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Amazon Requires $1M Insurance in 11 Categories

From 2 November, sellers in 11 enhanced-safety categories — toys, supplements, small appliances, mattresses, tires — need $1M coverage regardless of sales volume.

On 3 September, Amazon announced that from 2 November 2026, sellers with listings in any of 11 "enhanced safety" categories must hold $1 million in commercial liability insurance no matter how much they sell. Until now, the rule only applied once a seller crossed $10,000 of gross proceeds in a single month. For low-volume arbitrage and wholesale sellers moving toys, supplements, small kitchen appliances, mattresses or tires, that threshold effectively disappears.

What changed

The coverage amount is unchanged — $1 million per occurrence and $1 million in aggregate, with Amazon named as an additional insured and a deductible no higher than $10,000. What changes is who must prove it. Sellers in the 11 categories now need coverage even at zero sales, and the requirement applies to existing listings, not just new ones. The categories span children's products, consumable and ingestible products, fire-related products, general household devices (including small kitchen appliances), home medical devices, lithium-battery products, outdoor power and heating equipment, personal safety equipment, sleep products (mattresses), transport-related products (tires) and water and marine safety.

Who is affected

Amazon says it will email sellers it decides need new or updated coverage, giving them 45 days to submit proof; listings in those categories can be deactivated until compliant, while listings in other categories are untouched. Separately, sellers based in mainland China must buy their policies through the Amazon Insurance Accelerator from 2 November — existing valid policies remain valid until they expire, then renewals must come through the Accelerator. The motive behind both changes is collection, not paperwork: when a product from an overseas seller injures a customer, the seller and its insurer are usually out of reach of a US court, which increasingly leaves Amazon holding the claim. A California appeals court held Amazon liable for a defective third-party laptop battery in 2020, and in July 2024 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission ruled unanimously that Amazon is a "distributor" of FBA products and responsible for recalling them. Requiring pre-vetted insurers is how Amazon makes sure the policy behind each of those sellers will actually pay. For this audience the category rule is the one that bites: small appliances, tires, mattresses and helmets are exactly what arbitrage and wholesale sellers move. And insurance is only one of the requirements on those listing pages — enhanced-safety categories also need testing by an Amazon-authorized lab, and Amazon can pull units for random testing.

What to do

Check Account Health now, not after the email arrives. If any of your ASINs sits in an enhanced-safety category, price a compliant policy and file proof before 2 November to avoid deactivation. The policy must name Amazon.com Services LLC as an additional insured and keep the deductible at or below $10,000. Treat this as a prompt to confirm both the insurance and the lab-testing requirement together, and if you are a China-based seller, start your Insurance Accelerator quote early — after the deadline only Accelerator policies will be accepted.

Sources