Wholesale and Distribution Insurance

We place food and drink wholesale, clothing and furnishings, hardware and trade supplies, office equipment, electronics, groceries, and motor-vehicle supplies (not tire-storage yards). Texas, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Arkansas distribution corridors show up most often on our applications.

Property limits should follow peak inventory, not an average month, and should separate your goods from goods you hold for others. Warehouse legal liability or bailee coverage is the form when the stock is not yours. Forklifts that leave the racking aisle, or that are titled separately, need to be on auto or equipment — not assumed.

Motor truck cargo or a transportation floater covers goods in transit. A commercial auto policy covers the truck, not the load. That sentence is the one we repeat on every wholesale account that has ever had a cargo claim denied.

Products liability depends on whether you are a straight pass-through, a private-label packer, or an importer of record. Importers and private-label distributors need a products conversation that looks more like manufacturing than like a store. Equipment breakdown on refrigeration is a food-and-drink wholesale claim we schedule on purpose.

Hired and non-owned auto still matters for salespeople. In Washington, warehouse payroll stays with L&I; drivers who live and work in Oregon or Idaho need private WC. We design the multi-state payroll instead of hoping the warehouse code covers the truck.

Risks we actually schedule

• Sprinkler, theft, or collapse losses on peak-season inventory.
• Cargo claims for goods that left the dock and were never on the building policy.
• Products allegations on imported or private-label goods.
• Fleet accidents and hired/non-owned sales travel.
• Refrigeration breakdown and spoilage for food and drink distributors.