It’s way too common for cannabis companies and their owners and executives to lose bank accounts or other deposit accounts, including brokerage relationships, but Derek Peterson, the CEO of publicly-traded Terra Tech (OTC: TRTC), was denied a life insurance policy by Mutual of Omaha solely because of his involvement with the company:
We cannot accept premium from individuals or entities who are associated with the marijuana industry.
The rejection could be related to fear of money laundering given the federal illegality of cannabis, though this extreme example is uncommon according to Taylor West of the National Cannabis Industry Association. In his article, Steve Nelson points to several companies that are addressing the unwillingness of the providers of other types of insurance to underwrite risk, including liability and property insurance, to the cannabis industry.
Read Steve Nelson’s “Marijuana Businessman Denied Life Insurance”: http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-06-23/marijuana-businessman-denied-life-insurance
