E-commerce insurance checklist: what an e-commerce business should carry

The e-commerce business insurance checklist

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E-commerce usually carry general liability, product liability and cyber liability. E-commerce sellers ship products they often did not make to customers they never meet, through marketplaces that require insurance above a sales threshold, with inventory in a warehouse or a third party's and card data everywhere. The client's vendor desk and the lender ask for proof of each. The checklist below says what every item does, who requires it and how to check it on the policies you already have.

Reviewed by Michael LaBarbera, Licensed property & casualty agent, Provident Financial Group · Reviewed Oct 12, 2026 Updated Oct 14, 2026

Who asks an e-commerce business for what

Who	What they usually want to see
Enterprise clients & vendor onboarding	General liability, professional or cyber liability, workers' compensation and often an umbrella
Banks, lenders & SBA loans	Property or auto physical damage with the lender as loss payee, and liability proof at closing and every renewal
Landlords & commercial leases	General liability with the landlord as additional insured, property coverage on tenant improvements and workers' compensation

Each of them wants a certificate, and most want it again at every renewal. A live certificate link from the wallet shows today's coverage to every holder and tells them when it changes.

How to check what you already have

General liability declarations page. Three liability numbers matter: each occurrence, general aggregate and the products–completed operations aggregate. Then the forms list: blanket additional insured, waiver of subrogation and primary and non-contributory wording satisfy every contract; scheduled forms satisfy one.
Products–completed operations. The aggregate, any vendors endorsement naming buyers as additional insureds, and exclusions for specific products or markets.
Cyber declarations. The headline limit matters less than the sublimits: social engineering, funds-transfer fraud, ransomware and business interruption, plus the regulatory coverage and the panel of breach vendors.
Property section. Limits for building, business personal property and tenant improvements against replacement cost, the coinsurance percentage, the deductible, and whether flood and earthquake are excluded (they usually are).
Motor truck cargo. The limit per vehicle, the commodities excluded, theft from an unattended vehicle conditions and reefer breakdown.
Workers' compensation information page. Item 3.A must list every state you work in, item 4 must carry the right class codes, and the employers' liability limits should meet what contracts ask. Check that the estimated payroll is close to this year's.
Bailee coverage. The limit for customers' property at your premises and in transit, the valuation basis and any exclusions for specific items.
Employment practices declarations. Limit and retention, third-party coverage for claims by customers, and whether wage-and-hour claims carry any defence sublimit.

What usually goes wrong for e-commerce businesses

Marketplace insurance requirements with the marketplace as additional insured, missed until the account is suspended.
Imported private-label goods with no manufacturer to stand behind a product claim.
Marketplace insurance requirements that name a limit and an additional insured the policy was never set up for.
Imported or private-label goods with no manufacturer to stand behind them.
Social engineering (wire fraud) sublimited to a small amount on a cyber policy with a large headline limit.
Storage contracts that accept liability for full value while the policy pays a per-pound limit.

What underwriters will ask an e-commerce business

Annual sales by channel, what is sold and where it is made, where inventory is held, and card-data handling
Platforms used, payment handling and annual online sales
What you sell, who makes it and where it is made
Multi-factor authentication, backups and endpoint protection
Records held, payment card handling and any client network access
Peak value of customers' goods on hand and the storage contracts you use

Have the answers in the wallet before the renewal and the quote request fills itself in; CoverMatch sends one application to every eligible carrier and lines the quotes up against what you have.

Renewal timing

Workers' compensation is audited on actual payroll and liability on sales, so a busy year ends with a bill unless the estimates were kept honest; pay-as-you-go billing through your payroll company removes most of that. Renewal autopilot starts the comparison sixty days out, prefilled from the wallet.

Questions people actually ask

Why did the marketplace ask for a certificate?

Sellers above a sales threshold must carry general liability with products coverage at a stated limit and name the marketplace as additional insured. The request has a deadline; the live certificate from the wallet answers it the same day.

We import and private-label our products. Who answers a product claim?

You, as the seller and the brand, when the overseas factory cannot be reached. Products liability within the general liability policy is the answer; check the imported-goods exclusion and the limit against the marketplace's requirement.

Do online marketplaces require sellers to carry insurance?

Above certain sales volumes, most do: a general liability limit with the marketplace named as additional insured, sometimes product liability specifically. The requirement arrives by email with a deadline; a live certificate from the wallet answers it the same day.

I only resell products. Why would a product claim land on me?

Because the injured customer sues everyone in the chain, and when the manufacturer is overseas or gone, the retailer is the one left standing. Products coverage sits inside most general liability policies; the question is the limit and whether imported goods are excluded.

Does cyber insurance cover a fraudulent wire transfer?

Only under a social-engineering or funds-transfer-fraud insuring agreement, and often at a sublimit well below the policy limit. Ask for the sublimit before you buy; it is the claim small businesses actually have.