Insurance for Kelowna Wineries and Vineyards
You need to protect the fruits of your labour. Kelowna wineries and vineyards can face constant risks, such as contaminated wine, a customer getting injured, or severe weather. Does your winery have enough business insurance?
To protect your winery or vineyard, it’s smart to customize your business insurance against potential lawsuits and claims of negligence.
A Western Financial Group business insurance broker will get you commercial coverage that uniquely protects your vintner business.
Western is a trusted, national insurance brokerage that has partnered with Canada’s top insurance companies to provide commercial insurance. We work with our insurance partners to find the best coverage for your needs.
We make the process easy by getting insurance quotes for you and giving you policy coverage options that you can choose to protect the specific needs of your Kelowna winery or vineyard. We’ll make sure that your winery insurance coverage is at the right value for you.
Why specialized insurance is needed for Kelowna wineries
Winery insurance provides coverage against allegations of negligence and defective products, claims of financial loss through errors and omissions, or third-party bodily injury or third-party property damage (client, supplier, member of the public).
Given the level of risk that can be involved, the Okanagan Valley’s Kelowna vintners require a specialized insurance plan tailored to their risks and needs.
Kelowna’s wineries and vineyards
Kelowna has over 40 wineries. The city is the birthplace of winemaking in British Columbia and is known for its quality wines that win national and international awards. Did you know? The Okanagan Valley is home to 86% of British Columbia’s vineyard acreage and is its premier grape growing region.
Who needs vineyard insurance?
- Vineyard owners
- Winery owners
- Winery owners who host public tastings
- Virtual winery owners (Sell and market wine without owning vineyards or a physical winemaking facility)
How winery insurance can protect you
For example, a customer said the half-dozen bottles of wine purchased at your Kelowna winery’s giftshop were contaminated and made the guests at their dinner party ill, including her. The customer has sued you.
Product liability insurance can help pay for medical expenses and for legal support.
Business liability insurance is essential for your Kelowna winery in the Okanagan Valley. Here are the liability coverages that you need to protect it from lawsuits.
Professional liability insurance
Professional liability insurance helps protect Kelowna wineries and vineyards against claims of negligence or failure to deliver services as promised. It’s also called errors and omissions insurance.
Note: It’s important to understand the specifics of your professional liability coverage to ensure adequate protection as a Kelowna winery.
How much product liability insurance does your winery need? You should purchase as much coverage as you can afford. You will need to consider the size of your winery, number of employees, and your level of risk exposure. Do you host public tastings?
Product liability insurance
Product liability insurance is recommended for anyone who sells, manufactures, or distributes a product.
What product liability insurance covers:
- Design defects: There’s something wrong with the product’s design.
- Manufacturing defects: Something went wrong during the wine-making process.
- Marketing missteps: A mistake in marketing materials, such as improper labels.
- Insufficient warnings: The product doesn’t include sufficient warning/information about potential harm.
Product liability protects your business if a product harms a customer, even if you’re not at fault or it wasn’t your intention.
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance
Commercial general liability (CGL) insurance helps protect your Kelowna vineyard business if you’re found legally liable for bodily injuries or property damage to an attendee at an event or supplier at your catering business.
CGL can help pay legal and medical costs at a public tasting if an attendee slips on some spilled water on the floor and is injured.
Without commercial liability insurance, you would be responsible for paying any liability costs out of your own pocket.
Your CGL policy also can help protect you from libel, slander, copyright infringement, and false advertising allegations.
The size of your winery, number of employees, locations, revenue, and claims history will be factors in how much CGL insurance you need.
Cyber liability insurance
You keep sensitive financial information and data belonging to your clients and to your Kelowna winery. It could be hacked by cyberthieves. Cyber liability insurance will help protect you financially should there be a cyber-attack.
Depending on the size of the data breach and the information that was taken, the customers who are affected can hold you liable and sue you for damages. Cyber liability insurance helps cover the costs for this.
Directors and Officers liability insurance
Does your Kelowna winery have a board of directors? Directors and officers insurance provides financial coverage for legal expenses to help defend a board member or officer against negligence claims. It typically covers misleading statements, reporting issues, and inaccurate disclosure.
This type of insurance also covers:
- Negligent acts and allegations of misrepresentation
- Breach of legal or fiduciary duties
- Decisions that result in adverse financial consequences for shareholders
- Wrongful dismissal and employee discrimination claims
- Failure to adhere to federal and provincial laws and regulations
What other insurance do Kelowna vintners need?
Product recall insurance
Product recall insurance protects wineries and vineyards from financial losses that can result from a product recall. It helps cover the costs associated with removing a product from the market, including customer notification, shipping costs, disposal costs, replacement costs and loss of revenue costs.
Event liability insurance
If your Kelowna winery’s services include organizing social events and tastings at your location or at rented venues, event liability insurance is recommended to cover third-party bodily injury or third-party property damage claims that may arise at an event.
Liquor liability insurance
Adding liquor liability insurance to your policy offers protection from potential lawsuits. It will help cover third-party bodily injury and property damage claims caused by an intoxicated attendee at a wine tasting, for example. This type of insurance will also cover legal fees if a case goes to court.
Commercial property insurance
Commercial property insurance provides financial support to replace or cover repairs to your Kelowna winery if it’s damaged by a flood, fire, or severe weather. It also covers vandalism and theft.
Commercial property insurance also covers contents such as computers, furniture, tools, equipment, and inventory. Commercial property coverage also extends to protect others’ property that is under your care.
Crop and Crop inputs insurance
Crop insurance typically protects against losses to crops caused by natural perils, such as drought, hail, and frost.
Crop inputs insurance covers such things as spray drift and misapplication and helps cover you in the event losses occur from chemical application errors, such as windy days or with dirty tanks.
Business interruption insurance
This type of insurance supports you when your Kelowna vineyard can’t operate due to a covered loss.
There are a number of losses that can force your business to shut down. Some examples are:
- Damage to your equipment from fire or vandalism
- A major reduction in revenue due to a client/supplier facing losses of their own
- A disruption in your supply chain
Business interruption insurance can help with these expenses:
- Payroll
- Rent
- Utilities
- Property taxes
- Alarm monitoring
- Relocation of your business
Commercial auto insurance
If you are using your car for your job in Kelowna’s winery business, it won’t be covered by your personal car insurance policy. You will need commercial coverage as part of your fashion insurance package. If you have 5 vehicles or more for your winery, you will need fleet insurance.
How much does Kelowna winery insurance cost?
There isn’t a set price to protect a Kelowna winery with business insurance. The following factors are usually considered when determining the cost of your insurance:
- Location(s)
- Services provided
- Number of employees
- Years of experience
- Annual revenue
- Past claims
What do I do if I have a claim against my Kelowna winery?
- Contact your broker immediately after any business-related mishap. Waiting to file a claim can confuse insurers about the severity of the damages to your business.
- Know your policy so that when you contact your broker you are familiar with what will be covered or not.
- Document the damage. Take photos right away and write down what happened.
- Do not throw away damaged goods after taking photos. Keep the physical evidence so that your adjustor can see it.
- Do not invite lawsuits. Don’t say anything that could be used against you, especially if you aren’t sure what happened.
- Be honest about what your damaged property is worth. Damaged commercial property is generally valued according to its actual cash value or replacement value.
Here’s an insurance checklist:
- Do you have the best business insurance rate that suits your work?
- Do you have the right amount for your deductible and regularly review it to make sure it’s the right amount for you?
- Are you or your employees using personal vehicles for work?
Western Financial Group has licensed BUSINESS INSURANCE EXPERTS to get you the right Kelowna winery insurance. Our experts are available now to help you navigate the commercial insurance journey to protect your Kelowna business.
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