City of Grand Rapids Clarifies Insurance Requirements for Marihuana Facility Applicants

The City of Grand Rapids released their Medical Marihuana Ordinance in December 2018 and many questions have developed based on the release of the ordinance. The ordinance and application for Medical Marihuana Facilities states that one item required at time of application is proof of insurance. Per the application, the proof of insurance should show a valid and effective policy for general liability insurance. The general liability limits must be $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate limit and issued from a company licensed to do business within Michigan and having an AM Best rating of at least B+++. The requirement also goes on to request that the City of Grand Rapids and its officials and employees shall be named as additional insured within insurance policy documents. All Grand Rapids medical marihuana information can be found on the city’s dedicated medical marihuana webpage HERE.

We’ve had many discussions with Grand Rapids applicants and everyone was asking the same thing – do I really need to purchase the policy when I don’t even know if I will be awarded a license? Our response was always, “Ask the City”! It sounds like the city is listening as last week they issued a statement advising that they will not require a policy to have been purchased and active at the time of application. Instead, an applicant can submit a letter of Intent for a policy meeting the requirements of the ordinance. If the applicant is approved by the Planning Commission, the applicant will then have to demonstrate that the policy has been purchased prior to receiving a license.

The Roots Insurance has issued many letters of intent and we would be happy to assist you as you make your way through the Grand Rapids Medical Marihuana application. Please click HERE to send us a request for a letter of intent and one of our agents will gladly assist in generating the necessary document to satisfy the city’s request.