Insuring cannabis businesses can be problematic. During the course of the past two years, I’ve written several new insurance continuing education (CE) online and webinar courses for my client, A.D. Banker & Company. One of the most recent webinars is Insuring Cannabis Risks.
The course is the brainchild of inquiries submitted by individuals who attended a free monthly webinar I co-host with A.D. Banker vice president, Pam Reihs. During each 1-hour Insurance Trends Webinar, Pam and I talk about insurance topics of current relevancy. How to insure cannabis businesses is always at the top of the list. Questions we often receive are:
Why isn’t cannabis/marijuana legal in all the states?
In what states IS marijuana legal?
What about hemp, that’s legal, isn’t it?
Why is it so hard for cannabis businesses to establish relationships with banks and credit card companies?
What insurance companies write insurance for cannabis businesses?
The insurance CE webinar answers these and other questions for licensed insurance professionals. I recently wrote two blog posts for A.D. Banker that summarizes the most important information contained in the course. So, for you insurance and non-insurance people alike, feel free to visit those blog posts:
Check back as I provide ongoing updates about this evolving insurance marketplace. To register for the insurance CE webinar, click here. You can find my insurance webinar schedule here.
Regardless of what business you’re in–whether you write and sell insurance or novels–customers are only going to buy you and your product if you earn their loyalty. No one is automatically entitled to trust.
How can you earn trust and loyalty?
Be authentic and sincere. If you’re a vegan selling Angus beef, that fundamental contradiction is apparent–if only in a funny feeling prospective customers sense.
Be open and honest. The popular word these days is “transparent.” And it’s appropriate. You don’t want people to lie to you, be deceptive, or withhold important information. So, don’t lie to, deceive, or withhold from others. The imbalance of treating people in a way you won’t tolerate being treated is going to topple you eventually.
Understand people. Do you know how your customers communicate? Would they prefer a phone call, a text, or an email? What do they believe? What do they want? What do they NEED? What do they consider important? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, how can you possibly give them what they want and need … or what they value?
The most important things to remember about people are that they want you to:
View them as important
Care about them
Listen to them
I talk about this subject in more detail in episode 14 of my podcast, Taking the Mystery out of Insurance. You can find it here.
If you’d like to read more about the subject, check out Dale Carnegie’s book, How to Win Friends and Influence People or any of Jeffrey Gitomer’s sales books (gitomer.com).
The homeowners policy insures personal risks, not business risks, when you’re working from home. For this reason, the homeowners policy explicitly excludes virtually all coverage for business property and liability.
Property & Liability Coverage Limits
The homeowners policy includes very limited personal property coverage. The limit usually ranges between $1,000 and $2,500 if the business property is at your house. The limit is much less for business property anywhere else–like in your car.
The policy severely limits liability coverage for business activities, as well. It only applies to incidents that occur on your property at home, and only for those that arise when:
You rent your house–either occasionally as a residence or partially to 1 or 2 boarders. This does NOT include Airbnb rentals, or any series of rentals. Neither does it include renting your barn to a neighbor who does lawn mower repairs.
You rent a portion of your house or other building for use as a private garage, office, school, or studio. Think designating a room for use to give music or dance lessons, or as an office for a writer.
An insured who is under age 21 runs a self-employed part-time or occasional business that does not have any employees.
Problems with These Coverage Limits When Working from Home
What does all this mean? When a person works from home, any property used for business receives very limited coverage. Regardless of whether it is owned by the individual or the individual’s employer. If the employer insures its owned property, that property should be insured specifically on the employer’s policy. A notation should be included that indicates it is located at the employee’s home. In some cases, the employer’s failure to cite the location of the property on its policy might result in a lack of adequate coverage in the event of a loss. This is especially true if the property is valued at more than $5,000 or $10,000,
Potential problems relating to the lack of business liability coverage under the homeowners policy are more serious. In most cases, clients do not visit employees working from home. But if anyone visits your home for business purposes and gets hurt, your unendorsed homeowners policy does not provide liability coverage. Similarly, if a FedEx or USPS employee trips and falls while delivering business mail or packages, any claim for injuries are not covered. Basically, coverage for ANY other type of liability (think cyber liability, products liability, etc.) is NOT covered, either.
Ways to Resolve the Problems
Endorsements are available to add limited business property and liability coverage to the homeowners policy. Unfortunately, in most cases, it’s probably not adequate. Some insurers also offer a home business endorsement that does include business, or commercial, coverage. That’s probably a better idea.
Remember, even if you’re working from home and your employer does have property and liability coverage in place, your employer gets the broadest coverage under that policy. If your employer insures you under his policy, you can still be held personally liable for property damage and bodily injury resulting from business activities conducted at your home.
Unless you buy and add business endorsements to your homeowners policy, you might find yourself uninsured in the event of a loss when you’re working from home.
For more details, listen to this week’s podcast at Taking the Mystery out of Insurance.
I’ve conducted a lot of research into the topic of elder abuse. I’ve also developed and written some insurance continuing education courses on the subject as well, as it pertains to financial fraud.
Here is another person’s take on senior financial exploitation, a despicable form of elder abuse. This account was written by Connie Johnson Hambley.
