
Case of bait and switch I hope.
Thank you for finding that – there is unlimited coverage for civil defense but not damages. I have broken those two out into separate categories in the table.
Ryan, I am more confused with your answer to Jack, there is unlimited coverage BUT.? IT DAMAGES?
Apologies – that was supposed to be “not damages” – I fixed it.
Compare CCW safe vs uscca
Like here? https://gununiversity.com/uscca-vs-ccw-safe/
To me, the ability of not being able to choose your attorney isn’t a deal breaker. I think my biggest concern would be having qualified and vetted representation immediately after an incident and getting out of the jailhouse would be my most immediate concern. Branca and West, are very good at what they do and Im sure will be directing behind the scenes. I don’t even personally know any attorneys much less to being able to choose one as I don’t go looking for trouble, and I do an ever ongoing risk assessment at every turn.
AATW, Alex
assessment
Great points, Alex. To me, the ability to pick your own attorney is less about using my own Rolodex (yes, I’m old) of attorneys and more about choosing to not use an attorney that I don’t like. The reason I overlooked this are is because of my trust in Branch and West. I included it to give a fair picture and also because I “dinged” other companies for not allowing free choice.
Both my wife and I have CCW permits. I’m also a retired LE office and have been issued LEOSA creds by my former agency for which I take a qualification test annually. Instead of signing up for their Ultimate plan, I was thinking of signing up for the Protector plan for me and the defender plan for my wife (though she may also qualify for the Protector plan as an Army Veteran). I think the two lower priced plans will give us about the same basic protection as the higher priced Ultimate plan. Am I right or is my rational flawed?
Also, you stated that coverage is only good in 47 states. I read the part about the three states that do not allow the selling of such policies to their residents. But I thought that for non-residents of NY, NJ, and WA, we would be covered when visiting or passing through these states. Is that right?
Ryan, your article was exactly what I was looking for, as a CCW Holder, i.e., a detailed comparison of ccw programs. Based on your comparison, I understand why you selected CCW Safe, however would you make the same recommendation for a retiree, where he/she would not require a daily per diem? In this case, wouldn’t ACLDN be a better choice as their plan provides the exact same benefits, with the exception of the per diem at half the cost vs. CCW Safe ? Again, thanks again for the article and responding to my question.
GREAT question. It does look like an option for you to save some money. If you decide to go with them, we’d really like to hear how it goes as they are the company we have the least experience with.
(((in the contact for CCW Safe…)))
Restrictions, Limitations, Notices and Exclusions:
CRIMINAL ACTS: CCW Safe will not provide the services if the use of force incident is an intentional criminal act (i.e. robbery) (((ok, the scary words next….)))
or where there is no admissible evidence of self-defense. (((define this!)))
Exactly! I have not been able to get a response to this query. Who determines what is a “Self Defense” action and when is that determination made? Most important question, in my mind. Why not clarify this point if indeed their plan offers the coverage? I would think that would be the biggest selling point and not to be hidden in “legaleeze “.
I live in Colorado. In a pretend scenario I need an attorney to represent me in a shooting in my home. I have CCW Safe. How is an attorney assigned to me in my state?
Please work directly with CCW Safe.
I purchased a plan since October 31, 2020 and to this date no one has contacted me nor have I received any correspondence concerning my protection plan.
Sorry to hear that. Have you contacted them? If so, please let us know if CCW Safe gets back to you.
If CCW Safe represents me at a self defense trial and I loose my case, do I have to refund any of the cost they have incurred ?
That’s a great question! I doubt it, but we are going to ask this question of each of the providers.
From what the website says, they do not sought recoupment if you lose your case.
Sorry to rehash this topic, but I just started my insurance research. While I noticed that USCCA and CW Safe are both good in their own right, my concern is with the USCCA defense limit. Is $250,000 for criminal defense realistically enough in these days of mainstream/social media? Yeah, USCCA gives you extensive training videos, but I keep being drawn to CW Safe for its unlimited criminal defense fees. Is $250,000 really going to give me the “best” defense team?
It might. Don’t be swayed by dollar amount alone.
I like ccw safe, but I’m frustrated at the fact that permitless carriers are forced into a plan that costs twice as much as their plan that I would actually need. I live in a constitutional carry state and enjoy the freedom of not needing a license to carry, so my only option is$300?! No thanks.
I completely understand. Let’s hope we all have Constitutional carry someday. 🙂
I live in Massachusetts and I have a License to Carry which allows me to carry any firearm that is legal in the state including concealed weapons. Am I eligible for the plans with the License to Carry? Second question. I was honorably discharged from the US Army in 1974. I am not retired from the Army. Am I eligible for the protector plan and what verification will be required?
You’re going to have to reach out to CCW Safe to see details about their plans and eligibility.
Im a af veteran living in Mo. (a right to carry state. I am a state issue CCW permit. Am i able to be covered by the CCW Save protector plan?
I had a CCW in Pennsylvania as soon as I turned 25. I later moved to Maryland where I could not show a need to have a CCW. So I carried without one. I have since lived in Florida, back in Maryland, and now retired to South Carolina. Never had another CCW after PA.
As time went on, I developed the attitude that the 2nd Amendment was my CCW.
My question is this; Can I get carry insurance without having a state’s permission to carry?
CCW Safe absolutely will not cover defending you in court if a violent ex-spouse or a violent child attacks you. While USCCA’s limits are frustratingly low $250,000.00 is a whole lot better than $0.00
CCW Safe apparently will also not cover your defense if you are forced to defend yourself against an invited guest.
Some of the coverage in each plan is vague and answers to selected coverage or elimination of unneeded portions are not discussed nor have the information so one could make a choice on what plan needed or wanted. It is nice to have the plans laid out showing the costs for each plan but the addons or elimination of addons isn’t readily discussed or shown where to go or who to talk to. These are some of the disconcerting parts of each CCWSafe plan and what cost for each add on or not addon shown…perhaps each plan should be explained in detail in this chart, not the review section.
So you are covered for 100% of your defense costs for criminal and civil, but you loose the civil case and are responsible to pay one million dollars. Is there any company covering this exposure?
Hopefully you can add “The Right to Bear Insurance” to the comparison.
I’m in Nevada. Can I get a list of approved lawyers?
I am LE retired in NY. I thought this was illegal in NYS. But they sell it anyway here ???
I may have missed it but after a incident do you provide a list of approved lawyers or just appoint one and if I choose not to have that lawyer represent will another be appointed.
Secondly, ASAP after an incident I call presumably the number on the card ?
Thank you for your time
Hi Craig, we are not CCW Safe – we are only providing a review of their services. To learn more about how they operate, please reach directly out to them.
However, it is my understanding that they will suggest approved lawyers or you can choose your own. Also, you should first call 911 after an incident and then call the number on the card.
I live in SC and really only travel to NC. Both of which (as far as I can tell) have civil indemnity for justified use of force. How ironclad would you consider that in regards to opting for (or declining) civil liability coverage?
NC indemnification: North Carolina General Statutes 14-51.3
SC indemnification: https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t16c011.php#16-11-450