Question about insuring wine

I was looking at Bill Spohn's post regarding "how big is yours?" which segued for a bit into how much is it worth. It made me think that I do not have my wine on a specific rider for insurance and the amount is significant - to me anyway and probably to most normal people. Do I have any coverage for the wine under my general policy? Also - is it unusually expensive to add as a rider? How would it compare to general homeowners insurance?


Thanks

I would check with your insurance company. I am quite sure it varies widely. I insure artwork regularly and it is all over the map in terms of cost and coverage from one insurer to another.

Anecdote: A friend recently lost his cellar to a fire. Only smoke and water damage in that room. But no way to know what the temps reached in there either. Even though he had receipts and documentation stored off site, the insurance company pretty much set a price for each bottle that they compensated him, in many cases much more than he had paid for said bottles. Then, and I loved this, they sold it all back to him as "salvage" at $1.00 a bottle. He figured, what the hell, might as well buy it back and see how they fared. So far, he's opened 3 bottles. They were all fine!

Seems to me he got lucky all the way around. YMMV!!

John,
Cynthia gave good advise when she suggested you check with you insurance company. Also, it is a good idea to maintain a current inventory.
However, in most cases/states your wine would be covered to the extent that all your other personal property (contents) is covered. You should have your personal property insured for "replacment Cost" as opposed to Actual Cash Value where the company would use depreciation in settling your loss. Thus, fire, theft, water, wind, collapse and other perils not excluded (assuming you have "all risk" on a Ho-3 or 5 or equivalent) are most likely covered. Please note that flood is probably excluded and earthquake probably would require a special coverage endorsement for your home. All would be subject to a deductible. If you have an active cooling system, this is an area you will want to be sure to query your agent/company about as it may be covered under "refridgerated products" coverage/endorsement subject to an special limit...or your basic homeowner policy would not provide any coverage for power outages or mechanical breakdown.
Most important, since your wine is covered as personal property under your homeowners, make sure your have enough coverage for not only your wine, but all your other stuff like furniture, tv, clothing etc. You'd be amazed how many people have enough coverage on their home but don't have close to enough coverage/limit on their contents in the event of a total loss.
If you want need broader coverage/peace of mind that eliminates/reduces many of the exclusions mentioned above, then consider a persoanl inland marine policy that specificly coveres your wine and other valuables such as jewelry. I don't have any current information on rates, but 1 or 2% of the insured value should get you in the ballpark.

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed insurance professional and the above should not be considered a substitute for competent professional advice.

You have to check with your insurance company. Some companies cover wine in the basic homeowners policy and some don't. Farmers is one that I know does from having them previously. Now that I have switched I also need to check. Most companies that do not already cover wine will cover it under a rider.

However, some of the serious collectors are known to get policies specifically to cover the contents of their celler. I seem to recall that there are 3 main companies used but the only name I can recall right now is Chubb. For those you must have an up to date inventory list but I have been told that Cellertracker is accepted by some of the companies.