Your name is on the box. So is the lawsuit.
Coverage for businesses that make, import, distribute or sell products under their own brand, from supplements and cosmetics to electronics and home goods.
By Sam Alishahi · CA Insurance License #4348151 · Reviewed November 2026 · How this page is researched
If you sell it, you can be sued over it
When a product injures someone or damages property, everyone in the chain can be named: the manufacturer, the importer, the distributor and the seller. Importers of products made overseas are often treated like the manufacturer because the foreign maker is hard to reach.
Product liability usually sits inside a general liability policy, but many standard policies limit or exclude it for higher-risk products. Marketplaces and retailers often require their vendors to carry it and name them as additional insureds. I place product liability with carriers that write manufacturers and brands, including surplus lines markets for harder products.
- Bodily injuryPeople hurt by a product you made, imported or sold.
- Property damageDamage your product causes to others' property.
- Defense costsAttorneys' fees, which can be significant even when you win.
- Vendor requirementsAdditional insureds for retailers and marketplaces.
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.
- Products: what you sell and where it's made.
- Sales: annual sales by product line and channel.
- Role: manufacturer, importer, distributor or seller.
- Controls: testing, labeling, warnings and supplier contracts.
- Requirements: retailer or marketplace insurance terms.
- History: current policies, claims and recalls.
How a California jury decides a product was defective
California juries work from the Judicial Council's civil jury instructions (CACI, 2026 edition). Each strict liability theory starts with the same element: the business manufactured, distributed or sold the product.
- Manufacturing defect (CACI 1201). The product contained a manufacturing defect when it left your possession, and the defect was a substantial factor in causing the harm.
- Design defect (CACI 1203 and 1204). Either the product did not perform as safely as an ordinary consumer would have expected when used or misused in an intended or reasonably foreseeable way, or its design caused harm and the business cannot prove the design's benefits outweigh its risks, weighing gravity and likelihood of harm and the feasibility, cost and disadvantages of an alternative design.
- Failure to warn (CACI 1205). The risks were known or knowable under generally accepted scientific knowledge when the product was made, distributed or sold, ordinary consumers would not have recognized them, and the warnings or instructions were inadequate.
California's Supreme Court extended strict liability to retailers in Vandermark v. Ford Motor Co. (1964). In Bolger v. Amazon.com (2020), a Court of Appeal applied it to Amazon for a third-party seller's product Amazon stored, took payment for and shipped in its own packaging. Quoting an earlier case, it noted that retailers and distributors remain free to seek indemnity from the manufacturer, which is why I ask for your supplier agreements and certificates of insurance. If you sell online, see product liability for Shopify, Etsy and dropshipping sellers.
Certificates of conformity: who issues them
If a product is subject to a CPSC rule, ban or standard, the domestic manufacturer or, for goods made overseas, the importer must certify that it complies. A lab may test, but it does not issue the certificate.
- Children's Product Certificate (CPC). For children's products, based on passing results from a CPSC-accepted third-party lab.
- General Certificate of Conformity (GCC). For regulated general-use products. Third-party testing is not required, but a lab you rely on must be named.
CPSC's GCC guidance lists seven elements: the product; each CPSC rule it is certified to; the certifying manufacturer or importer; contact information for the person keeping test records; date and place of manufacture; date and place of testing; and any third-party lab. The GCC must be in English. Since July 8, 2026, certificates must also identify any testing exclusions relied on.
Both certificates must be furnished to your distributors and retailers, and a CPC must reach CPSC and Customs within 24 hours of a request. Since July 8, 2026, importers of most regulated products have had to eFile certificate data with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with no de minimis exemption; Foreign Trade Zone entries follow on January 8, 2027.
Importers and private-label brands should have certificates matched to each SKU before applying. Makers should also see manufacturing insurance.
Plan the recall before you need it
CPSC's Product Safety Planning, Reporting, and Recall Handbook says it is essential to have a plan in place before a problem appears. Its outline is where I would start:
- Name the person or team responsible for product safety, with authority to report to CPSC and start a recall.
- Put model numbers and date-of-manufacture codes on every product, including private-label goods, so a recall can be limited to affected units.
- Keep five kinds of records: complaints, warranty returns, insurance claims and lawsuits; production runs and lot numbers; distribution by product line, quantity, dates and destinations; quality control results; and product registration cards.
- Keep compliance records for at least 5 years, which is the retention period CPSC staff recommends.
- Build mock recalls into your compliance program and train staff regularly.
A company that files a Section 15(b) report can ask for CPSC's Fast-Track program, which skips the staff's preliminary hazard determination if the company stops sale immediately, agrees to announce the recall and submits a corrective action plan, which can include refunds, replacements, repairs and public notice. Ask me how your policy treats recall expenses, and see food distributor insurance if you move food products.
Product liability insurance, answered
Does my general liability policy cover my products?
Often, but not always. Many policies limit or exclude certain products, especially ingestibles, cosmetics or imported goods. The policy wording decides.
I only resell products. Do I need it?
Sellers and distributors are commonly named in product lawsuits. Supplier contracts and vendor insurance help, but your own coverage is the backstop.
Does product liability cover recalls?
Usually not. Product recall coverage is a separate policy or endorsement.
What do underwriters rate on?
The products, where they're made, annual sales, safety controls and claims history.
Can a store or online marketplace be held liable for a defective product in California?
Retailers can. California's Supreme Court extended strict product liability to retailers in Vandermark v. Ford Motor Co. (1964). In Bolger v. Amazon.com (2020), a Court of Appeal held the doctrine applied to Amazon where it stored a third-party seller's product, took payment and shipped it in Amazon packaging.
Do you offer product liability 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.
Official sources
- CPSC: Duty to Report to CPSC, Rights and Responsibilities of Businesses
- CPSC: Product Safety Planning, Reporting, and Recall Handbook
- CPSC: Children's Product Certificate (CPC) FAQ
- CPSC: General Certificate of Conformity
- CPSC: eFiling Frequently Asked Questions
- CPSC: Retailers, Product Safety and Your Responsibilities
- California Attorney General: Proposition 65 FAQ
- 27 CCR 25600.2, Responsibility to Provide Consumer Product Exposure Warnings
- Judicial Council of California Civil Jury Instructions (CACI), 2026 edition (Nos. 1201, 1203, 1204, 1205)
- Bolger v. Amazon.com, LLC (Cal. Ct. App., 4th Dist., Div. 1, filed 8/13/2020), quoting Vandermark v. Ford Motor Co. (1964) 61 Cal.2d 256
Tell me what you sell. I'll shop it.
Your products, sales and where they're made 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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