Same plant, a different rulebook.
Coverage for hemp businesses: growers, processors, makers of CBD and other hemp products, and the shops and online sellers that carry them, built around what you actually make and sell.
By Sam Alishahi · CA Insurance License #4348151 · Reviewed November 2026 · How this page is researched
California rewrote the hemp rules in 2025
Federal law calls Cannabis sativa L. hemp when it contains less than 0.3% THC, but California goes further: a hemp product with any detectable THC is treated as intoxicating. Under AB 8, signed October 2, 2025, the state bans the sale of hemp flower, inhalable hemp products such as pre-rolls and vapes, alcoholic drinks with hemp cannabinoids, and synthetic cannabinoids. Starting January 1, 2028, intoxicating hemp must be made, tested and sold like licensed cannabis.
Growers still register with the California Department of Food and Agriculture's hemp program. For insurance, what matters is the product chain: what you grow or make, who tests it, what the label claims and where it's sold. Product liability carries most of the weight, and markets look closely at THC content, ingestibles and sales channels before they quote.
- Product liabilityClaims tied to oils, topicals, foods and other products you make or sell.
- General liabilityCustomers, visitors and property damage.
- Property and stockEquipment, inventory and biomass in storage.
- Crop and workers' compField crop where a market offers it, plus your crew.
What underwriters will ask
Having these ready means I can go to market on the first call. The quote form asks for the same things, and anything you don’t know yet can wait.
- Registration: CDFA hemp registration, DCC license or other permits you hold.
- Products: each product, its form and its THC and CBD content.
- Testing and labels: who tests each batch and what the label claims.
- Sales: stores, wholesale and online, with annual sales.
- Values: equipment, inventory and any crop.
- History: current policies, payroll and claims.
Hemp and CBD insurance, answered
Is hemp insured the same way as cannabis?
Not always. Some markets write both and others write only one. The product list, THC content and sales channels decide which markets will look at a hemp account.
Can I insure products California now bans?
Markets generally won't knowingly insure products that are illegal to sell where you sell them. Since AB 8, that includes hemp flower, inhalable hemp products and hemp drinks with alcohol in California.
Do CBD topicals get rated differently from ingestibles?
Usually. Products people eat, drink or inhale draw more product liability scrutiny than lotions and balms.
What changes in 2028?
From January 1, 2028, intoxicating hemp in California must be manufactured, tested and sold like licensed cannabis, so those operators will need cannabis coverage and licenses.
Do you offer hemp and CBD business insurance outside California?
Yes. Clients across the country send the same quote form. Sam Alishahi is licensed in all 50 states and Washington, DC and places policies there directly. The shopping across carriers works the same way. Rules, minimums and markets differ by state — see insurance requirements by state.
Send your product list. I'll shop it.
Your products, testing, labels and sales channels are enough to start.
Alishahi Insurance · Saman Alishahi, independent insurance broker, California License #4348151. General information, not a quote or a promise of coverage; coverage depends on underwriting and the terms, conditions and exclusions of the policy actually issued. Some policies may be placed with nonadmitted (surplus lines) insurers, which are not members of the California Insurance Guarantee Association (CIGA).
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(877) 711-4545Answered 24/7 · CA License #4348151
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