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By: Dax Kastrin

Owner of Elemental Risk Management

505-933-6511

What Insurance Is Needed by Bars and Wineries?

A vineyard may contain a farm, a production facility, a retail shop, a bar, or even a café all rolled into one. Winery and bar insurance combines basic business insurance plans like workers’ compensation and general liability with improvements to cover risks like contamination, leaking, and crop damage to help safeguard all parts of your company.


Often, we don’t really give insurance a second thought. We usually have it because we need it, but we never consider utilizing it. A withdrawal from the bank account pays the premium monthly. 


Then the unthinkable occurs. Someone stumbles in your pub, and you’re now dealing with an injury. You’re still trying to figure out whether you’re insured, and the wounded visitor is asking you to pay their medical fees.


Nobody likes to consider the worst-case situations, but the reality is that if you haven’t planned ahead of time, you’re in for a major business problem. Continue reading to learn about what insurance is needed by bars and wineries and how they may help you keep your bar open.

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Insurance Policies to Consider For Bars and Wineries


What Are the Threats to Your Wine/Bar Business?


Here are a few instances of possible concerns for winemakers and bar owners:


  • Output and profits are halted when winemaking machinery breaks down.
  • Your winery’s wine bottle bursts in a customer’s house, hurting them and causing property damage.
  • A fermentation tank bursts, spilling thousands of dollars worth of produce.
  • A nearby farm has filed a lawsuit after a pesticide meant for your crops landed on their land.
  • Grapes are damaged while being transported to the crusher plant.
  • An accident in the bar leads to a glass breaking, injuring a customer. 
  • Some visitors get drunk and accidentally set a fire in the bar.

what insurance is needed by bars and wineries
what insurance is needed by bars and wineries

What Insurance Is Needed for Wineries and Bars?


1. Insurance for General Liability


General liability insurance is required for all company owners. This insurance protects you against a typical customer or client problem. The typical property damage or customer injury claim costs $30,000 and may result in costly legal fees, making this one the most crucial insurance plan for any company.


What are you willing to risk? 


  • Customers, delivery persons, and other non-employees make claims of personal harm, customer injury, and property damage. For example, a waiter smashes glassware and injures a client, resulting in a serious cut to the customer’s arm, leading to necessary treatment costs.


What is covered by this insurance?

  • Costs of medical care, legal bills, settlements, court costs, and verdicts

2. Insurance for Liquor Liability


Liquor liability insurance covers firms that make, serve, or sell alcohol. It is especially vital for craft brewers and wineries who serve the public on and off-premise during tastings or events.

What are you willing to risk? 

  • Claims for property damage or physical harm caused by a drunken customer or employee who was provided alcohol at your establishment. For example, a client gets over-served in the tasting room, then drives while inebriated, injuring himself and others in the process.

What is covered by insurance? 

  • Legal expenditures, settlements, and medical expenses incurred due to property damage or physical harm caused by a drunken individual who was provided or sold alcoholic beverages by the policyholder.



what insurance is needed by bars and wineries
what insurance is needed by bars and wineries

3. Property Insurance for Businesses


Commercial property insurance is crucial coverage for wineries and breweries in case of theft or catastrophe to assist with repairs or replacement of equipment or property required by the company.


What are you willing to risk? 


  • Property damage or loss caused by fire, theft, or natural catastrophe. For example, suppose your building burns down, causing structural damage and damage all of the equipment within.

What is covered by insurance? 

  • Replacement and/or replacement of company assets covered by the policy.

4. Insurance for Equipment Failure


Your equipment is critical to the success of your artisan winery or bar. The expense of repairing or replacing damaged equipment might be covered by equipment breakdown insurance.

What are you willing to risk? 

  • An equipment failure forces you to halt production and is exceedingly expensive to fix. For example, an employee mistake causes a pressurized tank to surpass its psi level, causing it to fail. The repair will cost money in terms of components and labor and travel charges for the supplier to do the work.

What is covered by insurance? 

  • The cost of repairing or replacing damaged equipment includes time and labor, lost revenue, destroyed inventory, and other required expenditures spent during the replacement/repair period.



what insurance is needed by bars and wineries
what insurance is needed by bars and wineries

5. Insurance for Commercial Vehicles


Most states mandate you to get commercial auto insurance if the company owns or even rents a vehicle. Commercial car insurance is required if your business has a delivery van or other work vehicle.


What are you willing to risk? 


  • Injuries or property damage caused by a commercial vehicle to drivers, property owners, or other third parties. For example, you’re traveling to a tasting when the truck and another car are both damaged in a collision

What is covered by insurance? 

  • Liability for auto accidents, medical costs, property damage and collisions, and incidents involving uninsured drivers

6. Insurance for Workers’ Compensation


Most states require firms to have workers’ compensation insurance if they have any workers. Workers’ compensation insurance must be in place as soon as the company hires the first employee to cover medical bills and missed income caused by job accidents.

What are you willing to risk? 

  • Employees who have been injured, sickened, or even died due to their work. For example, one of your workers burns himself on a heating pipe, resulting in hospital bills and missed pay.

What is covered by insurance? 

  • Medical expenses, lost income, and even death benefits.



what insurance is needed by bars and wineries
what insurance is needed by bars and wineries

7. Liability Insurance for Employment Practices


Employment practices insurance may protect a small company if a worker sues your business over work-related difficulties if you have employees.


What are you willing to risk? 


  • Claims of civil rights or fair work-environment breaches by the present, former, or future workers, such as discrimination, harassment, wrongful demotion or termination, and a breach of the contract. For example, an employee argues that management discriminated against them and files a lawsuit.

What is covered by insurance? 

  • Fees for attorneys, court expenses, settlements, and verdicts. 


Final Words


Now that you know what insurance is needed by bars and wineries, you can take some steps to protect your new business! Make sure to consult with an insurance expert to get the best possible insurance plan.

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Whether you are the owner of a bars and wineries, you will need business insurance policies to protect your business and all those associated with it. We hope that with the four business insurance coverages that we have mentioned above, you will be able to find specialized insurance coverages that have been customized for the needs of your bars and wineries. It is always better to be proactive instead of reactive.



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