Cannabis Business Insurance Policy Approved in Nevada

The American Association of Insurance Services has expanded its Cannabis Businessowners Policy into Nevada, making it the third state to approve the insurance program, along with Colorado and California, according to a Property Casualty 360 report. The program received approval just four days after being submitted to the Nevada Division of Insurance.

Patrick McManamon, founder and chief executive officer of Cannasure Insurance Services, LLC, said that the policy “is focused primarily on retail exposures.” Under the Nevada CannaBOP program, both property and liability coverage is available for cannabis dispensaries, storage facilities, distributors, processors, and manufacturers.

“Many of the policies written today use a mix of standard and proprietary forms that can provide coverage to a wide range of cannabis exposures such as manufacturing, cultivation and lessors’ risk as well as retail.” – McManamon, to Property Casualty 360

California regulators were the first to approve the AAIS Cannabis Businessowners Policy in June 2018; Colorado regulators approved the program in April 2019. The policies are standardized under the AAIS umbrella but in each state the program’s establishment takes time because cannabis isn’t legal the same way in every state, according to FC&S Expert Coverage Interpretation Managing Editor Christine Barlow. She added that if the program is made available nationwide it would be the only industry-standardized policy available and even if the policy is not used in a state, it could still be a valuable reference for insurance carriers.

AAIS indicated they expect to develop similar programs for Alaska, Washington, D.C., Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington – which have legalized cannabis for adult use, along with New Jersey and New York – two states very likely to legalize cannabis for recreational use this year.