Crime Insurance for Cannabis Businesses
What is Crime Insurance?
Cannabis businesses face a host of exposures on a daily basis. While these risks can be significant, they often overshadow one of the biggest threats faced by any industry – crime. Whether it occurs in the form of an office burglary or the destruction of property, criminal acts can have a significant impact on your cannabis operation.
The reality is that crime is both an internal and external threat. Employee theft or embezzlement is more common than you may know and could lead to significant losses for your cannabis operation if the right precautions aren’t taken.
What is included in Crime Insurance?
Any crime, whether internal or external, can have a significant negative impact on your business. To provide the full range of coverage needed to protect all of your exposures, Crime Insurance guards against the following:
- Employee theft/dishonesty – Unfortunately you don’t know what some employees are capable of. Crime insurance protects against employee theft of property, securities, or money.
- Outside the premises – Should a representative from your operation be robbed outside of your place of business, Crime Insurance will insure the stolen goods.
- Forgery or alteration – Crime Insurance protects against loss due to dishonesty in altering checks, signing, writing, bank drafts, and other financial mishaps.
- Inside the premises (theft of money and securities) – Extends coverage for the loss of funds and securities stolen while in the care of anyone (such as an employee) whose covered under your policy.
- Inside the premises (robbery or safe burglary) – Provides coverage for the loss of property, other than money and securities, stolen from your place of business.
- Reimbursement for computer fraud – With the advancements made in technology, it has become easier than ever before for employees to perpetrate crimes against their employers. Crime insurance provides coverage for crimes that include computer fraud.
What are the benefits of having Crime Insurance?
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners estimates that businesses can expect to lose 5% of their revenue every year due to fraud. While policies may differ depending on the unique needs of your business, Crime Insurance will provide some standard protections and benefits for insured parties.
Those protections include:
Counterfeit fraud
Employee theft
Funds transfer fraud
Forgery
Computer fraud
Robbery that takes place either inside or outside of the company premises
These losses typically aren’t covered by Commercial Property Insurance. As such, you must invest in Crime Insurance separately to ensure you’re adequately covered.
What to look for in Crime Insurance Coverage
Crime Insurance is often necessary for cannabis businesses, as cannabis products are frequently the target of criminal activity. Not all Crime Insurance policies are cut from the same cloth, however.
The vast majority of Crime Insurance policies will offer a range of benefits that can be added or removed according to the needs of your business. In some instances, insurance brokers will offer specialized coverage endorsements for risks that typically aren’t included in the standard range of benefits.
With the advent of emerging technologies as well as an increasing number of organizations conducting their business online, there are more opportunities and temptations to commit crimes than ever before. Keeping that in mind, you should assess the potential threats faced by your company when searching for crime insurance.
Tips for Choosing Crime Insurance
Determine whether or not your policy will provide coverage for all of your exposures
While it’s practically impossible to outright eliminate all losses that may occur due to crime, you can manage the severity and reduce the frequency in which they occur. Once you’ve identified all of your exposures, you’ll have a general idea of what type of insurance policy that’s best suited for your business.
Find a qualified broker
Finding a qualified broker comes with a multitude of benefits. Not only will a good broker tailor a plan that will give you the greatest bang for your buck, but they’ll also offer their expertise and experience to help you avoid legal landmines, as these are very common in the cannabis industry.
Determine the type of policy you will need
Crime Insurance encompasses a broad range of policies that include forgery or alteration coverage, computer fraud, and funds transfer fraud, money and securities coverage amongst others. By understanding where your risks lie, you can purchase the policy best suited for your situation.
Get a Crime Insurance Quote
Protect yourself and your business by reaching out to Cannabis Connect Insurance, so we can help you find the right policy for your business.
