One Carpinteria farmer won an insurance payout well in excess of $1 million after ashes from the Thomas Fire destroyed thousands of his plants. What was unusual was that the plants were marijuana.
As cannabis cultivators come out of the shadows, pot businesses are starting to operate like any other business — they have lawyers, accountants, bankers, and, more recently, insurance brokers.
Most of the Northern California cannabis farms scorched by last fall’s wildfires did not have insurance. They were forced to suffer huge losses. But now insurance brokers in Santa Barbara County are starting to tap into the once-illicit industry.
