One of the most important elements of a commercial tenancy is insurance. Generally, the landlord maintains property insurance for damage to the building, existing improvements, and surrounding property, as well as liability insurance for bodily injury and property damage occurring on the premises. The landlord will typically pass the cost of that coverage on to the tenant as an operating expense, proportionally according to the tenant’s share of space in the building. The tenant will typically be required under the lease to carry, at its own expense, property insurance on all tenant improvements and tenant personal property, as well as its own liability policy covering injury and property damage occurring on the premises.
Because marijuana remains a Schedule I controlled substance that is federally illegal to produce or sell, most traditional insurance companies have declined to write insurance policies for the commercial cannabis industry. This relates to the federal illegality of marijuana itself, and also the increased risk associated with commercial cannabis as a result of such illegality, e.g. increased rate of loss from theft or burglary. As a result, landlords and tenants alike have often had to look to non-admitted carriers or surplus lines insurers to write a rider on a policy to cover cannabis activity. Such coverage is often extremely limited in scope, rife with exclusions, and very expensive. That said, rolling with a general liability policy that is not specific to cannabis is often even worse.
In industries other than cannabis, buyers tend to disfavor non-admitted carriers. This is due to the risk of losing out on various benefits offered through admitted carriers. Such benefits include: the certainty of financial stability and good business practices that comes with the state’s stamp of approval, the right to appeal claims that are denied, and the guarantee that the state will pay certain claims if the insurance company goes bankrupt. Cannabis businesses have had none of these benefits, until now.
Last week, the California Department of Insurance announced that it has approved a Lessor’s Risk policy issued by California Mutual, a traditional carrier with an “A- excellent” rating, for landlords renting to commercial cannabis tenants. Lessor’s Risk coverage is typically a comprehensive landlord insurance package that includes both the property and liability coverages often carried by commercial landlords. Specific commercial cannabis activities and businesses services by this announced coverage would include cannabis labs, product manufacturing, cultivation, and dispensary operations.
In the bigger picture, this is an important development for at least two reasons. First, it signals to other large insurers that the water is warm to start writing policies for cannabis businesses, and increased competition will mean lower prices, which will encourage more landlords to lease to cannabis tenants. Second, it is a huge step towards further legitimizing the cannabis industry by treating it like any other industry that requires business and government services. And it also highlights the need for perhaps the most important business service, banking, which is currently headed in the right direction as well.
All in all, when you have the Insurance Commissioner for the fifth largest economy on earth organizing cannabis facility tours for insurance executives, you can’t help but notice how seriously the state is taking this industry. That’s a good thing for landlords and tenants alike.
