Adventures in
INSURANCELAND
A journey through the “exciting” world of frozen pipes and specialty insurance... Written by Aaron Linden
Good day to you, dearest readers of Artisan Spirit Magazine, Today we are talking about frozen pipes! Exciting, I know. Take a deep breath, relax, and sip lovingly on your beverage. All will be made known in due time. It is that time of year when most of us are experiencing that seasonal shift from warm and mild conditions to much cooler temperatures. Cool enough, in fact, that liquids that we don’t worry about in the warmer months can become quite cold and actually transform into solids. You already know that when liquids freeze into solids, expansion occurs, and if that expansion takes place in a confined space, such as a pipe, bad things can happen. Interestingly, did you know that the damage from a frozen fire suppression sprinkler system can be just as extreme and cause an equivalent amount of damage, if not more, than a fire? It is true, and I have witnessed it firsthand. In one instance, at a distillery that shall remain nameless to protect the innocent, a fire suppression system that was located in the upper portion of the attic lost its heating element, and went unnoticed. The pipes slowly froze causing
later, not to mention the amount of downtime and revenue losses. It could have ended fractures up and down the extensive lines in tragically, but thankfully several months later the attic, and come time for the big thaw later all was set back in order. This was due to the that month … Whammy! A flood of biblical proper insurance coverage being in place. proportions. OK, maybe not biblical, but it In this example we see how something so was a doozy. simple as the natural phenomenon of liqThe resulting damage was significant. Not uid freezing and expanding can cause severe only because a majority of the sprinkler sysdamage. How in the world can you protect tem needed to be removed and replaced, but yourselves from such a heartache? Do you the resulting water damage was massive. We even know if you would be so fortunate as to are talking about sheetrock needing to be rehave the coverage in place to take care of such moved, buckled wooden floors, water mitigaa travesty? Let’s find out! tion on a gigantic scale, equipment damage, It all starts with a base level of understandas well as subsequent mold and mildew issues ing of your insurance policy. A word to the in the lower portion of the building months wise, if you do not have this understanding, do whatever is necessary to get an understanding. A standard insurance policy is broken out into several parts, the first of which is the Insurance Company Philadelph ia Indemnity ating) articip (Nonp any Declarations Page. This little gem A Stock Comp LARATIONS COMMON POLICY DEC is pretty important as it will show Policy Number: you each of the coverage lines that Producer: g Name d Insured and Mailin you are being insured for as well as Address: the associated premium. Now, I am not going to go through the anatoTo: Policy Period From: my of a policy at this time, maybe : Business Description THE TERMS OF THIS AND SUBJECT TO ALL ENT OF THE PREMIUM, ED IN THIS POLICY. PAYM STAT THE AS FOR ANCE in a subsequent communique, but RN IN RETU THE INSUR WITH YOU TO PROVIDE WHICH A PREMIUM IS POLICY, WE AGREE COVERAGE PARTS FOR OF THE FOLLOWING THIS POLICY CONSISTS IUM MAY BE SUBJECT TO ADJUSTMENT. on this page you should see somePREMIUM INDICATED. THIS PREM Coverage Part thing along the lines of “PropComm ercial Property Liability Coverage Part Comm ercial General rage Part erty Coverage Part,” “Ultimate Comm ercial Crime Cove e Coverage Part Comm ercial Inland Marin Part rage Cover Coverage Part,” or some Cove Comm ercial Auto Businessow ners other fancy name for Property Coverage. If it is on the Dec Sheet, the cool people term for the Declarations Page, and there is a premiTotal um charge shown, then you have property coverage. WOOHOO, right?!?!?! Not so fast. Aaron Linden
Roaring Fork Insurance, PO Box 4313 Aspen, CO 81612
LLC
(970)429-5700
01/01/2024
01/01/2025
rd Time at your mailing at 12:01 A.M. Standa address shown above.
Craft Beverage
1,482.00
2,451.93
Coverage Part UltimateCover Property
303.00
Liquor Liability Coverage Hired Auto
Part
$
Schedule Attached) age and Surcharges (See Total Includes Fees al Terrorism Risk Insurance Act Cover Total Includes Feder
4,236.93 27.93 85.00
ssion. Office, Inc., with its permi CPD-PIIC-NY (02/21) ial of Insurance Servic es Includes copyrighted mater
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