What is Cannabis Insurance?
Massachusetts businesses that operate within the cannabis industry require sizeable investments and are exposed to substantial risks. In order to responsibly operate, these businesses generally need cannabis insurance.
Cannabis insurance is a kind of commercial insurance that’s tailored to meet the risk mitigation needs of businesses that operate in this space. Because these businesses have multiple insurance needs, most cannabis policies come with at least several coverages that get bundled together in a package policy.
Since the medical marijuana industry is still a relative newcomer, cannabis policies continue to evolve at times. In order to make sure they get the most appropriate protections, businesses ought to work closely with an insurance agent who specializes in these policies and is familiar with what the latest coverage offerings are.
What Massachusetts Businesses Should Consider Marijuana Dispensary Insurance?
In general, any Massachusetts business that operates within the medical marijuana industry will likely find a marijuana dispensary insurance policy helpful. These businesses include marijuana dispensaries as well as other, similar or related businesses.
Any business that doesn’t have insurance is probably exposed to significant potential risk, and this is normally the most appropriate policy for businesses that deal with cannabis.
What Protections Are Available Through Marijuana Dispensary Insurance Policies?
Depending on a marijuana dispensary insurance policy’s terms, the policy may offer a variety of different coverages. A few of the more commonly available ones are:
- Commercial Property Coverage, which may cover a business’ buildings, equipment and non-medicine inventory
- Medicine Coverage, which may cover a business’ CBD products and marijuana inventory
- General Liability Coverage, which may cover basic accidents, defamation suits and false advertising suits
- Product Liability Coverage, which may cover accidents caused by sold CBD products, marijuana or paraphernalia
- Professional Liability Coverage, which may cover bad advice that employes give or mistakes they make
- Business Income Coverage, which may cover a loss of income that follows a natural disaster or other incident
Do Subcontractors Fall Within Marijuana Dispensary Insurance’s Protections?
While any insurance policy’s precise protections depend on that particular policy’s terms, conditions and exclusions, most marijuana dispensary policies don’t cover subcontracting workers as a standard rule. If coverage for subcontractors is needed, it may be added through an optional feature on many policies.Do Cannabis Policies Come with Workers Compensation?
Most businesses within the medical marijuana industry are required by state law to carry workers compensation because they have employees. This is a coverage that typically safeguards against risks associated with workplace injuries and illnesses.
Whether workers compensation is purchased directly through a cannabis policy or by itself in a separate policy depends on the cannabis policy, though. While some businesses may get workers compensation through their cannabis policy, many others purchase an additional stand-alone policy that provides just workers compensation. In either case, an insurance agent who’s up-to-date on cannabis policies can almost certainly also help navigate workers compensation coverage requirements.
Are Cannabis Policies Expensive?
Premiums for cannabis policies are set according to a number of different factors, so rates vary across policies. Even when taking into account the variance that’s found, though, policies tend to offer coverage at an affordable price considering the risks that medical marijuana businesses face and the revenues they can bring in.
Medical marijuana businesses can find out exactly how much a cannabis policy will cost them by speaking with an independent insurance agent. An independent agent is able to compare quotes from many different insurance companies in the state, which makes it easy to see what different companies will charge for a given set of protections.