OhioCannabis.com Interview – CannaCon Detroit
Video Transcript
Johnny:
Hey, guys. Johnny here again at the 2018 CannaCon in Detroit Michigan. I’m with Larry from 420 Friendly Insurance. How are you, Larry?
Larry:
Hi, Johnny. I’m great. Thanks for stopping by the booth. We appreciate it.
Johnny:
He seen me running down. He goes, hey, what do you do? And I told him. He says, come on over to my booth. I said, absolutely ‘cause you guys are in a unique field with insurance.
Larry:
Well, it is. We’re owned by IT Risk Managers. We started 420 Friendly Insurance about two years ago. Alright. Just to focus on the cannabis industry. We rode the .com bubble up, down, and back up again. So, we understand startup industries. And we are a niche player. We only do commercial business insurance. So, we thought this was a good vertical to take advantage of and, more importantly, help the industry get insured. You know, our hold process is, if you run it like a business, we’ll insure it like a business.
Johnny:
That’s important because, just like everything else, people want all the legal aspects of running a business, including insurance.
Larry:
Oh, of course. And, you know, in Michigan specifically, the state’s legislated and mandating insurance. You have to have general liability and products liability.
Johnny:
And you guys are based out of Michigan yourselves, right?
Larry:
And we’re Michigan based. A lot of other states have done that. Colorado did not.
Johnny:
Really? I’m surprised.
Larry:
Well, it was the first. I think the other states have learned afterwards, you know. We just wrote a nice policy for a grower, dispensary, manufacturer in Washington. And they’ve legislated a million dollars’ worth of coverage on both the general liability and the products liability.
Johnny:
Wow.
Larry:
So, it makes sense.
Johnny:
Yeah, absolutely. So, how many states across the country do you guys insure in?
Larry:
We operate in all fifty states. Now, I can’t say we have clients in all fifty states yet, but we’re set up as an agency to operate in all fifty states, licensed in—
Johnny:
As a cannabis insurer, you’re saying the 420 cannabis—
Larry:
Yes, sir. And the advantage, we can do that is because insurance is all state regulated, it’s not federal, so it’s easier for us.
Johnny:
Okay, nice. Where can people find out more info on the website?
Larry:
Our website is real easy. You can go to 420 Friendly Insurance. Easy to remember. Or the web address is THCIns.com.
Johnny:
Okay, yeah. Easy enough. Anything else you wanna put out there?
Larry:
Just the big thing is, like I say, if you run it like a business, you’re following state laws, state regulations, we’ll insure it like a business and give you all the coverages you need, whether it’s a general liability product, whether it’s a cyber liability product because dispensaries, for example, if you’re taking medical information, you’ve got HIPPA requirements, things of that nature. We’ll cover you for that. If your systems are going down, we’ll cover you for that. So, we’ve got basically all the coverages that any business needs.
Johnny:
And just like any other business, you’re gonna have problems where you’re gonna need insurance. You know, you’re gonna have—
Larry:
Stuff happens.
Johnny:
Yeah, stuff happens.
Larry:
Stuff happens. Yeah, that’s what we like to say. Stuff happens.
Johnny:
It’s nice to be able to rest at night knowing you have insurance.
Larry:
Yeah, no, we appreciate it.
Johnny:
Yeah. Well, Larry, I appreciate talking to you. And like you said, it was—what was the website?
Larry:
THCIns is the web address. 420 Friendly Insurance. We believe that insured cannabis industry makes for a better world. It’s just that simple.
Johnny:
There we go. And then we got the banner on this side here. We’ll give one quick view. And these are all the different—
Larry:
Different coverages that we offer to all of our clients just depending on what your needs are. And everything we do is tailored to the specific organization, which makes sense.
Johnny:
Okay. And then this one over here—
Larry:
Are the different types of businesses we can insure. Whether you’re a dispensary, a grower, a manufacturer, whether you have the lessors risk—so you’re the landlord—whether you’re in a security firm, a laboratory, we can basically cover anybody that’s cannabis related.
Johnny:
Okay, cool. Well, we appreciate talking to you.
Larry:
Johnny, thank you very much. We appreciate your time.
Johnny:
Cool, thank you. Take care guys.