First Insurance Company Dedicated Exclusively to the Cannabis Industry
Currently, many legal cannabis businesses in the United States face challenges managing their assets, as most of these enterprises do not have access to banks and other financial institutions. As a result, cannabis shops and grow operations are often forced to keep their funds in cash, making them targets for potentially dangerous criminals. In addition, cannabis companies lack access to insurance services, making the risk of losing income due to theft a very real concern for many entrepreneurs.
However, Cannasure, a company aiming to insure the assets of businesses involved in the production and distribution of cannabis, is looking to change the situation in the legal cannabis market.
Insurance for Growers
Cannasure Insurance Services is based in Cleveland, Ohio, but plans to offer insurance services to cannabis businesses across the United States. The company’s policies will cover any business involved in the production, distribution, and processing of both medical and recreational cannabis. They will also provide insurance services to entrepreneurs supporting the cannabis industry and landlords who lease their property to cannabis shops.
Of course, the company’s insurance will be available to both major market players with large commercial grow operations and small private farms specializing in fully organic products.
Additionally, the company’s management plans to offer services to organizers of cannabis-related public events, allowing them to insure property used during festivals and gatherings against potential damage or police raids. These event policies are expected to cover not only major incidents but also minor ones, such as theft of personal items from bags and cars at festivals.
“The cannabis industry faces unique risk factors not seen in other major business sectors,” says Patrick McManamon, the company’s CEO.
The insurance program will be managed by Kieran O’Rourke, an experienced agent with over 20 years of experience in major insurance firms across the country.
Cannabis Business Policy
The company’s standard policy will guarantee insurance coverage for private property against potential damage, offering payouts of up to $5 million to affected businesses. This category includes not only the business itself and its equipment but also the cannabis products. Currently, the company offers relatively low premiums for such policies, compared to the few other insurance firms that work with cannabis businesses on an exception basis.
The policy also provides payouts in the event of serious damage to the business, allowing cannabis business owners to receive immediate compensation for recovery in case of fire or other disasters. This could help prevent incidents like the bankruptcy of many shops and grow operations affected by last year’s wildfires in California from happening again.
Additionally, the policy can cover the business’s movable property, providing insurance protection for vehicles used to transport cannabis products. In this case, couriers and freight carriers for the industry will be protected from financial loss due to theft, as will the shops themselves.
Finally, it’s worth noting that the company’s standard policy will also provide payouts in the event of lawsuits from customers who suffer unexpected reactions to consumed products, thus guaranteeing cannabis businesses full protection of their assets from any possible threat.
It should be noted that Cannasure has been operating since 2010, but until now, its activities were limited to just a few regions of the country. The process of issuing the first universal insurance policies for cannabis businesses officially began at noon on February 1, 2018.