Insurance, and what your policy excludes

A product applied by hand, stored under sinks, mixed with other products by users, and sometimes corrosive. The insurer will ask more than you expect.

A higher-risk product than it looks

Chemical burns, eye injuries, damaged surfaces, and the mixing incidents that produce toxic gas.

Damage claims are the common ones: a cleaner that ruined a stone worktop, a finished floor or a carpet.

And injury claims are the serious ones, which is why product liability rather than general liability is the cover that matters.

What the exclusions usually are

Products making pesticidal claims, which a policy written for household cleaners may exclude entirely. If you have made an antimicrobial claim, whether or not you registered, this is the clause to check.

Named substances, which some insurers exclude: strong acids, caustics, and particular solvents.

Failure to meet labeling requirements, which is how an FHSA labeling gap becomes an uninsured claim.

Manufacture in a residential property, or in premises whose own insurance does not know.

Sales outside a stated territory, which catches online.

What buyers ask for

A certificate at a stated limit, sometimes naming them.

Wholesale and janitorial accounts ask at higher limits than markets, so buy for the channel you intend rather than upgrading later.

Getting the cover right

Tell the insurer what is actually in the products and what the labels say, including the signal word.

Tell your premises insurer too: storing solvents or oxidizers is a material fact, and a property policy that does not know may not respond.

And tell them when the range changes, because adding a caustic product or a pesticidal claim can move you outside cover you believe you still have.

References