Takeaways from Our Conversation on ‘Behavior Products’

At first glance, it would be tempting to write off ventures like Behavior Labs or reepher, as consumer-oriented endeavors with little more than passing interest for insurance professionals specializing in cannabis.

reepher, for example, is s a new type of personal liability protection that provides policyholders with money to defend themselves if facing cannabis DUI charges.

However, these “behavior products,” as the founder of the companies refers to them, may have some value for the insuring cannabis space.

For our latest episode, we spoke with Justin Kahn, a serial entrepreneur and cofounder & CEO of reepher and Behavior Labs. Following are takeaways from that conversation.

Kahn started with an explainer of what he terms “behavior products 1.0.”

“I think the most common product that we would all be familiar with would be the prepaid legal, products, Legal Shield, Legal Zoom, there’re a variety of different companies. And essentially what they do is they offer discount legal services,” he said. “They offer documents that are templated that can be used for things like estate planning or other basic needs. But essentially, these plans were either offered directly to the consumer or offered through employers as an employee benefit that made access to legal services more cost effective for the average consumer.”

A few years ago, Lockton created a product called Carry Guard, which was a stand-your-ground, home invasion product to cover someone who had to use their firearm.

Kahn’s behavior product iteration followed.

Behavior Labs sells behavior-based insurance and financial services products for both the individual market as well as for the employer market. Their first suite of products that service the cannabis consumer as well as the cannabis industry under the brand reepher.

The base coverage, cannabis DUI for individuals, starts at $15 a month, that gets a $15,000 total coverage benefit. Additional coverages include possession of paraphernalia and public intoxication, as well as a commercial driver’s license endorsement.

“And so we offer that both to the consumer as well as an employer-sponsored product,” he said. “And we just launched a new product, which is a $3 48-hour cannabis crime coverage, which is sold to the consumer at the point of sale or point of purchase. And it’s a really unique, innovative model that we’re starting to get a lot of good traction with.”

Kahn said they are looking for brokers and agents and distribution channels to help get the product into the market, either as a direct-to-consumer product or as an employer-sponsored product.

Well him think these “behavior products” will take off?

“We started with cannabis DUI coverage and have been slowly building on that idea and expanding the portfolio to make sure that there are product offerings that fit the different needs of the market and also fill the gaps that are not met by traditional products,” he said. “So for the listeners that are interested in distribution, the way that we like to think about this product is, is that it’s a lead in that becomes a tag-along product because the customers and the partners that your listeners are interacting with all have different needs, whether it be de-risking or attracting top talent or making sure that their patrons are safe and have the coverage and the protection that they need.”

He added: “And we have risen to create these types of products to make sure that those gaps are being met and that for those that want this coverage, that they now have the ability to purchase it and carry it along with their other insurance products.”

Related:

• Takeaways from Our Conversation on The Science of Cannabis and Toxicology
• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Selling Cannabis Insurance in Tougher Times
• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Insuring Magic Mushrooms
• Takeaways from Our Conversation on Environmental Risks for Cannabis Operations
• Takeaways from Our Conversation with Cannabis Regulators Group