Dutchie Launches New Insurance Program For Marijuana Businesses

Cannabis technology platform Dutchie announced on Wednesday that the company would begin offering a comprehensive insurance program for businesses in the legal marijuana industry, saying that the new offering “provides a crucial service and better protection for any stakeholder in the cannabis supply chain, in every legal market across the United States.”

“Cannabis businesses need appropriate insurance coverage that gives them peace of mind and confidence that their businesses will be protected no matter what,” Mauricio Comi, embedded financial services and business development lead at Dutchie, said in a statement from the company. “Dutchie Insurance builds on our mission to help create safe and easy access to cannabis by ensuring the industry is supported and in a position to reach its full potential.”

Dutchie is a cannabis technology platform that provides services that enable commerce, streamline dispensary operations and provide consumers access to businesses in the legal marijuana industry. The company offers a POS system for cannabis dispensaries, and in July, it launched Dutchie Pay, a new digital payment system for marijuana dispensaries that gives retailers and their customers an option to conduct transactions without cash. Dutchie’s services are used by more than 5,500 cannabis dispensaries in the United States and Canada, helping them ring up more than $14 billion in annual sales, according to data provided by the company.

Cannabis Business Insurance A Challenge

Earlier this year, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) noted that companies in the cannabis industry face challenges obtaining adequate insurance coverage for their legal marijuana businesses. The group, comprised of insurance regulators from across the country, said that the division between state and federal law over cannabis makes it difficult for companies in the industry to obtain coverage, often leaving policyholders with highly restrictive plans. Additionally, the conflicting state and federal laws, a lack of standardization in the cannabis industry, and a rapidly evolving regulatory environment “have largely discouraged insurers from participating in this market.” But like all other businesses, companies in the cannabis industry still need insurance coverage to protect them from the risks they face every day.

“Cannabis-related businesses (CRBs) face many risks and obstacles. CRBs share the same general liability and other risks agricultural and manufacturing businesses face,” the NAIC’s Center for Insurance Policy and Research wrote in a report updated in February. “This includes workplace accidents, damage to property and crop failure. CRBs are especially prone to fires from both wild and internal sources. Some of the biggest risks involve theft, general liability and product liability.”

As of 2020, only six insurance carriers offered coverage to businesses in the cannabis industry. With the limited supply of coverage options, prices are often higher, and coverage can be inferior. To address the shortcomings in insurance for the cannabis industry, Dutchie Insurance “uses data to identify gaps in insurance and ensure any cannabis business has the right coverage at all times, even as businesses change and grow.”

The company adds that it “partners with the leading insurance carriers to provide a dedicated account manager who negotiates and secures the best coverage plan for the best price. The service offers plans that cover and protect everything for a cannabis business, including property, physical products, lawsuits, and more.”

Dutchie Insurance works “with over 12 carriers specialized in the cannabis space like Cangenn and Curotech Speciality, in addition to all of the market leaders as well as new entrants,” to offer coverage to its customers, Comi writes in an email.

More information about Dutchie Insurance is available online.