Illustrative example
When the cool room went down
A small brewery claim story
This is written as an illustrative example. Replace it with a real client story if you have one and they have agreed to it being shared.
The business
A small independent brewery in the Hills District
Five staff, a ten-hectolitre brewhouse, and kegs supplied to local venues.
What happened
Compressor failure over a long weekend
Over a long weekend, a compressor on the cool room failed. Nobody was on site. By Tuesday morning the temperature had risen well above safe levels and a large amount of finished and conditioning beer was lost. The taproom also had to close for two days while the repair was done.
The problem
A basic business pack with gaps
The owner had a basic business pack from a previous provider. It covered the building contents but excluded loss caused by refrigeration breakdown and had no business interruption cover.
What we changed
Cover that matched how the brewery traded
When the brewery came to us for its renewal, we reviewed the policy and found the gap. We arranged new cover that included:
- Stock cover with refrigeration failure extension
- Machinery breakdown for the brewhouse and cooling equipment
- Business interruption with a 12 month indemnity period
- Product and public liability suited to a taproom
The result
A similar fault, a different outcome
The following year, a similar cooling fault happened. This time the stock loss and lost trading days were claimed, subject to the policy terms and excess. The brewery was back to full production without absorbing the whole cost.
What to take from it
Checks worth making on your policy
- 01
Check whether your stock cover includes refrigeration failure. Many basic policies don’t.
- 02
Business interruption is easy to skip and expensive to go without.
- 03
A review before you need to claim costs nothing.
Brewery insurance
Back to the brewery hub
Talk to Ideal
Want us to look at your brewery’s policy?
Call or email Ideal Insurance Brokers and we will go through it with you.
Phone 02 8660 2305 · Email admin@idealbrokers.com.au · idealinsurancebrokers.com.au