Liquor Wholesalers Insurance – What Kind and at What Cost

Whenever you budget the expenses of your business, liquor wholesalers insurance must be included in the list because you can’t always know exactly what is going to happen in the future.

With the protection provided by liability insurance and all the other types of insurance we will tell you about, you can protect your business and yourself in case something unexpected happens.

Like any business owner, for your liquor wholesalers enterprise, you must consider how much financial danger you are taking on.

If your liquor wholesalers business runs without proper insurance, you are taking a giant chance not just of losing some money but of a final wipe-out.

This is because the laws in every state are very strict in enforcing liability on the owners of businesses for the upshots of their actions. 

In this article, we are giving very general guidelines for small businesses to outline what the main kinds of insurance that you need are, and where we can, a rough guide to how much you can expect to pay.

The question is, can you afford to NOT have insurance for your liquor wholesalers business?

What this means, for any liquor wholesalers business owner, is that if some person claims that your work caused them some physical or economic damage, a court can award damages far beyond the total size of your business.

Your liquor wholesalers business is not harbored by laws in the same way as states are, where edicts can place a “cap” on the maximum level of liability.

In some states, like Montana, there are specific monetary levels that limit the amount an adjudicator can award in any case against the state.

In a court case, it’s purely the privilege of the jury to award whatever amount they deem appropriate, even sometimes giving a claimant more than they have claimed.

When you are running your liquor wholesalers operations, you can’t deny responsibility for the results of your actions.

Even more importantly, unless you have spent up-front the money necessary to have your business running as a corporation, all of that liability belongs to you as an individual.

What does liquor wholesalers insurance protect you from?

For your liquor wholesalers business, the most important kinds of insurance are designed to cover the risks to your business from accidents, from unexpected events, and from mistakes.

As well there are some official kinds of insurance that various states require.

In the next few paragraphs, we will describe the most important points any liquor wholesalers business owner should remember when negotiating the insurance needed.

The main headings of insurance for your liquor wholesalers businesses are liability insurance, commercial insurance, asset insurance and workers compensation insurance.

Liability insurance

General liability insurance

Any liquor wholesalers business is dealing directly with members of the public, and that means you generally have the danger that some accident can happen to them themselves or else something of theirs can be damaged.

In such a case, they can sue you for compensation.

General liability insurance policy for your liquor wholesalers business covers you against claims coming from injury to clients or damage to their property.

It protects your liquor wholesalers business from the claims themselves and as well to any resulting court costs and legal fees of the lawsuits.

In many cases, it can also help you to qualify for extra business from city and state organizations, where contracts insist on proper liability insurance.

The normal level of general liability insurance for your liquor wholesalers business would be with a cap of $1 million for a single claim and a total of $2 million for the whole year.

See the table in the costing section below for average prices of general liability insurance for your liquor wholesalers insurance operations.

Professional liability insurance for your liquor wholesalers business

In the event where a customer alleges some negligence, errors, or omissions in how you conducted your liquor wholesalers business for them, you can quickly have to fight a monetary claim.

Even if the lawsuit against you is decided in your favor, the cost of defense can be high, and the impact on your reputation can be damaging.

Almost all small liquor wholesalers business should have enough professional liability insurance to cover a single claim of $25,000, with annual cover of $50,000.

See the table in the cost of liquor wholesalers insurance section below for average prices of professional liability insurance for your liquor wholesalers operations.

Product liability insurance

Whatever goods you sell or advice you give about the goods, you are running a risk that customers may claim that what they received didn’t meet your description of function, or that your advice was basically incorrect.

You need to understand the specific laws of product liability in your own state.

For example, in California, all businesses in the supply chain can be held culpable for results caused by products claimed to be defective.

To cover yourself against any likely lawsuit, you need Product liability insurance for liquor wholesalers

Only you can determine exactly how much insurance you need.

Best advice is to contact experienced insurance agents, brokers or company representatives for help.

Commercial insurance

Commercial vehicle insurance for your liquor wholesalers business

Beware! – practically all policies for private vehicle insurance do not cover any happening like theft or accidental damage when the van is being used for business purposes.

The proper way to make sure that your vehicle is insured for both its own value, and the valuable contents, is by taking out a designated commercial vehicle insurance package.

Commercial van policies insure the value of any vehicle in case of accident, malicious damage, fire, or theft.

As well, in case of any accident, the van itself, the content and any legal bills, medical expenses, and property damage is covered if your car is involved in a collision.

Most states, other than Virginia and New Hampshire, require this type of insurance.

The wanted value of the insurance is calculated on the depreciated value of the vehicle, and your intended level of cover of contents. 

Tools and Equipment insurance

Since your liquor wholesalers business needs specific and dedicated equipment, you can appreciate how much it can cost to replace it in case of any damage, loss, or theft.

The tools may be subject to malicious damage, deliberate fire, theft, other such unpredicted acts.

In addition, acts of nature like lightning strikes, hurricanes, earthquakes, and other highly damaging natural events can eliminate your whole business in one stroke.

Unless you can afford to immediately replace such specialized gear quickly out of your own pocket, you should have full-level equipment insurance so that you can immediately buy whatever needed to keep your liquor wholesalers business running.

It is impossible to advise how much equipment insurance you need – it’s basically dependent on how much you have invested in your liquor wholesalers business’ equipment.

Commercial Property insurance

Any liquor wholesalers business that owns or rents space in a building should have a commercial property insurance policy.

If you own the building, you certainly have a substantial capital investment, along with a big liability if there’s a mortgage.

Any physical building location must carry insurance coverage for the value of the premises and contents against natural occurrences like fire and storms, and against deliberate damages like theft and vandalism.

If your liquor wholesalers business deals in areas of high risk, like Texas or Georgia, additional coverage may be needed for earthquakes and hurricanes or tornadoes.

In other states like Washington, where intense cold snaps can cause damage to outer coverings of liquor wholesalers business premises, there is a need for more supplementary cover than in warmer climes.

Whereas the level of cover depends entirely on the value of the property, it’s not possible to say what cover your need, but we have been able in the table in the cost of liquor wholesalers insurance section below to give some estimate of the average prices per million dollars of property insurance for your liquor wholesalers business.

Temporary insurance by month, week or day for your liquor wholesalers business

Is your liquor wholesalers business working part-time or casually, or is the level of business fluctuating?

Using short-term insurance makes excellent sense. Business insurance by the month, day, or week – temporary insurance for liquor wholesalers – are special policies where you can cover a specific period when you want to be covered.

By only paying for that period of cover, you will save by having less premiums but still having the same risk cover.

The key feature of short-term insurance is that you buy the cover for a defined period – a designated date, or a week or month starting on a specific date, for example for 30 days beginning on the specified date.

When you are expecting periods of better business activity, get the existing cover improved.

Talk to your insurance agent, broker or the company’s representatives to see what options you have.

Business Owners Policy BOP for your liquor wholesalers business

You have the choice to combine several of the important kinds of small business insurance in one policy that is known as the business owner’s policy – BOP.

A BOP combines commercial property and public liability insurance by packaging these coverages into one insurance policy, which can save you money.

BOP insurance will shield you if any claims of injury or property damage are made.

It is often the right choice for small and medium-sized liquor wholesalers businesses, such as yours.

There are two limits that will determine whether BOP is suitable for your own business.

BOPs will not cover your professional liability or commercial vehicle policies.

Also, the size of your business will rule whether you are permitted to take out BOP cover.

The normal business that is eligible for a BOP policy must have no more than one hundred employees, and under five million dollars in annual revenue.

In addition, you must separately take out the required worker’s compensation, health and disability insurance as determined for your state.

Workers Compensation insurance for your liquor wholesalers business employees

In most states, it is mandatory to have workers compensation insurance when your liquor wholesalers business has one or more employees.

Workers compensation insurance covers the business against any costs that arise if any hired hand experiences an injury or becomes sick as a result of work.

The benefits include medical expenses, death benefits, lost wages, and vocational rehabilitation.

Failure to meet a state’s laws in this regard can leave you as the employer having to pay penalties levied by the states.

Some states, such as North Dakota, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming only permit coverage from the government-run monopoly state funds.

In these states, you may not take out your workers compensation obligations from private insurance providers.

Workers compensation premiums are calculated based on the employee’s pay, and usually come out at around $1.00 per $100 per month.

However, you must refer to the relevant authorities in your state.

Average costs of these types of insurance

Although every liquor wholesalers insurance level is unique, there are enough examples of standard quotes from insurance companies for us to give rough guidelines, including what are the cheapest rates offered.

Of course, you should always check with a broker what’s relevant for your business.

The list below is of annual premiums we have collected for the main types of insurance your liquor wholesalers businesses needs.

Cost of insurance for your liquor wholesalers operations depends on many different factors.

We have calculated these figures for small freelance liquor wholesalers businesses.

In larger states like Texas, premiums are generally about 20%-30% higher than national averages, while in smaller states like New Mexico, they can be about 20%-30% lower.

The location and size and type of your liquor wholesalers business can have a big effect on the cost of different policies.

You should discuss with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

In addition you can let the internet do the work for you by searching for insurance companies near where your business is located.

Another good source of information is the local Better Business Bureau in your city.

FAQ

What is small business insurance for liquor wholesalers operations?

This is an umbrella term used to describe basic insurance policies designed to protect liquor wholesalers business owners from risks like bodily injury, property damage, claims of negligence.

Does my liquor wholesalers business have to have insurance?

Some of the kinds of insurance are not mandatory for you to operate your business, but they can protect you from risks in your business operations.

Some other forms are required by state law, such as workers compensation and vehicle insurance.

What does a small liquor wholesalers business insurance policy cover?

Liability insurance provides insurance against lawsuits or claims filed by a third-party for bodily injury, property damage, or negligence.

The precise cover will vary based on your own operations.

See the table in the costing section above for average prices of the most common policies for liquor wholesalers insurance.

How much will liquor wholesalers business insurance cost?

As well as the size of the business, certain other factors, such as location and claims history, are used to determine your policy’s cost.

You should consult with professional insurance agents and brokers, or insurance company representatives.

You can search for more information insurance for liquor wholesalers, in the search box below, and follow the relevant links.

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