Looking for Wholesaler & Distributor Business Insurance?

Whether you’re a new firm looking for insurance for your wholesaling business or an established firm looking for options on your next renewal, there are several issues to consider that we discuss in this video. The Key points to be thinking of:

Be Prepared with the info you’ll need for a quote, and don’t rely on your current policies.
Review your loss runs and answer the critical questions on underwriters’ minds.
Differentiate how you’ve been good and not just lucky with regard to claims history.
Be strategic. Sending out RFPs or engaging multiple brokers to quote your account will NOT return the best results possible.

What’s in a Wholesaler and Distributors Business Insurance Policy or Program?

The core policies within a Wholesaler’s and Distributor’s business insurance program will include the following:

Property coverage to protect the building, if you own it, your contents, and your business income.
General Liability protects you from bodily injury and property damage claims on your premises, but more importantly, from the products you sell.
Workers’ Compensation to protect your employees from on-the-job injuries.
Commercial Auto Insurance – if you have a fleet of trucks or autos used in the business.
Property in Transit – either Ocean Cargo coverage for goods shipped over the water or air, and Truck Transit coverage for goods shipped by truck, or both.

Umbrella or Excess Liability Insurance provides an extra layer of liability protection above your general and auto liability exposures.
Cyber Insurance protects your data and systems from hacking and breaches.
Inland Marine Insurance protects forklifts and other specialized property that moves.
Product Recall Insurance, mainly if you import goods from overseas and distribute them to retailers to cover your costs if a defective or dangerous product needs to be removed from store shelves.
Employment Practice Liability Insurance protects the company’s leadership from claims alleging wrongful employment acts such as harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, and more.

For smaller wholesalers and distributors, many of these coverage parts can be included in a BOP or Business Owners Policy. In contrast, for larger firms, a Package policy for core property and liability coverages and separate policies for other forms will be needed.

What Types of Wholesalers & Distributors Do We Work With?

We work with a broad number of wholesalers and distributors, including:

Food & Beverage wholesalers
Products imported from China and the Far East
Fresh fruits and vegetable distributors
Grocery distributors
Textile & Apparel
Meat and fish distributors and wholesalers
Electronic parts and component distributors
Industrial supply wholesalers

Hardware & Fasteners
Plumbing, Heating and Electrical Supply Houses
Auto parts and supplies
Furniture and home goods
Medical and dental supply
Stone goods suppliers
Plastic goods distributors
Industrial machines and equipment

Why Wholesale & Distribution Businesses Need Insurance

Wholesalers and distributors face a dizzying array of risk issues that need to be addressed to avoid crippling potential costs that could impair a firm’s balance sheet. Let’s take a look at just two insurance elements here:

Property & Marine Exposures – Inventory equipment, buildings, fixed assets, and goods that travel over water, air, or land, plus your business interruption coverage intended to protect your ongoing expenses and lost profits, all create a complex web of coverages and endorsements needed by wholesalers and distributors. Get one piece of this puzzle wrong and there’s a lot to loose.
Products Liability and Product Recall. These are two different coverage parts, but they should be looked at the same time. The goods you sell either to retailers or directly to the public may have the propensity to cause harm to others in the form of bodily injuries or property damage that often results in a lawsuit. Those types of claims can have enormous defense costs and settlement costs attached to them that could easily bankrupt a wholesale distributor without insurance or with insufficient insurance. Now, if that product liability claim was due to a potential defect or it has occurred more than once you may be subject to a mandatory or voluntary recall to get that product out of the distribution stream. That is a costly proposition as well, but needed to avoid other potential liability claims.

Without the right Product Liability insurance and Product Recall Insurance you could be footing the bill out of pocket.

What is the Best Insurance for Wholesalers & Distributors?

Most small wholesalers & distributors can benefit by having a Business Owners Policy or BOP policy to combine some of the critical coverage basics into one policy. Property coverage, General Liability insurance, Business income coverage, crime insurance, and other policy elements can all be included in a BOP policy. From there, an insurance program is broadened to include other required policy forms like workers’ compensations, business auto, and more.

For larger firms that may not qualify for a BOP policy, a traditional package policy that combines several coverage elements or policies is customized to fit the needs of your wholesale distribution business.

A question on the minds of many wholesale and distribution business owners is what insurance company is the best to use for my business?

That’s an impossible question to answer because no one or two insurers are always the best at any business class, including wholesale distributors. Every wholesale distributor has different underwriting characteristics so the best insurance company will change from account to account. What’s important to remember is that The Coyle Group will leave no stone unturned to find you the best insurance program for your wholesale distribution business, large or small.

What is Product Recall Insurance, and Why do Wholesale Distributors need it?

In this video, I describe what Product Recall Insurance is and why it’s needed.

The types of wholesalers and distributors that need Product Recall Insurance include:

Importers of goods from China that are distributed here in the U.S.
Food & Beverage Products
Fresh Food Distributors
Electronic goods distributors
Consumer goods
Consumable goods
Electrical Component Parts

LET’S CHAT

How much does Wholesale & Distributor Insurance Cost?

In this video, I’ll review the factors that go into the premium development for wholesale distributors and talk about how some of our competitors in the insurance industry post wildly low numbers for insurance costs.

When you see things like the median cost of a wholesale distributor’s insurance is $19 a month, I suggest you run in the opposite direction. It’s impossible to throw out a number because there are so many factors that determine the price you’ll pay. So, let’s break it down, which I do in this video.

LET’S CHAT

Why Get Insurance for Your Wholesale Distributor Business Through The Coyle Group?

The Coyle Group is a boutique insurance brokerage focused exclusively on insurance for business owners. Because we focus on business insurance and specialize in 6 different business verticals, we’ve developed deep domain expertise with wholesalers and distributors. We also represent the top insurers focusing on wholesale and distribution firms.

You have tons of choices when it comes to selecting who you want to insure your wholesale business, so how do you know who is the best choice?

To me, there are four critical factors in making the right decision on who to choose:

Are they skilled and experienced in ensuring wholesale distributors?
Do they offer expertise outside of just procuring policies? Will they help you reduce your total cost of risk by working with you and your team to reduce claims and improve risk control?
Do they represent the right insurers that write wholesalers?
Do they have a team of experienced account managers to be there day in and day out to be there when you need them, and who you can develop relationships with?

In my opinion, The Coyle Group does those four things very well, and we’d love an opportunity to speak to you about your issues and what’s most important to you regarding business insurance.

Warehouse Safety Checklist

Warehouse operations, a wholesaler standard, present challenging risk issues. Forklifts, material storage, PPE, and fire safety are just a few addressed in this checklist which can be downloaded and used as part of your ongoing risk control and safety operations. (I’ll provide the document)

Download

Safety Meetings

Meeting of coworkers and planning next steps of work

One of the most effective ways to promote a safe work culture and engage employees through safety meetings. In this document, we provide some of the basics for forming a safety committee and hosting safety meetings.

Download

In addition to creating a recall plan, what else can you do to prevent or prepare for a potential recall?

Create a recall committee or task force to lead a recall and coordinate a response with your product recall insurer.
Maintain a copy of your recall plan and conduct annual training sessions needed to execute the plan. Have that plan accessible to all parties on the recall committee.
Maintain a list of local and industry media contacts should a recall occur, and you need to communicate with media outlets. Your product recall policy will help coordinate with PR and crisis management issues.