INSIGHT ON LAUNDROMAT INSURANCE
When you look for advice, it is often a wise choice to go to the professionals in the field. CBS and their website MoneyWatch.com is one such source. Here are some excerpts from an article on their site about Laundromat insurance written for the attention of insurance agent.
 
                                                           Laundromats might look at first like a risk to avoid. It's a business that's open both day and night in
                                                           in all kinds of neighborhoods. Sometimes there are no employees on the premises. Customers are
                                                           often accompanied by young children who, being even more bored than their parents while waiting for
                                                           the family clothes to stop spinning, might decide to push each other around in laundry carts. College
                                                           students, who are frequent patrons, might do the same, or worse. And anyone who has ever had
                                                           overflow problems or other mishaps with washers and dryers at home might well imagine the potential
                                                           horrors of a Laundromat owner with 50 or more units going at one time. [You] might be surprised to
                                                           find that Laundromats today can offer a lot more than washers and dryers. Some have amenities such as television sets, snack bars and tanning beds. An Indianapolis, Indiana, Laundromat which has all of the above is also the largest seller of instant ticket lottery tickets in the state. Whether Laundromats offer exotic extras or just the basics, they can be a viable business target for independent agents.
 
"It tends to be a very localized business," says Brian Wells, director of communications for the [Coin Laundry] association. "There aren't many organizations that would be considered a franchise on a national level that have had any success. More often, now you have individuals who are multi-store owners.
 
"It's an industry that continues to grow. New store construction remains at a low and gradual growth rate." IMR pegs the most recent annual growth rate in number of Laundromats at 4.8% and the premium growth at 9.6%.
When they do get these submissions, Ferris says, "In addition to the basic underwriting items such as age of building and condition of the property, I look to see if they have an attendant on duty and if so how many hours a day. Also, has the wiring been updated to hold the type of electrical service it would need for the number of washers it has?

"If we're providing contents coverage," he adds, "the age of equipment is important. If it's 15-year old equipment it could be subject to wearing out and breaking down and then you've got to worry about electrical shorts." "It tends to be a very localized business," says Brian Wells, director of communications for the [Coin Laundry] association. "There aren't many organizations that would be considered a franchise on a national level that have had any success. More often, now you have individuals who are multi-store owners.

Among the property coverages provided to Laundromats by leading specialty market carriers are building, contents and business income under basic, broad or special forms; customer bailee coverage; crime--theft, disappearance and destruction and premises burglary; and sign coverage.
 

MONEYWATCH & LAUNDRY INSURANCE