WHOLESALERS & DISTRIBUTORS INSURANCE

Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance is all about serving your customers.  Your business and operations are primarily involve inventory control, product service, transportation, but can be even more diverse.  Our Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy has been designed for those who sell and distribute products generally to other businesses that utilize your products in their products or provide, install, and service clients who need your products.  While this is a general concept of wholesaling businesses, please contact us for a conversation about your specific business operations.

Our Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance business owner policy can be used for most small to medium sized businesses.  For most distribution businesses the product you sell and the delivery operations of your business are the primary exposures to loss but you also have a premises liability exposures.  Except in rare instances you will not have a professional liability.  It is possible in some cases for a distributor to have other special liability needs.

The Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance protection is comprehensive coverage built onto the back of our business owner policy (BOP) foundation and it provides a lot of coverage at the least possible cost.  Many distribution businesses of are eligible for coverage in this program.  When we can use the BOP for Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance clients you will get our most efficient and cost effective policy option available.  This aids your bottom line without compromising on the wide scope of coverage and protection today’s businesses need.  When properly endorsed the coverage is broad and comprehensive.  For larger enterprises we can offer the commercial package policy with similar pricing and coverage

All Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policies will include comprehensive general liability and business property coverage as a minimum coverage set.  We endorse onto coverage specific business coverage needs.  We can write Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance on either a single locations or multiple location basis but this policy is designed for small to medium operations.  Typical points of emphasis from our desk underwriter include maintenance and condition of facilities, cleanliness and housekeeping, along with prior loss history and respectable financial success.

The Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance typically includes many of the following coverage and options but these are yours to make. Basic general liability and property insurance is included automatically:

Liability – Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance Package

• Bodily Injury and Property Damage, Premises Liability
  • Limits available up to $2,000,000/$4,000,000
• Personal Injury and Advertising Liability Coverage
• Coverage on your premises or wherever you do your work
• Employment Practices Liability Insurance
• Fellow Employee Coverage
• Host Liquor Liability
• Non-owned Watercraft
• Hired and Non-Owned Auto Liability
• Products and Completed Operations Liability
• Employee Benefits Liability
• Ohio Stop Gap Liability Insurance
• Cyber Insurance – Data Breach, Cyber Extortion
• Electronic  Data Liability Coverage

The Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy provides liability insurance and liability insurance protects against the tort of negligence.  The tort of negligence under our system of law is a breach of duty that is derived from common law principles that have evolved through centuries of recorded decisions about our relationships with one another including situations involving Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance clients.  Your first exposure is the premises and slip and fall injuries.  For many distribution businesses, vehicles are the primary exposure to liability claims.  Another major area of concern is product liability which is subject to a stricter form of responsibility and obligation under law.  Operating your business in a deliberate and efficient manner and with all due regard to minimizing exposures to loss is evident in most businesses that are best suited for our Business Owner Policy.

While slip, trip and fall events are common losses for most businesses, the product you sell are a key area of exposure and likely to bring expensive loss.  When you brand your own products the exposures increase.  Your duty in the case of product liability is based upon a strict liability standard.  If your product is found to have caused injury, illness, or death, as a distributor of that product you can be held responsible for injuries in some cases.  Under law a duty is an obligation we owe to someone else when our product or premises is responsible for causing an injury.  In essence, we owe each other the duty to protect them from the consequences of our actions and when someone is hurt or suffers harm to either body, property, or reputation, we may be negligent. Premises liability is based on standard liability principles.  Product liability is subject to a stricter responsibility for your Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance to deal with after a loss occurs.

In our culture we boil down our grievances to a money damages settlement in most cases.  In the case of the liability coverage provided in our Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy, we will pay for the benefit of a legal defense against the claims of injury or damage and we will also pay the amounts that become due to another because a finding of your negligence has been agreed upon up to the limits of coverage you purchase.  When you found negligent by a court of law, or when mutually negotiated agreements for responsibility are made, your insurance carrier will pay damages on your behalf.  This includes bodily injury and property damage as a result of events on the premises, through acts on and away from the work facilities, injuries caused by products, advertising injury, personal injuries other than bodily injury, hired and non-owned auto liability, and injury or damage caused due to computer intrusion and compromise when coverage is chosen.  The benefit of a defense of claims can be the best benefit of the well endorsed Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy.

Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance – Property Coverage

• Owned Buildings including multiple locations
• Business Personal Property, Fixtures, Stock, Inventory
• Computers and Electronic Records including media
• Building Limit Automatic Increase at the Time of Loss
• Valuable Papers and Records
• Accounts Receivable Coverage
• Computer Coverage and Cyber Crime
• Outdoor Signs—Attached and Detached
• Building Ordinance and Law Coverage
• Off-Premises Coverage for Business Personal Property
• Property in Transit when properly endorsed
• Earthquake Coverage (Some carriers)
• Loss of Rents, Business Income, including Extra Expense Coverage
• Coverage For Water & Sewer Back-up – Not Flood
• Equipment Breakdown & Electrical Disturbance

As mentioned, our Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance package policies are a combination of property and liability coverage.  You do not need to own the building but the value of your stock, equipment and fixtures is included in the business owner coverage package.  If you own the building, the business owner package is designed to insure that as well.  There are maximum limits of property coverage under the BOP and there are limits to the maximum area occupied.  If those are exceeded, similar coverage can be provided in our commercial package policy.  The Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy provides a lot of coverage in a tidy package and it is flexible enough to handle several locations and variety of situations for building, business personal property, computer and cyber-crime needs, signs, coverage on or off premises, loss of business income and break down of critical building mechanical systems that may alter your ability to operate your business.

Inland Marine and Special Property

(See IM Section for more Details)

Inland Marine coverage is especially designed for mobile equipment and property that leaves the insured premises/location.  A Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy should consider the value of merchandise that is in transit and add coverage for items in transit if not covered elsewhere.  Also, IM is needed if you take property to a client location for demonstration purposes.  A laptop or other devices you use in the field could also be covered by the Inland Marine property endorsement.

Umbrellas for Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance

Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance programs often includes an Umbrella liability policy as an additional limit of liability protection because of the potential for large liability claims. Even if you are meticulous in your facilities management, you are still exposed to claims from slip and fall and product failure and it is wise to layer up your liability coverage for the ultimate protection. Most Umbrellas do not cover over the underlying professional liability policy coverage when such coverage exposure exists on underlying policies.

Think of an Umbrella policy as an extension of the underlying liability policy limits.  What isn’t covered in the primary policies may still be picked up in the Umbrella policy when the cause of loss is not specifically excluded.  Most carriers writing the primary Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy will also write an Umbrella over their underlying policies.  It is good to know what is and isn’t covered by the Umbrella so make sure to ask.

Crime, Surety & Fidelity Bonds

• Employee Theft
• Crime Inside
• Crime Outside
• Surety & Fidelity Bonds

While you are busy operating and managing your business, your Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance can be on guard for the loss of money and property through theft, robbery or burglary, or the dishonesty of an employee. These are losses that can cripple a business of any type and tailoring your protection needs for crime, surety and fidelity coverage can be done within the Business Owner Policy but may be better handled on a separate coverage forms and we suggest this as good advice for larger businesses.

Business Auto

(See business Auto Section for Details)

Most distribution business own and maintain vehicles for their business operations either for delivery operations or vehicles operated for sales and other general business needs.  Even if that is not true for your business there are auto liability exposures to cover even when you don’t own business vehicles.  We call these exposures Hired and Non Owned Auto liability.

If you maintain and operate your own business autos, trucks and trailers, you will need a separate business auto insurance policy that can be coordinated with your Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy.  Coordinating coverage permits us to maximize discounts and premium volume discounts. When it comes to business vehicles, he biggest driver of pricing are driving records, radius of distribution, types of equipment you use and claims experience.

Another big area of exposures for your business comes from employee autos.  Many businesses are vicariously exposed to the liability of employees when they use their car to perform business errands like incidental deliveries, banking, visits to the postal service, and picking up business supplies.  If an employee has an auto accident while on one of these trips the business can be held responsible for damage awards above the coverage limits of the employee insurance. You should purchase and maintain Hired and Non-Owned liability protection in limits similar to those you carry on premises and operations coverage.  Other the proper place for this coverage is on a business auto policy, for businesses without fleets who need to cover non-owned auto liability, we will do that with an endorsement to your Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance policy.

The business auto coverage is dealt with in general detail in the business auto section.  Follow the link to this section for my information.

Professional Advice and Agency Service

Quality coverage begins with understanding your needs and the extent of the risks in your operation.  Our claims and underwriter resources have plenty of experience in insuring and providing risk control and management benefits to businesses and their owners.  Moreover, I have 37 years of experience working with business owners and have insured hundreds of millions of dollars of property through the years along for hundreds and thousands of businesses.  Wholesalers & Distributors Insurance is a relatively common coverage policy product and while our policies are competitive and priced right, the real value might be found in working with an agent who has enough relevant experience so you get the best coverage and best rates and coverage advice that helps avoid coverage holes. I have considerable experience working with small business owners and I am available to help you.

This agency represents quality carriers that have the ability to provide the coverage your business needs whether or not it is ultimately provided inside of our Business Owner Policy or our more flexible Commercial Package Policy (CPP) option.  Call and ask for Terry McCarthy at (513) 779-7920, 9-5 Monday – Friday most days. We’re available to meet at most any time with an appointment in advance.