Business insurance for distributors in Canada

As with all other insurance products, there’s no fixed cost when it comes to distributor and wholesaler insurance. Your annual premium depends on a few factors:

• Your business’ annual revenue (how much product you sell per year)
• The value of your storage/distribution facility (if you own it)
• The amount of stock or product you generally have on hand at one time
• The type of product you sell and to which countries you sell the product

There are 2 ways to get a quote for your company.

• Get an online quote (which you can do on this page).
• Call a commercial insurance broker like KBD or a direct insurance company like Desjardins Insurance.

Depending on the complexity of your wholesale business, most direct insurance companies will not be able to provide you with a business insurance quote. This is why we suggest quoting with brokers like KBD; we have access to multiple distribution business insurance companies in Montreal.

Buyers require commercial general liability (CGL Insurance) in case a product you sell causes bodily injury or property damage to one of the buyer’s customers. This logic can become complex, so we invite you to visit our blog post titled Why Distribution & Wholesale Businesses Need Insurance which goes into further detail.

Yes, we certainly do! Getting an online distributor commercial insurance quote is a great way to give yourself an idea of the annual cost. We suggest filling out the form first on our partner website, Intact Insurance, and following this up with a KBD professional.

It’s easy to tailor an insurance policy to fit your business’ needs. If you’re a new wholesaler, you may only need commercial general liability insurance, which protects your company from product liability. If you’re a company that’s been around for years, a more complete policy may be suitable.

Here are some core coverages a distributor needs for business insurance

• Marine Cargo Insurance – protects your stock if it’s being shipped overseas by boat or air.
• Product Liability – protects your business in the event your product harms another person or entity.
• Property Insurance – protects your building, contents and stock from the usual insurance perils like fire, water and theft.
• Business Interruption – covers the profits of your business after a claim.
• Cyber Insurance – important if you are an e-commerce distributor, this coverage protects your business and its technology from cyber attacks.

Of course! E-commerce companies require the same insurance coverage as industrial distributors. The only difference is an e-commerce company places more emphasis on the web platform. Purchasing a cyber insurance policy will cover all angles.

Here are great ways to lower your distributor commercial insurance cost:

• Avoid making small claims.
• Increase your deductible.
• Ensure your manufacturers carry their own CGL Insurance policy.
• When possible, don’t re-package the product before selling to the end customer. This will lower your liability exposure.