How well does your brewery insurance protect you? Owning a brewery can be a labor of love. However, there are serious liability issues that you face by operating a brewery. Liability issues can arise during the brewing stage, the taste testing stage, or all the way to the distribution stage.

Fermentation Process

The fermentation process happens to be one of the more dangerous stages where you must make sure you are covered by insurance. In addition to being covered by insurance, you must also ensure that you are practicing safe fermentation practices. Otherwise, you may forfeit your insurance coverage. Why is the fermentation stage so volatile? During fermentation, there is a second fermentation stage, where beer is moved from one vessel to another vessel to continue the process. These vessels must have enough ventilation room to allow gases formed during the fermentation process to escape. If you bottle the beer before the fermentation is complete, the bottle or vessels can explode.

Tasting Rooms

What coverage and safety practices do you implement in your tasting rooms? You must be aware of your responsibilities when serving customers your beer. If you overserve a customer and he or she drives home, what is your liability to them being pulled over or having an accident? It is necessary to protect yourself by having alcohol awareness training and frequent safety meetings to ensure that you are practicing proper alcohol serving.   

Power Outages

Power outages and their unfortunate results are the next brewery insurance aspect that needs to be evaluated. Does your brewery insurance protect you during a power outage? During fermentation, it is necessary to keep your products at a certain temperature. If you have a power outage, you can lose an entire batch of your beer without a backup generator. Even though you may be covered, it is better to purchase a generator to protect your merchandise.

Workman’s Compensation

Another brewery insurance aspect is whether you are covered by workman’s compensation claims. Brewing beer is a physical job. As a result, it is not uncommon for your employees to get hurt during the process. It is important to have a thorough training process implemented to educate your employees about back injuries from improper lifting. Furthermore, you should educate your employees how to avoid hitting shins or knees on keg barrels and pinching fingers between keg barrels. Additionally, those employees, who are responsible for cooking the batches of beer, must be taught safe practices to avoid burns. If you are properly educating your staff, then you should have workman’s compensation benefits to protect your employees in case of injury.

In Conclusion

When operating a brewery, it is necessary to consider all types of incidents that could occur to hurt employees or customers. Your brewery insurance must cover these incidents. You are also responsible to do your part to prevent these situations from occurring. Otherwise, your brewery insurance may not cover your claims. If you need expert advice to help you navigate the intricate details of brewery insurance, contact us today. Call us at 805-768-5142.

Whether your winery has been passed down for generations or is a new passion project, you must have adequate coverage to safeguard your assets. A winery is a complicated business venture. Without a thorough knowledge of your insurance needs, you will find yourself not covered in a case where you thought you had insurance coverage. One of the most critical aspects of your winery operation is the growth of your grapes. If you don’t have winery insurance coverage to protect your grape harvest, you won’t have your most important asset covered from potential loss.

Importance of Your Grape Crop

While there are numerous steps to wine production, the grapes that go into your wine are what provide your signature taste. You can't go to the store and purchase a flat of grapes to make up for a lost crop. More importantly, without a viable grape crop, you can’t produce wine. As a result, the protection of your grapes through their harvest should be your number one priority.

Potential Damage to Your Grape Crop

What types of grape issues can occur when growing your crop? There are several different events that can cause your grape crop to be destroyed before harvest. Some of the various events include natural disasters such as floods, fires, droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Other events that can cause your crop to be less than optimal include vine or grape infestations. However, many types of insurance policies do not include earthquake coverage, so you will likely need to purchase an additional kind of insurance coverage if you are in an earthquake zone.

Types of Insurance to Protect Your Grape Crop

You will need to purchase crop insurance to have your grapes covered. When you purchase grape insurance, you will be covered through the harvest of your grapes. However, when your grapes have been harvested, you will need different types of insurance to cover the production, storage, and transportation of your wine products.

In Conclusion

Owning a winery is a complicated endeavor. You will need numerous types of insurance coverage for a successful operation. To ensure the protection of your grapes, you must have crop insurance. Without crop insurance, your grape crop is subject to the devastation of a natural disaster or infestation. Also, you will need insurance coverage to protect your wine during production, storage, and transportation. If you need expert advice to guide you through the process of selecting winery insurance, contact us at Harmony Insurance.

If you are an owner of a winery, you cannot get by with a regular insurance policy. Even a brewery insurance policy would leave you exposed to financial loss. While there are some similarities between winery insurance and brewery insurance, there are also some differences that separate the two distinctively. What are the specific insurance requirements for a winery?

Crop Insurance

Rarely will a brewery harvest its own hops and barley. However, a winery operator will grow his own grapes on his own land. The taste and color of your grapes will be the signature for your wine. You can't go to the store and buy a pallet of grapes and get the same fragrance and flavor of the wine. As a result, your entire process of developing wine requires an abundant growth of grapes. That said, the well-being of your crops is necessary to maintaining your business. What happens when an early frost destroys your crop? Or a fire burns down your vines before the harvest? Your entire years’ worth of wine production is lost. As a winery operator, you must have wine insurance for your crops.

Guests

Many wineries encourage guests to come to the site to take tours, participate in wine tastings, and sell bottles or crates of wine on location. To properly insure yourself against accidents caused by guests or injuries incurred by guests, you need additional liability insurance. Not to mention, you may want to hold special events to celebrate your wine and thank loyal customers. These events can include caterers, musicians, and rental companies. Your winery insurance must also cover these types of special events.

Leaks and Contamination

While both a brewery and a winery must worry about leaks and contamination of their product, the process to brew beer takes a fraction of the time that wine takes to reach perfection. As a result, brewery insurance would not cover a product that takes months longer to prepare and years longer to age.

Property

A brewery can pop up anywhere. One can be located inside an urban core or show up in a barn out in the back 40 acres. However, a winery will be located on a large area of land, and the owners will likely reside on the same land as the winery. Therefore, the amount of winery coverage must account for the residence and land of the winery operator.

As a winery operator, you need special insurance to cover all your products and services. If you need expert advice to guide you through the process of selecting winery insurance, contact us at Harmony Insurance. We are an experienced insurance company. Contact us today.

Contractors insurance is something every contractor needs to look into. When working in the contractor business, you need to make sure you are protected no matter what happens. Some people are unsure how being insured will really help them. In this article, you will learn the top three reasons to get contractors insurance.

To Protect You Against Accidents

Working on a construction site can be extremely dangerous. This is true for employees or even a client who wants to see the job site. An accident could range from faulty equipment to someone dropping or tripping over materials. Anyone who is not wearing the right gear or who does not know what he or she is doing becomes a liability risk. When you have contractors insurance, your business will be covered in the event of an accident with an employee or client. Your contractor's insurance policy will take care of the medical bills associated with an accident.

To Cover Faulty Equipment

Unfortunately, equipment and machinery can break down or have issues on job sites often. Your equipment is just as important as your employees because, without it, everything will take longer and be a lot more difficult. On top of that, it can cost a fortune to repair or replace your equipment of machinery. That is why having contractor’s insurance is so important. It will cover any costs that occur due to equipment or machinery breaking down. To discover exactly how much will be covered, make sure to speak with your insurance provider. The provider will be able to help you decide on the perfect plan for your business.

To Be Protected in the Event of a Lawsuit

Hopefully, this situation will not happen to you, but if it does you need to be prepared. Depending on the client and their expectations or any accidents that may occur, your company could be sued. This is something you need to be aware of and tread carefully when working in someone’s home or business. Lawsuits are expensive seeing as you have to pay court costs, a lawyer, and if you lose, then you must pay for the damages. But with contractor’s insurance, you will be safe. It will cover any fees that you have to pay such as lawyers or damages.

Now you know the top three reasons to get contractors insurance. Remember that it will protect you against accidents. Also, remember that it will cover faulty equipment or machinery. And finally, remember you will be covered in the event of a lawsuit. Your job is hard enough; don’t make it harder. Make sure to get contractors insurance today.

You may never know how important insurance is until you really need it. How do you make sure your business is adequately covered by commercial auto insurance?

WHAT TYPE OF INSURANCE DO YOU NEED?

Before requesting a commercial car insurance quote, determine what type of coverage best suits your business. Basic minimum coverage usually includes only liability and personal injury coverage. Having only minimum coverage will not be sufficient for all situations. Analyze your company’s business operations before deciding which of the following additional coverages would ensure that you are fully covered for any type of event.

Check with the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain information about the legal minimum commercial insurance coverage required in your state. Some states require both liability and uninsured motorist coverage, but you should check to make sure what they cover.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGES

• Comprehensive Coverage: protection from non-collision damage
• Collision Coverage: protection involving collisions
• Un- or under-insured Motorists: protection for situations where the responsible party is uninsured or does not have adequate coverage
• Hired Auto Coverage: protection for the use of personal vehicles in the operation of your business
• Miscellaneous Additional Coverages: rental cars, roadside coverage, and other expenses

REQUESTING YOUR COMMERCIAL AUTO INSURANCE QUOTE

Your preliminary work is finished. You have a basic idea of the level of commercial auto insurance you need and are ready to discover the cost of protecting your vehicle fleet from damages or liability. It’s time to request your free insurance quote via phone or internet.

Be prepared to answer the following questions when submitting your quote request:

• What is your basic company information (name of the business, email address, telephone number, etc.)?
• How many vehicles do you have in your fleet?
• What type of vehicles does your business have in service?
• What will each vehicle be used for while conducting company business?
• What is the average yearly number of miles each vehicle will be driven?
• Besides your basic coverage, what additional coverages are you interested in to protect your fleet and your company’s liability?

After receiving your initial quote and deciding to proceed with the issuing of commercial car insurance, have an inventory of your fleet readily available, including the make, model, year, and VIN number of each vehicle. You will need this information in order to finalize your policies. Once your policies are activated, you can confidently conduct business knowing that you have all contingencies covered.

 Your business means a lot to you, and having the right commercial insurance is essential for your business. Have you ever thought about what you need to consider when shopping for commercial insurance? The primary goal to keep in mind when you choose commercial insurance for your vehicle is to balance the right amount of coverage with an appropriate cost. Thankfully, at Harmony Insurance, we came up with the top items to consider when you choose your insurance coverage.

How Much Coverage Is Right for You

First, your state requirements are possibly the most crucial piece of information to consider regarding your insurance coverage. Once you know what is required by law, you can begin thinking about what you need. This is where you weigh the level of risk you are comfortable with and choose a coverage option. If you have a lot of assets, it’s essential to get enough coverage to cover those assets.

At Harmony Insurance, we like to assess what type of driver you are. If you have a history of speeding, accidents, or drive on dangerous roads in your daily commute, you will want to get a free quote for complete coverage.

Review Your Current Coverage

If you are a first-time insurance buyer, this will not pertain to you. If you are getting a new truck or livery vehicle or wish to change your coverage, read through your current policy. Take note of the type of coverage you have and how much you pay for it.  As a result, it gives you a place to start and a number to beat.

Gather Important Company Information

Price and coverage comparisons should compare apples to apples. Free quotes will offer two options for payment. You can either pay monthly or annually. Our Harmony Insurance clients are always encouraged to keep our phone number somewhere with easy access. Holding onto this information helps you with questions or in the event of an emergency.

Cost shouldn’t be the only factor you consider. Have you picked a company that is reliable and financially sound? Does your insurance company treat clients well? Will the company you choose treat you right when you submit a claim? Sometimes the peace of mind that comes when you select an established and reliable company is worth the extra money.

Review Your Policy

Once you have made your decision, review the main points of your coverage. Be sure everything you requested in your free quote was transcribed into your actual coverage. Make sure to place a copy of your insurance card in your vehicle.

Shopping for commercial insurance takes time to ensure you make the right choice. The right commercial insurance policy is a balance between the coverage you need and the appropriate price for that coverage. Talk to a Harmony Insurance representative about what options work for you and your business.

**Image by Rhys Moult via Unsplash

Business is difficult enough without having to stress about your insurance coverage. Owning a craft brewery or distillery means having interesting challenges along the way. The beer business is booming in America. After decades with just a few options of beer companies such as Budweiser, independent breweries becoming increasingly more popular. Today, the U.S. is home to more than 2,300 breweries and brewpubs. It's not the same as running a regular business. You must worry about machinery working properly, employee safety, guest safety, food preparation, discovering a bad batch of beer and so on. You need a business that understands your needs for insurance coverage to help you along the way. In this article, you will find out what you didn’t know about brewery insurance.

Operations Insured

Harmony Insurance offers insurance coverage for many different types of breweries. It doesn’t matter if you are a well-established business, or just starting out. Harmony Insurance works with microbreweries, regional craft breweries, craft distilleries, craft hard cideries, and much more.  No matter what type of business you have, there is insurance coverage for you.

What Does It Cover

What’s so special about brewery insurance from Harmony Insurance? Harmony Insurance offers brewery specific coverage considerations for your business. Things such as tanks and barrels are protected under your insurance coverage. You also are provided with specialized beer loss evaluations, liquor liability, product withdrawal expenses, and even equipment breakdown. What is great about having these things is knowing you are protected. You need to know how valuable liquor liability is. Beer manufacturers that do not serve beer should know that they are not necessarily insulated from liquor liability claims. They can be named in lawsuits if someone becomes intoxicated by consuming their product obtained at a bar or liquor store. This is especially the case for beers with higher alcohol content which is the case with many of these stronger IPAs. Participation in beer festivals and charitable events can also expose your company to claims. Things like this from your insurance coverage will keep you and your business safe.

Now that we’ve covered what you didn’t know about brewery insurance, you can make the best decision for your business. Get amazing insurance coverage with Harmony Insurance. Here at Harmony Insurance, we take pride in making sure that our customers are satisfied with the service we provide and can handle everything thrown at us. To contact us here at Harmony Insurance, give us a call at 805-768-5142.

**Photo by Adam Wilson via Unsplash

Harmony Insurance offers many different types of insurance, and one of them happens to be public auto insurance. When combing through the sea of auto insurances, you could choose the wrong company simply because you don’t know what you really need. It is a daunting task to make sure you have the right coverage to protect you and your family that doesn’t cost you a fortune. Choosing the right public auto insurance for you is important and Harmony Insurance knows what you need.

Get a Quote Quickly

When deciding on an auto insurance, you want to know what your quote will be fast. There is no reason you should have to wait a long time or call and be put on hold for 20 minutes to get something that should be almost instantaneous. Harmony Insurance offers a quick quote request option that makes everything easier to deal with. All you have to do is enter in your personal information and the type of vehicle you want to insure. Harmony Insurance sends this information to an agent who looks over your case and will get back to you as fast as possible.

Speak with an Agent

Harmony Insurance only has experienced, licensed insurance agents that will help you through this process to get exactly what you need. Speak to one of our agents about your situation, they will know if it's possible to reduce your insurance premiums. They will also know what you can do to maintain low insurance premiums.

Decide what Type of Coverage You Need

Do you have a rental car? Are you concerned about glass breakage or physical damage? Do you need more than just the standard liability claim? These are the questions you will need to go over and then speak to your agent at Harmony Insurance about. Harmony Insurance offers many different types of coverages that can be tailored to your needs, no matter what they may be.

Choosing the right public auto insurance is important for your finances, as well as you and your family's safety. You need a company that provides you with a fast quote, will lower your insurance premiums, and give you options for as many different types of coverages that you need or want. Here at Harmony Insurance, we take pride in making sure that our customers are satisfied with the service we provide and can handle everything thrown at us. To contact us here at Harmony Insurance, give us a call at 805-768-5142.

* photo byGuenther by Pixabay https://pixabay.com/en/users/guenther3011-1762309/

Owning and operating a winery is complex and demanding. Wineries face just about every business risk imaginable as they grow grapes, blend wines, and sell their products in a variety of ways. Winery owners must manage everything from growing and harvesting delicate crops to the financial and legal implications of getting their wines to market. You likely need several business insurance policies and numerous special endorsements in order to be covered by a comprehensive winery insurance program. 

Risk vs. Reward

Your winery may be a family business passed down for generations, or a new venture that you’ve been dreaming of your entire life. Wineries and vineyards are complicated businesses with vast rewards and no shortage of risks. You wear many hats in order to run your business—from farmer, to scientist, to marketer, and many more—yet so many things are simply out of your control. 

Leaving the future of your winery to chance could be devastating. You need winery insurance to protect you from the financial losses that can accompany damaged crops, spoiled wine, lawsuits, and other unforeseen events that can cost you everything. 

Even a small winery must insure every step of the winemaking process. As you grow, harvest, ferment, bottle, and sell your wines, one unexpected problem can destroy your thriving business overnight. 

These are just a few of the things that can go wrong at your winery or vineyard:

• Guests on your property or at an event slip and fall
• Guests at your winery damage or destroy grapes, finished wine, or equipment
• Grapes in transit are crushed
• Leakage, spillage, or accidental mixing destroys wine in process
• Insecticides used on grape crops drift on to neighboring properties
• Contamination and product recalls
• Winemaking equipment or agricultural equipment breakdown
• Extreme weather or natural disasters
• Wildfires, insect infestation, and plant diseases 

Wine that is in storage comes with its own set of risks, including:

• Spillage or leakage
• Fire
• Theft or vandalism
• Utility or refrigeration outages
• Supply chain or logistics problems or delays
• Transportation and trucking exposures, from poorly trained drivers to accidents and truck refrigeration breakdown 

Wineries Need Coverage For Every Area of Their Business

Every winery needs a customized package of property, liability, automobile, crime, liquor liability, and other winery insurance policies to protect them from financial loss. Talk to your independent insurance agent about the specifics of your winery operation, and your need for the following types of winery insurance or vineyard insurance. 

Property coverage for wineries: Wineries need business property coverage to protect

• Buildings and their contents, including wine-making machinery and equipment 
• Inventory and stock
• Business interruption coverage to pay for ongoing expenses after a covered property loss

You can add endorsements to your winery property insurance policy in order to add more customized coverage. Talk to your independent insurance agent about your need for the following special property coverage designed for wineries.

• Contract cancellation coverage that helps you pay for attorney fees, marketing expenses, and other related costs if you are unable to fulfill customer contracts (e.g., you cannot fill orders due to a supply shortage).
• Tank collapse coverage pays for expenses related to processing water after a tank collapse.
• Tank leakage coverage provides protection for leakage of completed or in-process wine from a tank or other container.
• Mobile equipment coverage pays for damage to agricultural equipment (irrigation and harvesting equipment, etc.).

Crop insurance for wineries: Without viable grapes, you would be unable to produce wine, so protecting your grape harvest should be your first line of defense. Wineries need crop insurance for the costs of crop damage due to weather, vine infections, insect infestations, fires, floods, and other potential hazards. Crop insurance will not protect your grapes once they have been harvested, and certain perils such as earthquakes may be excluded from your crop insurance policy. You may need to purchase additional earthquake coverage if you live in an area where it is necessary. 

Coverage for wine in storage or in transit: Once your grapes have been harvested and your wines blended, you must take steps to ensure that your valuable product is protected no matter where it is. You may need different policies for wine that is stored on your property and wine that is stored offsite. Your agent can help you determine all of the coverage that you need. 

Wine that is in transit also needs coverage for physical loss or damage. Inland marine insurance for wineries protects against direct physical loss or damage to property or stock while it is being transported.

General liability insurance for wineries: General liability insurance provides broad protection for third-party bodily injury and property damage claims. If a guest slips and falls during a vineyard tour, or your wine causes a customer to become ill, your general liability policy pays for direct costs (medical bills, etc.) as well as attorney fees, court costs, settlements, and judgments if you are sued. 

General liability insurance also provides coverage for product liability, advertising liability, slander, and libel claims against your winery. 

Equipment breakdown coverage for wineries: Wineries need equipment breakdown coverage to protect against costs associated with the sudden and accidental breakdown of machinery and equipment. It pays to repair or replace the equipment as well as any business interruption costs that accompany it.

Contamination and spoilage coverage for wineries: Wineries need special coverage for product losses due to contamination. Contamination and spoilage coverage pays for certain losses if a batch of wine is spoiled or contaminated due to a refrigeration breakdown, utility interruption, or some other type of foreign substance. 

Liquor liability coverage for wineries: Any establishment that sells, services, or furnishes alcoholic beverages needs liquor liability insurance for instances of bodily injury and property damage that result from selling or serving alcohol. 

Special Events

Operations at a winery often extend far beyond growing grapes and making wine. Many wineries or vineyards invite the general public onto their grounds for tours, tasting, and other special events. You may run a year-round tasting room, host special tasting events, and even allow others to rent space on your premises for parties, weddings, dinners, and other events. 

Inviting the general public onto your premises to consume wine and food and engage in other activities heightens the risks for your business. And many of these events require other businesses and vendors to perform services on your premises as well. An event might require a caterer, musicians, a florist, and even additional workers that may or may not be employed by you.

If you host even small events at your vineyard or winery, you need to work closely with your independent insurance agent to ensure that all of the additional exposures are addressed with tailored winery insurance policies. What’s more, your customers and any vendors that they work with also need to have appropriate insurance (and show proof of coverage) in order to proceed with an event on your property.

Other Winery Insurance to Consider

Aside from major property and liability risks, wineries and vineyards likely need several other insurance policies to protect them from financial harm and unexpected events. Talk to your Trusted Choice agent about your need for the following.

• Commercial auto insurance protects your fleet of trucks and any other vehicles owned by your winery. In addition, if employees drive personal vehicles for business use, you need hired and non-owned auto liability insurance.
• Crime coverage protects your business if an employee or a group of employees engage in theft, forgery, or fraud that damages your business.
• Workers’ compensation insurance is required for any business that has employees. It protects your workers, such as those who use operate heavy equipment or who harvest grapes in the vineyard, from the costs of work-related injuries and illnesses.
• Cyber liability insurance protects your winery if you are the victim of a cyber breach. If your computer network or website is hacked and confidential customer or vendor information is exposed, the damage to your reputation and bottom line can be insurmountable. 
• Some insurance companies offer a special policy for wineries called chemical drift insurance or pollution liability insurance. If you spray insecticides or other chemicals to protect your crops, those insecticides can drift onto neighboring properties and cause property damage or health problems for others. Chemical drift coverage can offer protection for physical injuries to people, crops, or animals as a result of chemical drift or overspray from your vineyard. 
• Product recall coverage helps pay for costs related to removing recalled, damaged, or dangerous products from the marketplace. 
• Employment practices liability coverage protects you if a current or former employee sues you for discriminatory employment practices.

How to Find Winery Insurance Tailored to Your Business

Like any business owner, winery and vineyard owners need a trusted advisor who can help them find the best insurance coverage to protect their livelihood from the many potential—and costly—problems that can arise. Whether it is dangers to the general public or your employees, or unforeseen events like fires, storms, and theft, you need the right combination of coverage that addresses whatever you might be exposed to.

At Harmony Insurance, we get to know you and your business. We work with multiple reputable companies who specialize in winery insurance.  Contact our office today to get started.

It's not a secret that insurance is an expensive, but necessary, purchase. Insurance protects the most important component in a trucking business,  the truck. Purchasing insurance can overwhelm people, especially those new to trucking.

We at Harmony Insurance Agency work with truck drivers to protect their most valuable asset. That is to say, we understand the potential headache involved with calling an insurance agency. 

It is important to understand an insurance agent is not just an annual call you make when it is time to renew your policy.  An insurance agent is a partner. Here at Harmony Insurance Agency, we communicate with some of our clients on a weekly basis. It's your insurance agent's job to provide you with certificates, customer services, and advice. If you feel an insurance agent ignores you or brushes you off, then he or she may not be the right partner for your business.

1. An insurance agent will ask several questions.
Each question is for a reason. Most of the time we are fishing for potential discounts. We want you to have the lowest premium possible. Not only that, but as a potential partner we care about you and your business.

2. Turnaround time varies.
Insurance agents are in the business of finding you the best possible quote at the lowest price. It takes time to contact insurance companies, compare quotes, and problem solve. When you hear from our office, you can expect to have a great quote. You can contact the insurance agent while they're collecting quotes to hear the prices.

3. Insurance agents don't set the price.
Rates are calculated by various state governments and insurance companies, not insurance agents. We are searching for the lowest quote possible just like you.

4. We will always recommend physical damage.
Physical damage covers your truck in the event it needs repairs.  Collision, as its name implies, covers the repairs to a truck in the event of an accident. On the other hand, comprehensive covers the repairs to a truck in the event it is damaged by something other than collision with a vehicle or object, or if it is stolen.

5. If you don't understand something--ask!
We aren't born with a basic understanding of insurance. To become an insurance agent, we have to take a very long exam covering more information than we'll ever use. We've studied insurance for you. If we mention a coverage that you don't recognize, ask what it covers and why you need it. You might be surprised what you learn.

When you're ready to get insurance quotes, consider contacting Harmony Insurance Agency.