If you run a security company, insurance is one of your biggest headaches. It's expensive, the procurement process is slow, coverage gaps appear at the worst possible moments, and premium audits can catch you out if your staffing fluctuates seasonally. It's also one of those things that sits firmly in the "necessary but painful" category of running a security business.
A new partnership announced this week between Willis (a WTW business), Belfry, and Kayna is trying to change that. And the way they're doing it matters more than the partnership itself.
Table of Contents
What this partnership actually does
Belfry is a US-based vertical SaaS platform built specifically for the physical security industry. It consolidates scheduling, timekeeping, payroll, billing, incident reporting, and guard tracking into a single system. Think of it as the operational backbone for security companies that have outgrown spreadsheets and disconnected software tools.
Willis brings the insurance expertise. As a NASDAQ-listed global broker, they have decades of underwriting and claims management experience across the security sector. Kayna, an InsurTech company, provides the technology layer that connects the two: an embedded insurance portal that sits inside the Belfry platform and uses real-time operational data to pre-fill forms, support quoting, and streamline the entire procurement process.
"The security operator who currently spends hours chasing insurance quotes through brokers, filling forms manually, and hoping the numbers line up at audit can now do most of that inside the same platform they use to schedule shifts."
The practical benefits are real. The integration offers timely quotes to address coverage gaps, potential premium savings through better data, and reduced audit risk through pay-as-you-go insurance that adjusts to actual staffing levels. That last point is significant for security companies whose headcount can swing dramatically between contracts.
Paul Lubbers, Head of US Affinity at Willis, described the goal as making it easier for security operators to access the right coverage with minimal friction, so they can focus on their actual work rather than administrative complexity.
The bigger pattern
This is worth paying attention to not because of the insurance angle alone, but because of what it represents.
Vertical SaaS platforms are quietly consolidating the operational infrastructure of entire industries. In construction, platforms like Procore have absorbed project management, financial tracking, and compliance into a single environment. In healthcare, companies like Athenahealth have done the same with billing, scheduling, and clinical workflows. In logistics, platforms like Samsara handle fleet management, compliance, and safety from one dashboard.
"Vertical SaaS has already transformed construction, healthcare, and logistics. Physical security is next, and insurance is just the latest function to get absorbed into the platform."
Physical security is following the same trajectory. Belfry's model of consolidating scheduling, payroll, billing, and now insurance into one platform is how entire industries get restructured. The individual tools don't disappear. They get absorbed into something bigger, something that becomes increasingly difficult to compete against because switching costs grow with every function it handles.
For security company owners, this trend creates a genuine strategic question. The platform you choose to run your operations on will increasingly determine which insurance products you can access, which payroll systems you use, and how your back-office data flows. That's a level of dependency that goes well beyond picking a scheduling tool.
The insurance pain point is real
For anyone who hasn't run a security company, it's worth understanding why insurance specifically matters here.
Security firms carry significant liability exposure. General liability, professional liability, workers' compensation, and often specialized coverage for armed personnel or high-risk environments. Premiums are one of the largest line items on the balance sheet, and the procurement process is often manual, broker-dependent, and disconnected from the operational data that should be informing the quotes.
The result is a familiar cycle: pay too much because the insurer can't see your real risk profile, discover coverage gaps when it's too late, and get hit with unexpected premium adjustments after audits reveal discrepancies between estimated and actual payroll.
Embedded insurance, the model Kayna enables, addresses this by connecting insurance directly to the operational data that matters. If Belfry already knows how many guards you deployed, where they worked, and how many hours they logged, that data can flow directly into the insurance quoting process. The result should be more accurate pricing, fewer surprises at audit, and faster coverage when you onboard a new contract.
What to watch for
Three things worth tracking as this trend develops.
Platform dependency is growing. The more functions a platform absorbs, the harder it becomes to leave. That's good for efficiency, but it creates concentration risk. If your scheduling, payroll, billing, and insurance all run through a single provider, the consequences of that provider failing or changing terms become significant.
"The companies that control the operational platform will eventually control the ecosystem. That has implications for how security businesses compete, negotiate, and grow."
Data becomes the competitive advantage. Security companies that operate on platforms generating rich operational data will likely get better insurance terms over time. The data proves their risk profile in ways that manual applications never could. Companies still running on disconnected systems may find themselves paying more for less coverage as the market adjusts to data-driven underwriting.
The broker relationship evolves. Willis's involvement here signals that traditional brokers see embedded distribution as the future, not a threat to their model. They're adapting by partnering with platforms rather than competing against them. That's a meaningful shift for security company owners who currently rely on direct broker relationships for their insurance needs.
The bottom line
This partnership between Belfry, Willis, and Kayna is a practical solution to a real operational problem. But it's also a signal. The physical security industry's back-office infrastructure is being rebuilt by technology companies, one function at a time. Insurance is the latest. It won't be the last.
The operators who pay attention to which platforms are consolidating power and position themselves accordingly will have a meaningful advantage over those who are still managing their business across a dozen disconnected tools.
Source: Willis, Kayna, and Belfry joint announcement, February 26, 2026.
For more information: Belfry | Kayna
This article was published by The Circuit Magazine. For weekly intelligence briefings on the security and protection industry, subscribe to On The Circuit.