Koosh Insurance · Business & Industry

    Manufacturing & Wholesale Distribution

    The forklift incident on the loading dock. The defective batch that ships before QC catches it. The warehouse fire that takes 90 days to rebuild and six months of revenue with it. Manufacturing and wholesale distribution carry exposures that no general commercial policy was built for — products liability that lasts decades after the sale, supply chain dependencies that turn one disrupted vendor into a closed plant, and property values that move every quarter.

    Coverage

    What this coverage includes

    • General liability with products and completed-operations coverage — the longest tail in commercial insurance
    • Commercial property for buildings, machinery, finished goods, raw materials, and work in process
    • Business interruption sized to actual production capacity and contractual delivery commitments
    • Equipment breakdown for production machinery, electrical systems, and automated equipment
    • Inland marine for goods in transit, at job sites, and in temporary storage
    • Product recall coverage for the cost of pulling defective product from the market (often by endorsement)
    • Cyber liability — manufacturing is now one of the most-targeted ransomware sectors
    • Workers' compensation with class management for production, warehouse, and office staff

    Who Buys This

    Who typically buys this coverage

    • Discrete manufacturers — components, equipment, finished goods, durable products
    • Process manufacturers — chemicals, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, materials
    • Contract manufacturers producing for branded customers
    • Wholesale distributors with large inventory and multi-state shipment
    • Importers carrying inventory landed from overseas suppliers
    • 3PL and logistics operators holding goods belonging to others

    Why Koosh

    Why Koosh Insurance

    Manufacturing and distribution are coordinated programs across half a dozen lines, and the pieces have to work together. Wrong sub-limits on inland marine, missing additional insureds on GL, undersized BI — any one of them can fail at the worst time.

    Products liability with disciplined retroactive-date management — we protect prior-acts coverage on every renewal, the most common silent gap.

    Property valuation done right — replacement cost for buildings, ACV vs. RC analysis on machinery, inland marine on movable equipment.

    Business interruption built on production economics — not a flat percentage of revenue.

    Vendor and customer compliance — additional-insured endorsements, certificates of insurance, contract review at quote.

    Cyber for manufacturing — operational technology exposure is different from office IT, and most cyber policies treat it carelessly.

    Carrier breadth — standard markets for clean operations, surplus and specialty for tougher classes (chemicals, food, certain medical devices).

    FAQ

    Frequently asked questions

    For as long as the product can cause harm — which is often decades. Manufacturers face claims years after the original sale, sometimes after the company has moved on from the product line entirely. Completed-operations coverage and the way the retroactive date is structured determine whether those claims are still covered.

    Distributors and retailers carrying your product face downstream liability if the product harms an end user. Naming them as additional insured on your policy extends your coverage to defend them in those claims. Standard practice for any vendor relationship — and the contract usually requires specific endorsement language.

    You can be liable as the manufacturer or distributor regardless of where the defect originated. Whether you can recover from the upstream supplier depends on contract terms and their coverage. Vendor agreements with indemnification and additional-insured requirements are how that recovery actually happens.

    Generally no. GL covers harm caused by a defective product but not the cost of pulling it from the market before harm happens. Product recall is a separate coverage, often as an endorsement, with its own limits and triggers.

    Yes. Property carriers underwrite heavily on prior loss history, and a meaningful business interruption claim in the past three years narrows your market. We position the loss carefully at renewal — root cause, mitigation steps taken, current risk profile — to keep you in standard markets when possible.

    The lost revenue from products you can't make and ship while your facility is being repaired, plus continuing fixed costs (rent, payroll for retained staff, debt service), plus extra expense to operate at reduced capacity from a backup location. The limit needs to reflect your actual production economics, not a generic worksheet.

    This page provides general information about Manufacturing & Wholesale Distribution insurance and is not a substitute for tailored advice from a licensed insurance broker. Coverage availability, terms, exclusions, and pricing depend on your specific business operations, location, claims history, and carrier underwriting. Contact a Koosh Insurance broker for a personalized consultation. Koosh Insurance — License #L135215.

    Get a quote for Manufacturing & Wholesale Distribution

    Talk to a licensed Koosh broker. We'll review your specific situation, source quotes from appropriate carriers, and walk you through the coverage that actually fits your business.