Crime & Fidelity Coverage
Protection against employee theft, forgery, and funds-transfer fraud — the internal-controls gap trust-based organizations feel hardest.
This is an estimate, not a bound policy — a licensed VAB producer confirms final terms before coverage starts. Sgt. Savings can answer questions but can't quote, bind, or guarantee coverage.
Every organization runs on some amount of trust — trust that an employee handling money is handling it honestly, trust that a check request or wire instruction is real. Crime & Fidelity coverage protects against the moment that trust is broken: employee theft and forgery, theft during transit or on your premises, and forgery or fraud carried out on paper or by computer. Nonprofits and lean-staffed organizations feel this gap the hardest, because fewer internal controls mean fraud can run longer before anyone notices.
Who This Is Really For
The ideal buyer.
The ideal buyer runs finance for a nonprofit or small business with a lean team, where separation-of-duties controls are limited by headcount rather than by choice — often the same one or two people who approve, record, and reconcile financial transactions. Many nonprofits specifically encounter this coverage because a grant funder or board policy requires fidelity bonding before funds are released, not because they went looking for crime insurance on their own. The trigger is frequently a near-miss or a governance moment: an auditor's management letter flagging weak internal controls, a small discrepancy that turned out to be innocent but made leadership nervous, or simply onboarding a new bookkeeper and using the moment to tighten controls generally. This buyer needs coverage built around the reality that fewer internal controls mean fraud can run longer before anyone notices — not a generic crime policy sized for an organization with a full finance department and real separation of duties.
- Nonprofits and businesses with a small finance team where separation-of-duties controls are limited by headcount, not choice
- Organizations handling client or member property that could be stolen from the premises, in transit, or through a compromised system
- Any organization moving money by wire or ACH, exposed to funds-transfer fraud from a spoofed or fraudulent instruction
- Employers who've never had a theft incident and assume that means it can't happen — most employee theft goes undetected for months before it's caught
- Organizations administering an ERISA benefit plan and needing fidelity coverage that specifically addresses plan-related fiduciary theft exposure
What It Covers
Coverage, broken down.
Employee Theft & Fidelity
Discovery-triggered coverage for employee theft and forgery, theft of client property by an employee, and fidelity protection for organizations administering an ERISA benefit plan.
Premises & Transit
Covers theft, robbery, and safe burglary of money, securities, and other property — whether it happens on your premises or in transit, including loss involving an armored carrier.
Forgery & Financial Fraud
Coverage for check forgery, computer fraud, and funds-transfer fraud — the paper and digital sides of financial deception carried out against the organization.
Social Engineering Fraud (optional, sublimited)
An available endorsement addressing loss from being deliberately tricked into voluntarily transferring funds based on a fraudulent request — a distinct risk from funds-transfer fraud through a compromised system.
Illustrative Scenario — How This Coverage Responds
Illustrative scenario — a bookkeeper diverts organization funds
An organization's long-tenured bookkeeper is discovered to have been issuing fraudulent checks to a personal account over an extended period, exploiting weak separation-of-duties controls typical of a small finance team. Under an illustrative Crime & Fidelity policy, the Employee Theft & Fidelity coverage part is what this coverage is designed to respond to once the theft is discovered, subject to the policy's terms, limits, and exclusions. This is a description of how the coverage is structured to respond, not a specific claim outcome or dollar figure VAB is promising.
Illustrative example for education only — not a claim outcome or a promise of payment. Every claim depends on the actual policy issued and its terms.
More Than One Way In
More scenarios.
Real coverage doesn't fit one story. Here's who else this shows up for.
The nonprofit meeting a grant funder's bonding requirement
A nonprofit receiving a major grant is told by the funder that fidelity bonding covering the organization's finance staff is a condition of the award being released. The organization places Crime & Fidelity coverage specifically to satisfy that requirement before the funds are disbursed. This illustrates a common funder-driven trigger for this coverage, not a claim outcome.
The business tightening funds-transfer controls
A business that regularly wires payments to vendors reviews its exposure to funds-transfer fraud after hearing about a scheme targeting a similarly sized company in its industry. It confirms its Crime & Fidelity policy includes the Social Engineering Fraud endorsement, since a fraudulent request tricking staff into voluntarily transferring funds is a distinct risk from a directly compromised system. This is an illustration of a common review trigger, not a claim scenario.
The organization onboarding a new bookkeeper
An organization brings on a new bookkeeper and uses the transition as an opportunity to review its internal financial controls more broadly. It confirms its Crime & Fidelity coverage reflects its current staff and structure, recognizing that a change in who handles money is exactly the kind of moment worth reviewing coverage rather than assuming it's still adequate. This illustrates a common review trigger, not a claim outcome.
Know The Gaps
What this doesn't cover.
Every policy has limits. Knowing them before you buy is how you avoid a denied claim later.
Acts by owners or partners themselves
This is employee-fidelity coverage — theft committed by an owner or partner acting in that capacity isn't the risk this policy is built to insure, since fidelity coverage assumes the loss comes from someone the organization trusted as an employee.
Inventory-shortage-only proof
A discrepancy shown only by comparing inventory records, without other evidence of an actual theft event, generally doesn't meet this policy's proof requirements — you typically need to show how the loss happened.
Trading losses
Losses from investment or trading decisions are a business risk, not a crime loss, and fall outside fidelity coverage regardless of who made the decision.
Confidential-information or privacy-breach costs
A data breach's notification, forensic, and regulatory costs are a cyber liability exposure, not a crime exposure — Cyber Liability is the coverage built for that, and pairs with this policy rather than duplicating it.
Indirect or consequential loss
This pays for the direct loss of money, securities, or property — downstream business consequences of the theft (lost contracts, reputational damage) generally aren't part of what's reimbursed.
Virtual currency loss, entirely
Digital asset and cryptocurrency theft is fully excluded from this policy — organizations holding digital assets need Digital Asset Custody & Crime coverage specifically, since this form doesn't extend to it at all.
Behind The Quote
What goes into the decision.
What actually moves your price and your approval — no black box.
Finance-team size and separation-of-duties controls
A smaller finance team with limited separation of duties represents a real underwriting factor, since fewer checks mean a theft can run longer before detection — describing actual controls honestly at application is what gets the coverage priced and structured to fit the real exposure.
Whether the organization administers an ERISA benefit plan
Fidelity protection for organizations administering an ERISA benefit plan is a specific coverage component, so an organization with that responsibility needs to confirm it's addressed rather than assuming general employee-theft coverage extends to it automatically.
Funds-transfer and wire volume
How much money moves by wire or ACH, and what controls exist around approving those transfers, directly shapes the funds-transfer fraud exposure and whether the optional Social Engineering Fraud endorsement is worth adding.
Whether Social Engineering Fraud is elected
Being tricked into voluntarily transferring funds based on a fraudulent request is a distinct, sublimited endorsement — not automatically bundled in — so an organization relying on email or phone-based payment requests should confirm it's actually on the policy.
Prior loss or discrepancy history
A documented history of theft, forgery, or unexplained discrepancies factors into how the exposure is assessed, the same way it would for any crime policy, since underwriting is ultimately pricing the likelihood of a future discovery.
Let's get you covered.
Tell us what you need on Crime & Fidelity Coverage — a licensed VAB advisor follows up personally. No bots, no runaround.
Looking for a session that's already scheduled? Browse upcoming webinars.
Availability
Placed nationwide, with terms adjusted state by state; premises and transit protection extends across the U.S., its territories, Puerto Rico, and Canada, while the fidelity and forgery coverage parts apply worldwide.
Questions, answered straight
No jargon on crime & fidelity coverage — just what you're actually asking.
Theft by an owner or partner acting in that capacity is excluded, but coverage for other employees — including most staff roles — is the core of this policy. How your specific leadership structure is treated depends on how the policy defines 'employee,' so confirm that during placement.
No — virtual currency loss is entirely excluded from this policy. If you hold digital assets, Digital Asset Custody & Crime coverage is the specific policy built to address theft of those assets.
This policy covers direct theft of money, securities, and property — including funds-transfer and computer fraud. Cyber Liability covers data breach response and privacy/network liability. A funds-transfer fraud scheme and a data breach are different events, and many organizations carry both policies because the exposures don't overlap.
No — it's an optional, sublimited endorsement. If someone tricking your staff into voluntarily wiring funds based on a fraudulent request is a real risk for your organization, confirm that endorsement is actually on your policy rather than assuming it's bundled in.
This is a discovery-triggered policy, meaning coverage generally responds based on when the theft is discovered, not strictly when it occurred — but there are still policy-period and retroactive-date considerations that affect older, long-running theft. Talk to your advisor about the specific timeline as soon as you discover a loss.
Usually yes. Cyber Liability responds to data breaches and network/privacy failures; it doesn't cover an employee physically stealing money or forging a check. The two policies address different loss types, and most organizations that carry money or property exposure need both.
Beyond This Coverage
What people in your situation also need.
Business Banking
Tightening internal financial controls pairs naturally with the account structure and approval workflows a real business banking relationship provides.
ExplorePayroll
A lean finance team's payroll process is one of the most common places employee theft and forgery actually happen, making managed payroll a practical complement to this coverage.
ExploreRelated Coverage
Coverage people pair with this.
Cyber Liability
Coverage for a data breach, network failure, or cyber extortion — and everything it costs to respond to one.
Learn moreDigital Asset Custody & Crime Coverage
First-party crime coverage for digital assets and private keys you hold — your own, or your clients'.
Learn moreDigital Asset Protocol Coverage
Liability and loss protection built specifically for DeFi protocols, staking, and validator operations.
Learn moreReady to talk it through?
Get a quote in minutes, or ask Sgt. Savings a straight question first — no pressure, no runaround.
Insurance products described on this page are marketed by The Veteran Alliance, a licensed insurance producer, and underwritten by one or more separately licensed insurance companies, which may include Corgi Insurance Company and its affiliates. The insurer that actually underwrites your policy, its licensing status in your state, and any state-required notices will be identified in your quote and policy documents. Coverage, limits, eligibility, and pricing are determined by the underwriting insurer, may vary by state, and may change. Nothing on this page is a quote, an offer of insurance, a binder, or a guarantee of coverage — coverage takes effect only when a policy is issued.