Wine Insurance

Is Your Collection Properly Insured?

I want to touch on a topic that a lot of people ignore. If you have a wine collection, is it properly insured? What happens if you suffer theft, fire or just a broken cooling unit at the height of summer? Have you looked at your insurance policy to see if you would really be covered? Depending on what type of homeowners coverage you have, your wine collection may not be protected. Even a simple power outage, not an uncommon event, could lead to a significant, uncovered loss. Unless you have specific coverage from Chubb or AIG Private Client the answer is almost always no. When I personally went through this exercise several years ago it was very difficult to get answers. Ultimately, to get coverage, I had to consolidate all of my insurance for home and cars with one carrier just so I could buy a relatively small rider to protect my wine. It was something I put off for years, and it was a total pain in the neck.

With that in mind, I am very excited to list a few standalone insurance offerings that are now available that make it was easier to get specific coverage for your wine if your main insurer does not offer an adequate policy:

• BlueWater Insurance: Designed for the wine collector, program features include full value coverage for individual bottles and entire collection of wine assets, extreme temperature protection, shipping and more. https://bluewater-ins.com/fine-wine-insurance

• InsureMyWine: This was crafted jointly by The Wine Services Alliance and Ellis Insurance. Through their partnership, a tailored wine insurance program offering preferred pricing, simple administration, broad coverage, and low deductibles is now available. www.insuremywine.com

Please, if you have a wine collection, check your current home insurance policy and know what is (or isn’t) covered.  It is worth protecting your collection, no matter how big or small.