Manufacturing Insurance
Importers & Exporters Insurance
One of my very large local competitors calls me "Mr. Manufacturing" because I've written a wide variety of manufacturing accounts.
Some of these manufacturing accounts include...
◊ Sandblasting Pots
◊ Tow Truck Parts
◊ Solar Panels
◊ Back Up Generators
◊ Railroad Car Wheels
◊ Mining Equipment
◊ Envelopes
◊ Windows
◊ Forensic Supplies
◊ Taser Guns
◊ Ventilation Equipment
◊ Pool Cues
◊ Valves, Plumbing Supplies
◊ Expansion Joints
◊ Treated Lumber
◊ Wooden Boxes
◊ Chemical Products
◊ Food Processing & Supply
In addition to markets that specialize in manufacturers like C.N.A. and Hartford, I represent a host of other specialty manufacturing insurance markets. Coverages include...
◊ Products Recall
◊ Patent Infringement
◊ Ocean Cargo
◊ Property Liability
◊ Automobile Insurance
◊ Foreign Manufacturing or Sales
◊ Workers Compensation (through standard markets or employee leasing)
◊ Trade Credit Insurance
No product is too difficult to place, so call or email me today for a comprehensive review of your insurance needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
We import all of our products, then distribute to our customers. are we a manufacturer?
From an insurance underwriter standpoint, yes, you are the last one in the United States that the attorneys can go after, so you are viewed as a manufacturer, not an importer.
If we import from another country, what special coverages are we in need of?
If your employees travel outside the country while on the job, you are now in need of foreign workers compensation coverage. Your domestic workers compensation program does not afford you any coverage.
There are multiple insurance companies that offer a foreign package policy that offers:
• Foreign workers compensation
• Excess auto (car rentals)
• Foreign liability (claims in countries outside the U.S.)
• Foreign travel assistance including repatriation.
These policies are inexpensive, and often necessary.
If you are importing you are doing so through some sort of logistics firm and they offer their own cargo insurance (ocean/air). It may not be in your best interest to accept their program.
If something goes wrong with a shipment, you are not the insured. Plus you have no negotiating power with the claims adjustor. It is a frustrating and costly place to be.
Many times the ocean/air cargo program that the logistics firm has in house is a money maker. They charge you more than they pay, creating a revenue stream for them.
We don’t own any vehicles—everything comes in and goes out of our plant by common carrier. Do we need auto coverage?
At the very minimum you need “hired and non-owned” auto.
This covers your company for accidents that occur in personally owned vehicles while on company business. Bank deposits, sales calls, Office Depot, the Post Office are examples of when an employee will use their own car on company business, and the your company could get pulled into a lawsuit.
We have been with the same insurance agent for years, and he “shops” the manufacturing insurance market for us. Why do we need to speak to anyone else?
Your business changes year to year. Many insurance brokers have the tendency to renew “as is” when your business is constantly changing.
More times than not gaps in coverage are repeated year after year (and nobody is the wiser because you didn’t have a claim).
When was the last time you updated your loss of business income? (That's the coverage that pays you for lost revenues.) It's easy to cover a building and its contents. But how well is your revenue stream covered?
Your insurance agent is only as strong as the companies he represents. Does he have solid volumes and relationships with those who target manufacturers?
Is there a bad time of the year to purchase our manufacturing insurance?
YES. Do not get your coverage to expire between December 1 and January 15th.
So many accounts come up during that period the underwriters are swamped and they might not even look at your account.
If your manufacturing insurance coverage expires during this time, I have several strategies to move it.
You wouldn’t go to a new CPA looking for help on April 1 would you? So don’t look for an underwriter to help you out in December.