Additional Insured Vendors

Tom WallaceContracts, Liability Insurance

Distributor and retail relationships change all the time. Adding distribution partners to your insurance is common practice. Additional Insured-Vendors is the technical terminology. When ending a vendor relationship, beware of clauses that impact your insurance. After terminating a vendor agreement, does that mean the additional insured status no longer applies? If the distributor/retailer  no longer sells your product and you … Read More

Insurance for Supplements

Tom WallaceLiability Insurance, Product Liability, Supplements

Buyer Beware Insurance for supplements requires more knowledge. If you have purchased, or are thinking of purchasing, insurance for supplement products, read on. Especially if your purchase or quote did not include an explanation. Insurance purchases for supplement companies seem to fall into two categories: Proper insurance product but no understanding of key policy features. Inexpensive insurance that will likely … Read More

Life and Disability Insurance

Tom WallaceLife Insurance

Life and Disability: The Problem Life and disability insurance is underutilized by business owners and they have more of a need than the average person. Death or disability has family consequences and business consequences that can magnify an already trying situation. Unless required to purchase either life or disability insurance, most business owners do what is the typical response, not … Read More

Rise of Functional Foods & Beverages

Tom WallaceProduct Liability, Risk Management

Background The variety of food and beverage options continues to advance. Functional foods and beverages are very hot right now. For us, in insurance, functional foods and beverages seem to fall in between traditional insurance underwriting guidelines. Before we jump in, what are traditional underwriting guidelines? The more “science” ingredients a product has the more “standard” insurers are not interested … Read More

What is a premium audit?

Tom WallaceLiability Insurance, Product Liability

Premium audit: What is it? Insurance companies conduct premium audits on certain types of policies. Not all policies go through an audit so policies rated on sales, payroll, square footage and units produced go through this process. Policies that have a premium audit? Common policies include General Liability, Product Liability and Workers Compensation. General and product liability use gross sales … Read More

Homeowners Insurance to cover Business Property, Read On?

Tom WallaceHomeowners Insurance, Property Insurance

It is without fail that small business (and sometimes medium size as well) owners store business property at their homes. Homeowners insurance can provide some coverage but not much. Homeowners insurance coverage disputes can end up in court when it comes to covering business property. Case law exists but with mixed results for the policyholder.  Using a residence to store … Read More

Non-Owned Autos in Your Food & Beverage Business

Tom WallaceAuto Insurance, Liability Insurance, Risk Management

Use of a non-owned autos in food and beverage businesses is common. Most of the time these vehicles are owned by employees or owners of the business itself because it makes sense. The cost to purchase, maintain and insure commercial vehicles is expensive. In addition to cost, the use of vehicles is secondary to most business models. Consequently, non-owned autos … Read More

Product Liability Insurance and Exported Products

Tom WallaceExport, Import, Liability Insurance, Product Liability, Risk Management

worldwide liability

Product Export The world is getting smaller and smaller. Product export by food and beverage companies is common. Local, state and federal agencies are helping expand borders. If you export products now or are thinking about it be aware of how insurance responds. Below are some essential policy terms to keep in mind. Need insurance for exporting food or beverage … Read More

Certificate of Insurance

Tom WallaceContracts, Liability Insurance

What is a Certificate of Liability Insurance (COI) Obtaining a certificate of liability insurance is often a routine administrative transaction. Because this piece of paper is important a quick turnaround time and accuracy matter. As a result of the administrative nature of these requests there is a real lack of understanding of what impacts a certificate of insurance. A certificate … Read More

Insuring Property for New Companies

Tom WallaceCommercial Coverage, Property Insurance

The Problem When a new specialty food or specialty beverage entrepreneur calls about insurance the conversation is usually about liability insurance because a certificate of liability insurance is the priority. Seems like insuring inventory and other property is not a consideration. Budget is a concern for sure. Amount to insure is a factor. Location of the property may be problematic. … Read More