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Insurance Buying Guide for Home and Personal Product Businesses
Which Insurance Should You Consider?
Consider product liability, general liability, commercial property, tools, equipment and inland marine, commercial auto, and workers’ compensation. Start with the coverages tied to your day-to-day operations, then use the situations and buying questions below to compare your options.
Product liability
You sell furniture, children’s goods, electrical appliances, or products that customers assemble or use at home.
SBA lists product liability for businesses that make or sell products. Commercial general liability may include products and completed-operations terms for specified third-party injury or property damage; check the exact products, uses, and exclusions.[4][1]
Ask Before Buying
Are product models, warnings, components, installation work, import roles, and sales channels described in the application?
General liability
You open a showroom, repair location, or provide home delivery, assembly, or installation.
Commercial general liability can address specified injury or property damage from premises and operations. Describe customer visits and work performed in homes, and check exclusions for damage to your own work or the item being handled.[4]
Ask Before Buying
Which premises, delivery, repair, installation, and completed-work activities are covered by the forms?
Commercial property
You hold stock, returns, refurbished items, or repair equipment at a showroom or warehouse.
Check location schedules, stock values, covered causes, valuation, and deductibles. Tell the broker if property sits at a returns center or third-party warehouse.[4]
Ask Before Buying
Do peak inventory, returned goods, customer property, and each location appear with the correct values?
Tools, equipment and inland marine
Products move between suppliers, warehouses, customers, and repair or refurbishment sites.
Inland marine can address business property away from a fixed location or in transit. Confirm how stock, returns, customer-owned items, and handoffs are treated in the actual form.[4]
Ask Before Buying
Which goods and transit stages are declared, including delivery, temporary storage, and return shipping?
Commercial auto
The company owns, leases, or regularly uses vehicles for deliveries or in-home service.
NAIC describes commercial auto as separate from a typical business owner’s policy. Identify who owns or uses vehicles for work and ask which drivers, vehicle types, and activities the quote includes.[4][2]
Ask Before Buying
Are owned, leased, rented, or employee-used vehicles described, and what delivery or service use is excluded?
Workers’ compensation
You hire warehouse, delivery, repair, or installation staff.
Workers compensation provides benefits for work-related injury or illness under state law. California requires employer coverage even with one employee; check each state where staff perform work.[4][5]
Ask Before Buying
Which entities, states, payroll, and duties are listed, including delivery and installation work?
When You Add Installation or Repair
Separate product sales from assembly, repair, installation, and in-home visits in the application. Give the broker service contracts, product instructions, customer property practices, and subcontractor details.[4][1]
CPSC reporting guidance applies to specified product-safety information and supply-chain roles. It is not a blanket reporting rule for every return or complaint, and it does not establish insurance response.[3]
Before a Marketplace or Delivery Expansion
Send marketplace contracts, requested limits, delivery arrangements, and vehicle use details. NAIC notes that commercial auto is typically outside a business owner’s policy; compare the proposed forms instead of relying on the package name.[2]
List peak stock at owned and third-party locations, plus the path from supplier to buyer and back for returns. Ask about per-location values and the covered stages of transit.[4]
Providers to Compare by Coverage
Product liability
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10
General liability
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10Commercial property
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
CFC
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Tools, equipment and inland marine
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Commercial auto
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10Workers’ compensation
Alliance Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
Not enough ratings
Amelia Risk
Spot Score
Review Score
2.0/ 10Common Questions
Does a business owner’s policy include my delivery vehicles?
NAIC says a business owner’s policy typically does not include commercial auto. Check the actual quote and arrange a separate review of vehicle use.[2]
Read the Full AnswerWhat should I do with a customer product-defect report when renewing insurance?
Preserve the report, product model and lot information, sales records, and any follow-up or corrective action, then disclose material incidents accurately in the application.[3][4]
Read the Full AnswerSources and Further Reading
- Launch your business — U.S. Small Business Administration. Pick the type of business insurance you need; product liability row
SBA guide to common insurance questions for product businesses.
- Small Business — National Association of Insurance Commissioners. BOP questions and answers, lines 20–27
NAIC says commercial auto is typically outside a business owner’s policy.
- Duty to Report to CPSC: Rights and Responsibilities of Businesses — U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Duty to Report and Section 37 note, lines 59–62
CPSC guidance on specified product-safety information and reporting duties.
- Commercial Insurance Guide — California Department of Insurance. Commercial Insurance Guide, revised June 14, 2024: purchasing coverage, commercial property, inland marine, boiler and machinery, commercial general liability, and workers compensation.
- Employer information — California Department of Industrial Relations, Division of Workers’ Compensation. Opening section, employer obligation and out-of-state employer paragraph
Spot, a product of Tools for Enlightenment, publishes this guide and works in the commercial insurance market. This is general buyer education; policy terms and state-specific obligations determine coverage and requirements.
Updated 2026-09-28. Editorial Policy
Get Help With Insurance Buying and Renewals.
Get help buying coverage and managing renewals, with less paperwork for your team. Start with a free consultation.