Insurance quote - seems very high!

[farmerbrewers]

We're in the initial stages of setting up a brewery in a building on our farm. No beer being served here, wholesale only (although perhaps we'll do some bottling for sale at local events). Anyway... got a quote from our insurance company. Here is what it's based off of:
-liability coverage for $30,000 in sales (we figure this for 1st year)
-covering equipment & on-site product valued at less than $10,000
-this is NOT covering the building itself

We received a quote for the liability & equipment/produce coverage for over $1,500 per year!

Does this seem high to anyone else, considering this is simply for $30,000 wholesale sales and very low equipment/produce coverage (equipment used will be dairy tanks bought cheaply).

Need some recommendations for insurance. Or maybe this is about right? Seems insanely high...

[millerag]

Your quote is inline with what we got from our agent.

[South County]

We go through Erie at $1300 a year, originally we were are $2600 with another company and I hear Whalen insurance is far higher than that. So your in the right range, most of it should be liability and hard goods.

[yap]

I'm at close to $2,000 with building coverage for similar size/setup. Whalen's first question to me was "have you ever owned a brewery before?" when I answered no, the next (and last) thing I heard was "click".

Just hope you don't need to put a delivery vehicle on your insurance. My agent tells me that when I'm ready to do that, the rates will just about double.

If there are any other breweries anywhere near you, see if you can get a recommendation from them. Using a company that has worked with a brewery before saves a lot of time and silly questions and probably will get you a better rate than someone who doesn't know anything about specific brewery insurance issues.

[v2comp]

We're in the initial stages of setting up a brewery in a building on our farm. No beer being served here, wholesale only (although perhaps we'll do some bottling for sale at local events). Anyway... got a quote from our insurance company. Here is what it's based off of:
-liability coverage for $30,000 in sales (we figure this for 1st year)
-covering equipment & on-site product valued at less than $10,000
-this is NOT covering the building itself

We received a quote for the liability & equipment/produce coverage for over $1,500 per year!

Does this seem high to anyone else, considering this is simply for $30,000 wholesale sales and very low equipment/produce coverage (equipment used will be dairy tanks bought cheaply).

Need some recommendations for insurance. Or maybe this is about right? Seems insanely high...

that seems about right, but do your homework, rates vary widely depending on the company.

[einhorn]

What state are you located in?

Is this rate including liquor liability? Typically it's $1 Million with $2 Million aggregate.

Also, I think that you will find your rate go down if you have no claims in the first year.

[AggieBrewer]

I'm at close to $2,000 with building coverage for similar size/setup. Whalen's first question to me was "have you ever owned a brewery before?" when I answered no, the next (and last) thing I heard was "click".

Same experience here. Took them 4 days to get back to me and they said "you must have at least 3 years prior experience in the industry. If this is not the case, we will close our file." Keeping my business with a great local broker and recommend you do the same.

Cheers & Gig 'em

[woohokie]

Same question here, new 7bbl startup with draft only sales covering the building and all else.
Quoted $4200/yr + workers comp (unknown yet) from Erie Ins. Given that we have zero industry experience is this decent or should we shop around?

[mashpaddled]

Shop around no matter what. Contact insurers directly and contact several insurance brokers. Somebody may be desperate for a sale and give you a discounted rate, especially if they know you are shopping it around. There are always discounts and ways of structuring the policy that agents/brokers/insurers can do but usually won't put in the work to find you until you threaten to leave or tell them they have to compete for your business. Might as well try to get them up front.