Agents and Brokers

The Department of Financial Regulation in Oregon governs all insurance transactions across the state, and can be a great resource for guidance on agents that specialize in cannabis coverage.  One important distinction to make is the difference between agents and brokers.

Broker – Functions more as a liaison between the consumer and the insurer. They represent you and work to find the insurance coverage you need. 

Agent – Sells policies direct to consumers on behalf of insurance companies. Some agents are “captive” meaning they represent one insurer and others are “independent” and work for multiple insurers.

As you can see here, one of our favorite insurance brokers to send people to, Mathew Poteet, is a licensed agent with Farmers Insurance, and represents them and their suite of companies when guiding small businesses.

The chamber has a great course on small business insurance and risk management here if you would like to learn more. 

Source: https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/publication-can-wp-cannabis.pdf

https://content.naic.org/sites/default/files/cip-23.pdf

https://dfr.oregon.gov/insure/Documents/4845-cannabis-qa.pdf