Homeowners insurance typically has exclusions or limitations for certain things. For example, my policy is limited to something like $1500 for photographic equipment and $2500 for computers. If I want more coverage than that I can buy a rider. If my house burned down or were cleaned out by a thief, the most they would pay for any lost photographic equipment would be $1500.
Policies presumably differ for wine, so you’d have to check, but if they cap the value at $5000, say, any value above that won’t be recoverable.
I have Chubb for my home and they tried to insist on auto as well, but because I have USAA for auto, there was no chance they could even come close on the rate. So, I ended up with an umbrella policy, that I should have anyway. After seeing this thread, though… quick email to the broker and I should have wine coverage here shortly. As far as claims, Chubb was fantastic when my basement flooded through no fault of my own (city sewer back up). Also, if you have an older home, Chubb is the way to go. My house was built in 1926, and I live in a covenant-restricted neighborhood, so if anything happened I’d have to rebuild as it stood. Plaster walls, etc. With USAA, the premium for that coverage was insane. By far the best quote came from Chubb.
I have scheduled coverage through my homeowner’s policy with a sub of Fireman’s Fund. I haven’t had to use it for the wine storage but the two claims I’ve put in on other matters were handled well. Not sure why the agent posting above (I’d look up his name but his avatar is sooo offensive I can’t bring myself to look at his post again) thinks the program is still being developed as I’ve had this coverage for over ten years.
For what its worth all storage insurance is not held by the provider. In our facilities, all policies are issued by the carrier, directly to and in the name of our customer. The certs and all policy docs go direct to the insured, not thru us. The carrier is Lloyds, so you have bulletproof claims service as well.
Many/Most homeowners policy treat wine like food and do not cover it at all. You need to get specifics as to what your policy covers and under what conditions. My homeowners will cover wine but only if I have no intention of drinking it and am only using it for investment purposes. I do not need a rider for this coverage but I do need to file additional paperwork. It offers no coverage if I plan to drink it.
I found this out when after being told three times by my agent that I was covered and did not need to file an inventory list, I asked them to provide a written statement confirming my coverage and provided them with an approximate value of its contents. That got them moving.
I’ve had coverage with Chubb for years (I have all my coverage with them) but have never been asked for an inventory. CellarTracker makes that easier in the event of loss than my old spreadsheet, as the computer and back-ups could also get damaged in a fire, but it’s surprising they’ve never asked.
I have Chubb and I don’t have any other coverage with them. They have never asked about a generator and I’ve changed locations of the cellar three times over a period of about 18 years. The agent does ask for an inventory list every year or two.
If your agent tells you that you are covered via your homeowners get that in writing. This is what my agent told me and why my former agent went with Chubb.
I would trust Marc Lazar (insureyourwine) if I were looking for a new policy.
I am out on the road so this will be brief. But there would be some basic coverage under some home policies but it would be very minimal. This thread has got me researching this through my carriers and I will get you all a nice full report on it this week.
Can anyone give me a ballpark figure on how much this generally costs?
I have zero idea, and I know a lot depends on whether you get other coverage.
So for starts, how about 1000 bottles with no other coverage? Maybe $50-75 average value per bottle.
I pay about 45 cents per $100 of value with Praetorian for a stand-alone wine policy. So, for $50,000 to $75,000 in value, the annual premium should be in the range of $225 to $340.
If someone has more than $10K of wine, even if their goal is to drink it all, it is strongly worth considering insurance to guard against fire, quake, theft, mechanical, heat etc. It’s just like a rider for art.
Just looked at the insuremywine.com site. Seems very easy and no inventory requirement except for bottles >$1,000 each or total collections >$500K. Premium for most states is .55/$100 with about a dozen higher (from .60 to .80). There is a minimum premium of $200 and a $50 policy fee, so for a smaller collection your average cost per $100 could end up being a fair chunk higher.
No. Doesn’t really matter much, though - you’re not going to get very far in a loss claim without records, so you need one backed up somewhere safe whether it’s with the insurer or not.
I decided not to carry wine insurance. It is a significant chunk of change, but in the scheme of things it doesn’t make or break my family’s financial security if it all got damaged. If I lost all the wine, I would be upset for a bit and then I would probably just buy wine to drink when I wanted it. I don’t think I would replace the cellar, now that it’s getting far easier to purchase well aged wines at reasonable prices. I’ve actually started net depletion of the cellar, so my exposure drops every year.