For those in the wine industry, I don't need to tell you about the huge increase in the cost of insurance to protect your winery. Whether it is Property Insurance or Inventory insurance costs have been going straight up for 5 years.
One of my clients had experienced insurance increases of approximately 500% over 5 years(yes you read that right). This was the result of wildfires in Northern California and reinsurers pulling out of the market during this period. My client could not absorb these costs anymore without passing them off to their consumer. The client didn't believe the consumer should absorb this cost so Bench Strength went to work with their insurance broker.
We strategized with both the insurance broker and the client. We discussed how the insurance companies were rating businesses and how re-insurers(other insurance companies who take part of the risk from the initial insurance company) were reacting to the marketplace. We approached the insurance and reinsurance companies and presented a plan with the broker to show how the winery was mitigating risk at their property and with their inventory.
This plan included hardening of the winery facility, limiting inventory values at any one location, and the hiring of a 3rd party company to assist in hardening the winery and also acting as a private first response fire prevention service to minimize risks. The insurers saw how this winery was taking lots of initiative in its risk mitigation and the company saved significantly in its current year insurance costs. These hardening and risk mitigation efforts are going to be paying dividends for years to come. Ask me how I can help your winery achieve the same results...
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