Wine Shop Business Insurance
Getting wine shop business insurance is essential.
Wine shops need to be protected from a plethora of different risks that could occur.
These include vendor and customer-related payment disputes, land law-related claims with a commercial landlord, and EPA violations (e.g., too much arsenic in wine, etc.).
We’ll help you find the most personalized and affordable coverage for your unique business.
Recommended: Next Insurance is dedicated to matching small businesses with the right policy at the best price.
Best Insurance for a Wine Shop Business
General liability insurance is — generally speaking — the most/one of the most important insurance policies for wine shops.
Some of the risks general liability insurance covers are:
- Bodily injury
- Property damage
- Medical payments
- Legal defense and judgment
- Personal and advertising injury
Having said that, your wine shop may benefit from additional coverage policies depending on its unique risks. Other policies that you may want to consider include:
- Liquor liability: Getting this policy can be a legal requirement when owning and operating a wine shop and protects you from liability that arises as a result of personal injury or property damage claims that a customer causes after they have been served alcohol.
- Workers’ compensation: This can protect you from having to cover your workers’ medical bills — as well as from loss of income indemnity claims — in cases where an employee gets injured during work.
- Commercial umbrella: This extends your coverage beyond what’s covered by your general liability policy, and so may be a good idea depending on the size of your business and its asset portfolio.
You can purchase business insurance coverage for your wine shop through traditional brick-and-mortar insurers or from online insurers.
The first option includes insurers that have been operating for several decades and who have sustained top-tier ratings in financial strength from most major rating agencies (e.g., Hiscox, CNA, etc.).
The second option (e.g., Tivly, Next, etc.) includes insurers that operate exclusively online via AI and automatically-generated quotes.This is generally more affordable due to the lower overhead involved, and can go a long way in helping you stay as price-efficient as possible when starting out.
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Cost of General Liability Insurance
The average wine shop in America spends between $500-$1,200 per year for $1 million in general liability coverage.
Compare the average cost of general liability insurance for a wine shop business to other professional industries using the graph below.
Several factors will determine the price of your policy. These include your:
- Location
- Deductible
- Number of employees
- Per-occurrence limit
- General aggregate limit
You may be able to acquire general liability insurance at a discounted rate by purchasing it as part of a business owner’s policy (BOP) rather than as a standalone policy.
A BOP is a more comprehensive solution that includes multiple forms of coverage, such as business interruption and property insurance.
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Common Situations That General Liability Insurance May Cover for a Wine Shop Business
Example 1: If you host special events at your wine shop, like corporate events, weddings, and large social gatherings, the clients may request proof of general liability insurance (GLI) before they schedule the event and sign any documents. This is because they want to know that if an injury or accident happens on the property, the insurance company will pay the costs related to the accident or incident, including court costs, settlements, and/or attorney fees.
Example 2: If you rent your retail space and surrounding property from a landlord, they may require proof of GLI before accepting you as a tenant and allowing you to sign the lease. The primary reason for this is because you are financially responsible for any injuries that happen to customers while they are inside your leased space and any damage that may happen to their property due to negligence on the part of you or your employees.
Example 3: Due to negligence or an accident, a wine bottle could fall off a shelf or get dropped by one of your employees. If a customer slips and falls due to the spill and becomes injured, your general liability insurance covers the resulting claim and/or any fees associated with a lawsuit.
Other Types of Coverage Wine Shop Businesses Need
While general liability is the most important type of insurance to have, there are several other forms of coverage you should be aware of. Below are some of the most common types of coverage:
Commercial Property Insurance
Commercial property insurance covers damage to your building and the contents inside the building and on the property that your wine shop owns. Common covered damage types often include fire, theft, vandalism, and some weather events.
Commercial Liability Umbrella Insurance
Sometimes your commercial insurance policies won’t cover the entire cost of the claim submitted by the injured customer or the property damage they incurred. If this happens, you’ll need commercial liability umbrella insurance, which pays for claim overages. Without it, you could be responsible for all the incurred costs over your policy’s payout limitations.
Liquor Liability Insurance
Liquor liability insurance protects you in the event that a customer gets drunk on your property from the wine you serve and gets into a car accident on the way home or injures another person while drunk.
Workers’ Compensation Insurance
Workers compensation pays for employee injuries that occur while they are on the clock or performing professional duties.
Commercial Auto Insurance
If your wine shop uses vehicles, like cars and vans, for business purposes, you will need commercial auto insurance in order to protect you against financial loss if your vehicle is in a car accident.
Additional Steps To Protect Your Business
Although it’s easy (and essential) to invest in business insurance, it shouldn’t be your only defense.
Here are several things you can do to better protect your wine shop business:
- Use legally robust contracts and other business documents. (We offer free templates for some of the most common legal forms.)
- Set up an LLC or corporation to protect your personal assets. (Visit our step-by-step guides to learn how to form an LLC or corporation in your state.)
- Stay up to date with business licensing.
- Maintain your corporate veil.
Wine Shop Business Insurance FAQ
Yes, absolutely. You will need to first get a quote from an online business insurance provider like Next Insurance. Next allows you to then purchase a policy immediately and your coverage will be active within 48 hours.
A typical business owner’s policy includes general liability, business interruption, and commercial property insurance. However, BOPs are often customizable, so your agent may recommend adding professional liability, commercial auto, or other types of coverage to your package depending on your company’s needs.
"Business insurance" is a generic term used to describe many different types of coverage a business may need. General liability insurance, on the other hand, is a specific type of coverage that business owners need to protect their assets.
Yes. This will likely be a legal requirement depending on your state and employee structure (e.g., liquor liability insurance, workers’ compensation coverage, etc.).
Getting wine shop business insurance before you get started can also be important when it comes to protecting your business’s assets against potential personal injury and property damage claims.
Not necessarily. Certain exceptions may be written directly into your wine shop business insurance policy, and some perils may be entirely uninsurable.
Yes, an LLC is meant to create a legal barrier between your business and your personal assets and credit. If you haven’t formed an LLC yet, use our Form an LLC guide to get started.
An LLC doesn’t protect your business assets from lawsuits and liability– that’s where business insurance comes in. Business insurance helps protect your business from liability and risk.