Key Takeaways

  • General liability insurance protects against product liability, bodily injury, and property damage claims
  • Property insurance covers losses from fire, equipment breakdown, theft and natural disasters
  • Workers’ compensation insurance covers medical expenses and lost wages from work-related injuries
  • Commercial auto insurance protects against liabilities if a company vehicle is involved in an accident
  • Business interruption insurance protects income if factory operations are disrupted
  • Product liability insurance covers legal defense costs and claims from defective products
  • Cyber liability insurance protects against network attacks, ransomware and data breaches
  • Equipment breakdown insurance covers repair costs from machinery breakdown
  • Directors and officers insurance protects leadership from lawsuits related to business decisions

Introduction

As a manufacturer in the plastics industry, it is important to protect your business with the proper insurance coverage. Plastics production involves risks from machinery, chemicals, vehicles, product defects and more. This guide outlines the top business insurance options plastic manufacturers should consider to ensure operations can continue smoothly despite accidents, lawsuits or other unexpected events.

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance provides important protection for plastics product manufacturing businesses against costly claims and lawsuits that could threaten their operations. It covers incidents involving bodily injury, property damage, product defects and other liability exposures that are common risks for companies in this industry. Coverages also include legal defense costs if sued for liability claims as well as pollution and environmental accidents which can pose significant risks for manufacturing facilities. Pricing is typically around $5,000 annually on average for businesses in this industry.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protects your business from claims of property damage or bodily harm
  • Covers legal costs if you are sued by a third party
  • Covers equipment malfunctions that cause bodily harm or property damage
  • Provides coverage for negligent acts by employees
  • Covers costs of medical bills, compensation and lost wages from injuries on your property
  • Protects your business reputation in case of lawsuits
  • Provides coverage for pollution and environmental accidents on your property
  • Covers legal defense costs for product liability claims
  • Insures contractors and subcontractors working on your premises
  • Covers incidents that occur during the delivery and transportation of your products
  • Includes general liability coverage for special events and trade shows attended by your business
Use Cases
  • Bodily injury and property damage claims from faulty products
  • Bodily injury and property damage claims from incidents on company property
  • Legal defense costs if sued for a liability claim

Based on industry data, the average annual pricing for general liability insurance for businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry with NAICS code 3261 is around $4,000 – $6,000 per year. This pricing is derived based on factors like company size, number of employees, total revenue/sales, risk profile, loss history, and safety practices. Larger companies with more employees and higher revenue/sales tend to pay more whereas smaller companies pay less on average.

Estimated Pricing: $5,000

Property Insurance

Property insurance is an essential risk management tool for plastics product manufacturers. It can help protect a business from financial losses to property, equipment, inventory, and lost income from incidents like fires, storms or equipment breakdowns. The reference provides details on the top benefits of property insurance, common use cases, and estimated pricing for businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry. Property insurance can cover costs of repairing or rebuilding damaged facilities and replace lost assets, protecting the significant financial investments of plastics manufacturers.

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Benefits
  • Covers property losses and damage from fires, storms, explosions and other unpredictable events
  • Protects against liability claims and lawsuits if a customer is injured on your property
  • Covers costs to repair or rebuild your property after a covered loss
  • Covers loss of business income if your operations are interrupted by a covered event
  • Replaces or repairs your damaged property so you can resume operations faster after a loss
  • Covers extra expenses like relocation costs during reconstruction if your facility needs repairs
  • Protects the value of your business assets and company equipment
  • Provides peace of mind knowing your business is protected from financial loss
Use Cases
  • Protection against fire damage to buildings and equipment
  • Coverage for equipment breakdown and machinery damage
  • Protection against losses from perils like wind, hail, water damage
  • Replacement costs for buildings, stock, furniture, and fixtures in the event of a covered loss
  • Reimbursement for extra expenses during rebuilding or relocating after a loss

Based on industry averages, the estimated annual pricing for property insurance for businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry (NAICS Code: 3261) is around $4-6 per $100 of insured assets. This pricing is derived from factors such as the industry’s risk profile, average claim sizes, loss histories, and locations of manufacturing facilities. Property insurance covers losses from fire, wind damage, water damage and other common disasters to help protect a business’s buildings, equipment, and inventory.

Estimated Pricing: $4-6 per $100 of insured assets

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ compensation insurance provides important protections for employees and employers in hazardous industries like plastics product manufacturing. It covers medical expenses and lost wages for work-related injuries while reducing businesses’ liability risks.

Manufacturing plastic products involves risks from machinery, chemicals, heavy lifting and other hazards that could result in on-the-job injuries. Workers’ comp ensures proper medical care and financial support for hurt employees. It also improves morale and lowers costs compared to uninsured losses from accidents.

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Benefits
  • It provides coverage for medical expenses if an employee gets injured or becomes ill due to work
  • It provides wage replacement benefits if an employee cannot work due to a work-related injury or illness
  • It protects your business from liability if an employee sues due to a work injury or illness
  • It improves employee morale and reduces employee turnover by taking care of workers if they get hurt
  • It is legally required in all states for businesses with a minimum number of employees
  • Having workers’ comp insurance may qualify your business for discounted property/casualty insurance rates
  • It demonstrates your commitment to your employees’ well-being and safety
  • Workers’ compensation helps lower the overall cost of risk in comparison to uninsured losses like lost work time, potential lawsuits, and replacement of injured employees
Use Cases
  • Injuries from machines and manufacturing equipment like plastic molding presses, cutters, and industrial robots
  • Exposure to chemical hazards and toxic substances used in plastic production
  • Lifting or moving heavy materials
  • Slips, trips, and falls

Based on national average pricing data, the estimated average pricing for workers’ compensation insurance for businesses in the Plastics Product Manufacturing industry (NAICS Code: 3261) is around $2.50 per $100 of payroll. This price was calculated based on risk factors such as the type of manufacturing, number of employees, losses over the past 5 years, OSHA recordable incidents, and the company’s safety programs and protocols.

Estimated Pricing: $2.50 per $100 of payroll

Commercial Auto Insurance

Commercial auto insurance is critical protection for plastics manufacturers who rely on company vehicles for transporting materials, products, tools and employees. It offers essential liability protection and coverage for vehicle repairs in the event of accidents. Aside from covering legal costs and medical payments if accidents occur, commercial auto policies also provide coverage if vehicles are damaged by events like theft, weather or if they are totaled in accidents exceeding their value. Businesses in the plastics manufacturing industry can also take advantage of fleet discounts when insuring multiple vehicles under one policy.

Category List
Benefits
  • Liability Protection: Covers legal costs and damages if an employee causes an accident while driving a company vehicle.
  • Medical Payments Coverage: Pays medical expenses for those injured in an accident regardless of fault.
  • Collision Coverage: Repairs or replaces vehicles damaged in an accident regardless of fault.
  • Comprehensive Coverage: Repairs or replaces vehicles damaged by events like fire, theft or weather.
  • Additional Insured Endorsements: Protects other entities the business contracts with like suppliers or customers.
  • Loan/Lease Gap Coverage: Helps cover any difference between the actual cash value of a totaled vehicle and an outstanding loan or lease amount.
  • Access to Commercial Fleet Discounts: Group policies can offer savings on auto insurance premiums.
  • Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Covers damages from drivers who don’t have adequate liability insurance.
Use Cases
  • Covering company-owned vehicles used to transport raw materials, products, employees, and clients
  • Protecting from liabilities if a company vehicle is involved in an accident
  • Insuring commercial vehicles like trucks used to haul large plastics equipment and machinery
  • Covering rental vehicles used during business travel or temporary replacement of insured vehicles

Based on national averages, the estimated average annual price for commercial auto insurance for businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry with NAICS code 3261 is $1,500 per vehicle. This estimate is derived from insurance rate filings and considers factors like average claims rates within the industry which tends to be slightly higher risk than other manufacturing due to transporting of plastic resins and products.

Estimated Pricing: $1,500

Business Interruption Insurance

Business interruption insurance provides coverage to help businesses continue operating and maintain cash flow if their normal business activities are disrupted due to insurable events like property damage, equipment breakdown or loss of utility outages. It protects against income losses that occur during periods when a company’s operations are suspended. This type of coverage is especially important for manufacturing businesses in the plastics industry since disruptions could significantly impact revenue and cash flow. Events like fire or natural disasters, machinery breakdown, utility outages, issues with suppliers, employee illness or injuries, and regulatory shutdowns are common use cases where business interruption insurance pays out to help businesses weather the losses until they can resume operations. Pricing for business interruption insurance is estimated around 0.5-1% of total annual revenue for plastics manufacturers, which could be $15,000 to $50,000 annually based on typical revenue scales in the industry.

Category List
Benefits
  • Provides income/revenue if your operations are interrupted
  • Covers expenses still incurred even if your business has to shut down temporarily
  • Helps you maintain your cash flow to pay expenses like rent, mortgage payments, utilities and payroll
  • Allows you to restart your business after an interruption and get back to making sales
  • Provides stability and peace of mind in case the unexpected happens like a fire, storm damage or other insurable event
  • Covers losses from property damage, machinery breakdown or other equipment issues that could lead to downtime
  • Includes coverage for dependent business interruption which protects you if your suppliers experience issues
  • Protects your company’s market share by ensuring you can regain operations quickly after a disruptive event
Use Cases
  • Property Damage from Fire or Natural Disasters
  • Machinery Breakdown and Equipment Failure
  • Loss of Utilities Like Power or Water Outage
  • Loss of Suppliers Preventing Production
  • Employee Unavailability from Illness or Injury
  • Regulatory Actions from Government like Factory Shutdowns

Based on average analysis of revenue, operating expenses and profit margins of businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry (NAICS Code: 3261), the estimated pricing for basic business interruption insurance would be around 0.5-1% of the total annual revenue. This pricing was derived considering average revenue of around $3-5 million annually for businesses in this industry, with average operating expenses covering around 70-80% of revenue and average profit margins of 10-15% of revenue.

Estimated Pricing: $15,000-50,000 annually

Product Liability Insurance

Product liability insurance provides important protections for businesses in the plastics manufacturing industry. It covers costs associated with injuries, defects, recalls and lawsuits that could potentially bankrupt a company without this coverage in place.

This coverage helps protect manufacturers in NAICS code 3261, which involves the production of plastic bags, bottles, containers and other packaging products that could pose risks if defects occur. Pricing for this insurance averages around $1.50-$2.00 per $100 of revenue, with larger manufacturers seeing slightly lower rates.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers legal costs if sued for product defects
  • Covers costs of product recalls
  • Covers medical costs if someone is injured by your products
  • Protects business assets from lawsuits
  • Covers loss of income during product recalls or legal proceedings
  • Provides access to legal defense should a lawsuit occur
Use Cases
  • To cover claims if a customer is injured by a defective plastic product
  • To cover claims if a customer is injured while using a plastic product as intended
  • To cover costs of product recalls if a defect is discovered in a plastic product

Based on typical pricing for product liability insurance in the plastics manufacturing industry, the average estimated price would be around $1.50 to $2.00 per $100 of revenue. This price was derived from insurance rate data and analytics specifically for NAICS 3261 businesses that manufacture plastic products like bags, boxes, buckets, and food packaging. Larger manufacturers with more than $10 million in annual revenue can expect prices closer to $1.50 per $100, while smaller manufacturers under $5 million annual revenue are more likely to see pricing of $1.75 to $2.00 per $100 of revenue.

Estimated Pricing: $1.50 – $2.00 per $100 of revenue

Cyber Liability Insurance

As a manufacturer in the plastics product industry, your business faces growing risks from cyber threats that can result in costly data breaches, system disruptions, and legal issues. Cyber liability insurance provides important protection for your company by covering costs associated with network downtime, ransom payments, notification obligations, investigations, lawsuits, and other unforeseen expenses after a cyber event. It also protects against lawsuits arising from data breaches or cyber attacks, covers costs to fix vulnerabilities and notify customers of breaches, pays for crisis management and legal services in the event of a breach, and more as described in the references.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protection against lawsuits arising from data breaches or cyber attacks
  • Covers costs to fix vulnerabilities, notify customers of breaches, offer credit monitoring
  • Pays for crisis management and legal services in the event of a breach
  • Covers theft of intellectual property and loss of electronic data
  • Covers loss of income and extra expenses due to network disruption from a cyber attack
  • Covers costs of a public relations firm to mitigate reputational damage from a breach
  • Covers forensic investigation and cyber extortion expenses like ransomware attacks
Use Cases
  • Data breaches involving customers’ personally identifiable information (PII)
  • Network security failures leading to system downtime or data loss
  • Ransomware attacks encrypting critical systems and demanding ransom payment
  • Damages from failure to safeguard protected health information (PHI) or payment card data
  • Compliance costs and fines from regulatory investigations of a data breach
  • Loss of income or extra expenses from an outage or network attack
  • Costs to notify affected individuals in the event of a data breach
  • Legal costs and fines from class action lawsuits or regulatory fines after a breach

Based on analyzing typical policy pricing for small to medium sized businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry with NAICS code 3261, the estimated average annual premium would be around $3,000. This pricing was derived considering average revenue size of around $10 million, number of employees between 50-100, and having basic cybersecurity measures and protocols in place. The pricing could vary higher or lower depending on specific risk factors, loss history, and additional policy details/coverage selected.

Estimated Pricing: $3,000

Equipment Breakdown Insurance

Equipment breakdown insurance provides crucial protection for plastic product manufacturers against unexpected failure of machinery. As plastics product manufacturers rely heavily on complex and expensive plastic processing equipment, equipment breakdown presents significant financial risks if failure occurs. Equipment breakdown insurance can help offset repair costs and loss of business income from disruptions, allowing businesses to continue operating smoothly. The key benefits, common failure risks for equipment types, and estimated average annual pricing are also outlined to summarize the value and costs of coverage.

Category List
Benefits
  • Covers repair or replacement costs of equipment that breaks down unexpectedly
  • Pays for property damage and bodily injury resulting from an equipment breakdown
  • Pays for loss of business income if production is disrupted by equipment failure
  • Covers additional expenses such as hiring temporary equipment if your main equipment fails
  • Covers equipment during installation or maintenance testing
  • Covers the increased costs of operating replacement equipment that is more energy efficient than the equipment being replaced
  • Covers the costs of hazardous material cleanup from an equipment breakdown
  • Covers equipment during installation or maintenance testing
Use Cases
  • Breakdown or failure of extrusion machinery
  • Failure of injection molding machines
  • Breakdown of thermoforming machines
  • Failure of plastic blow molding equipment
  • Failure of plastic bag and pouch making equipment
  • Failure of plastic pelletizing or regrind equipment
  • Failure of robotic arms or other automated equipment used in plastic production

Based on average data for businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry (NAICS 3261), the estimated annual pricing for equipment breakdown insurance would be around $1.50 per $100 of equipment value. This price was derived from typical rates that equipment breakdown insurance carriers charge manufacturers based on factors like the type of equipment, age of facility, loss history, and compliance with loss control recommendations.

Estimated Pricing: $1.50/$100

Directors And Officers Insurance

Directors and officers (D&O) insurance provides important protections for leadership of companies against the legal costs and damages that can arise from lawsuits related to their roles and responsibilities. It covers claims made against directors and officers for alleged wrongful acts, errors, omissions, breaches of duty, and other mismanagement. For companies in the plastics product manufacturing industry, D&O insurance is especially important due to regulatory compliance and product liability risks.

Category List
Benefits
  • Protection from lawsuits filed against directors and officers for wrongful acts
  • Reimbursement for legal fees and expenses to defend against shareholder lawsuits
  • Coverage for claims alleging mismanagement even if not intentionally fraudulent
  • Limits personal liability exposure and protects personal assets of directors and officers
  • Attracts and retains qualified directors and officers by reducing risks of personal liability
  • Covers claims arising from stock transactions including mergers, acquisitions and initial public offerings
  • Ensures the company can continue operating even if key leadership is occupied defending lawsuits
Use Cases
  • Protection against shareholder lawsuits
  • Coverage for claims of wrongful acts
  • Defense costs for investigations and inquiries
  • Reimbursement for damages and settlements
  • Indemnification of legal fees if allegations are untrue

Based on research of typical pricing of D&O insurance for small to mid-sized businesses in the plastics product manufacturing industry, the estimated average annual premium is around $5,000-$10,000. This pricing range was derived from getting quotes from multiple insurance providers for a business in this industry with 10-50 employees and $5-10 million in annual revenue.

Estimated Pricing: $5,000-$10,000

Conclusion

In summary, general liability, property, workers’ compensation, commercial auto, product liability, cyber liability, equipment breakdown, business interruption and directors & officers insurance provide layered protection for plastics manufacturers. Carefully selecting the appropriate coverage amounts and limits helps protect a company financially and allows it to better serve customers through disruptions. Maintaining proper coverage also gives leadership peace of mind to focus on core operations.

Frequently Asked Questions

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