"Our delivery driver picked up product in Connecticut and accidentally drove into Massachusetts before realizing the GPS routed wrong. Did we just lose coverage for that whole route?"

Short answer: Almost certainly yes for the moments the vehicle was in Massachusetts, and possibly for the entire trip depending on how your policy reads. Connecticut cannabis cargo and auto policies are written with a Connecticut territory definition — once the cargo physically crosses the state line, the cargo is in transit through a federally illegal interstate commerce zone, which most policies expressly exclude.1

Pull over, document the GPS route, route back into Connecticut as quickly as is safe, and report the incident to your broker on Monday morning. Don't deliver the cargo until you've talked to the carrier.

"A customer is bringing in a registered service dog. Different customer says she wants to bring her emotional-support cat. Same coverage answer?"

Short answer: No. Service dogs are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act and Connecticut state law — denying access is the liability exposure, not allowing the dog.2 Emotional-support animals (ESAs) are a different legal category — they're not protected the same way at retail businesses, and an animal incident inside the store is a straightforward general-liability claim against you.

A simple posted policy ("Service animals welcome; emotional-support animals not permitted at retail per state law") shifts the exposure significantly and is generally acceptable to underwriters.

"Power dropped to one circuit for 18 hours. Climate-controlled vault stayed fine on the backup, but the office HVAC failed. Mold appeared on a wall in week three. Is that covered?"

Short answer: Probably not without a utility-services endorsement, and even with one the mold claim is a separate question. Standard property policies often exclude partial-power events under "utility services" exclusions unless an endorsement (typically called "Utility Services — Direct Damage" or similar) buys it back.3 Mold itself usually has a separate sub-limit (often $10,000–$25,000) and may be excluded entirely on cannabis property policies.

"We have an unpaid intern from a local university. She sprained her wrist trimming. Worker's comp claim or no?"

Short answer: Possibly yes, and the bigger problem is that you may not have her on the workers' comp policy at all. Connecticut workers' comp law generally requires coverage for anyone meeting the statutory definition of "employee," and unpaid interns can meet that definition depending on facts (academic credit vs no credit, supervision, productive work).4 If she's not on your payroll declaration, the carrier may treat the claim as a covered loss but then audit your payroll and assess back-premium, plus penalties.

"A vendor is bringing samples to our retail floor for a private staff training after hours. Are they covered as a 'visitor' on our GL?"

Short answer: The vendor is generally not covered by your GL — they need their own. Your GL covers your liability to them (and to third parties), not vice versa. If they slip and fall, your GL responds to their bodily-injury claim against you; their own injuries are between them and their own coverage. If they damage your property during the training, that's on their GL or property coverage.

"Our budtender posted a TikTok from inside the store showing product, with audio of us laughing about a customer. Customer sees it. Sues. Coverage?"

Short answer: Multiple coverage questions at once. The defamation/privacy piece may trigger your GL's Personal & Advertising Injury coverage (Coverage B), if the policy doesn't carve cannabis content out. The regulatory exposure — DCP advertising rules prohibit certain product depictions on social media5 — is a separate problem and is usually not insurable. The employment-side exposure (was the budtender authorized to post?) depends on your employee handbook.

"We're letting a documentary crew film inside the cultivation facility for 2 days. Their cameraman trips and breaks a finger. Whose claim?"

Short answer: Likely yours, unless you required a hold-harmless agreement and proof of their workers' comp / GL before they walked in. The crew is on your premises as your invitee — their cameraman's bodily injury is a textbook GL claim against you. A signed location agreement with mutual indemnification and a COI from the production company shifts the exposure substantially.

"A customer is buying $300 worth of flower in cash and asks us to break a $500 bill. Counterfeit. Bank rejects the deposit. Insurance?"

Short answer: Counterfeit money loss is usually covered under a Crime policy (specifically Money & Securities or Money Orders & Counterfeit Money coverage), not under your standard property or GL.6 If you don't have a Crime policy — and many small cannabis operations don't — you absorb the loss. The deductibles on Crime are typically low ($500–$2,500) but the per-occurrence limits often run $25K–$100K, which is plenty for a single counterfeit incident.

"We share a parking lot with a non-cannabis business. A customer of ours slips in their portion of the lot. Who's on the claim?"

Short answer: Probably both of you, with the maintenance-responsibility split in the lease being the deciding factor. Slip-and-fall in a shared parking lot typically involves a tender to whichever party's lease assigns snow removal / lot maintenance for that specific area. If your lease says "common areas maintained by landlord," your GL still gets named but may tender successfully to the landlord. Read the lease, then read the maintenance addendum, then read the COI requirements in the lease.

"A customer claims our gummy made them sick. They show us a receipt from a competitor. Are we still on the hook?"

Short answer: Maybe — and you're definitely on the hook for the defense even if you're not on the hook for the loss. Product-liability claims in cannabis are notoriously hard to attribute to a single source post-purchase; if the customer is genuinely confused about which product, your insurer will likely defend you and tender to the competitor's carrier for contribution.7 The defense costs are real and come out of your limits (or eat your SIR) regardless of outcome.