Protect The Things You Love, tips for collectors of wine.

2022-04-28
By: Advocate Brokerage

If drinking wine is your passion, collecting wine can become an enjoyable hobby. Some people who enjoy wine also choose to begin as an investment opportunity. Either way, there are things to consider ensuring that your wine stays at its best in for both taste and value.

 

You Need Additional Insurance For Your Wine Collection

If you are a wine enthusiast who is building a collection, or if you have already amassed a substantial collection, your homeowner’s insurance policy does not provide adequate protection. We recommend that your wine collection be scheduled on a Collections/Personal Articles policy. This type of policy will cover your wines in the event of fire, theft, flood, breakage, and earthquakes as well as offer protection for your wines in the event of a temperature regulation system failure and during transit.

 

What Are Some Of The Features Of A Designated Policy For Wine?

• You’ll receive automatic coverage for new purchases worldwide for up to 90 days after it is purchased.
• In the event of a loss, you’ll receive up to 150% of the amount itemized for your wine to account for increases in market value.
• We’ll work with you to determine an agreed value of your wine so that when a covered loss occurs, you’ll get 100% of the agreed value.
• In the event of a mechanical breakdown of climate-controlled equipment. or loss of utility services where your wine is being stored, you’ll receive coverage.
• Most of our carriers offer help connecting you to resources that can help you assess your collection’s exposure to risks and provide assistance to ensuring that your collection is being stored properly.

 

Additional Information From Your Insurance Advocate:

• The wine cellars where most people keep their collections tend to be in the basement of the home. As you are aware, basements are more vulnerable to flooding and since flood is always excluded on homeowners’ insurance policies, sizable wine collections should be insured.
• Storing wine on its side is beneficial. Not only will it help to prevent the exposure to air, if you keep the label facing up, you can quickly identify the wine, and you will be protecting the label from damage. A damaged label decreases the value of the wine.
• Storing wine in a conventional refrigerator is not a good idea. The humidity of a refrigerator is kept at 20% which is too low, the humidity of wine should be at around 70%. Additionally, the temperature is not consistent. The temperature in a fridge will rise until it hits its desired mark and then shut off, when the temperature gets too low, it turns on again. This cycle is not good for your wine! The prefect storage temperature for your wine is 55 degrees F.
• Be sure to frequently update your wine inventory and have your collection appraised. It is not uncommon to have a collection that is undervalued and learn a little too late that your coverage is inadequate.

 

Protecting the things you love is important to us. After all, for all of us here at Advocate Brokerage, it’s not just about insurance, it’s about you! If you are passionate about wine and have a collection that needs extra protection, or if you are interested in starting a collection, give us a call. We are here to help so put our expertise to work!