Inventory valuation for insurance claims

When the inventory is the claim

A liquor store, wine shop, bar or distributor loses its stock to fire, water, theft, power failure or a vehicle through the storefront. The building is straightforward. The inventory is not. Thousands of SKUs, a mix of fast-moving everyday product and a small number of bottles that carry a disproportionate share of the value, and documentation that is usually a POS export and a stack of distributor invoices.

Most generalist inventory appraisers price that stock the only way they can: from the invoices. That produces a defensible-looking spreadsheet that is wrong in exactly the places that matter.

A limited-release whiskey on a distributor invoice reads a few hundred dollars. Replacing it does not.

It cuts both ways

Independence means the number moves in whichever direction the evidence points. In one claim, the claimant valued a single bottle at $30,000. We confirmed with the distributor that the same bottle was available and could be reordered and replaced for $7,000, and documented that availability on the date of the report. In other claims, we have found allocated releases booked at a few hundred dollars that would cost ten to fifty times that to replace. Carriers retain us because the schedule we produce holds up, whoever it favors.

What we do differently

• Identify what was actually there. Allocated whiskeys, limited releases, aged single malts, prestige cognac and collectible wine are recognized by producer, release and size, not lumped into a category.
• Value on the correct basis. Actual cash value, replacement cost, or selling price, depending on the policy's valuation clause for stock. We show the number under each basis so adjusters and counsel can apply the policy rather than argue about the math.
• Price from live distributor data. We have current access to distributor cost, allocation availability and product specifications. Replacement cost is what it costs to put the bottle back today, and whether it can be reordered at all, sourced and confirmed, not estimated.
• Reconstruct from real records. POS and inventory exports, distributor invoices and purchase history, shelf photos, footage, planograms and prior counts combined into a SKU-level schedule, including items no invoice shows at true value.
• Document sources. Distributor price books, state pricing schedules where applicable, verified retail and market data for allocated items, all cited in the report.
• Write for the reader. The report is for an adjuster, an examiner, an umpire or a judge, not another liquor professional.

Insurance work we take on

• Total-loss and partial-loss inventory valuation after fire, smoke, flood or storm
• Theft and burglary losses, including reconstruction when records are incomplete
• Spoilage and temperature-excursion losses on wine and craft beer
• Review of an existing inventory appraisal for errors, omissions and misidentified product
• Scheduled-property and collection claims involving rare bottles
• Appraisal-clause work as a party-appointed appraiser or consultant to one
• Salvage assessment: what damaged or exposed alcohol can lawfully be sold and what it is worth
• Pre-loss inventory documentation and valuation for underwriting high-value stock

Who retains us

Property and casualty carriers, independent adjusting firms, third-party administrators, public adjusters, and coverage counsel on both sides. We are independent: no ownership interest in any party, no contingency fees, and the same methodology whoever is paying. We do not represent store owners on their own claims.

What we need to start

A short call, the policy's valuation language for stock if available, and whatever inventory documentation exists. Incomplete records are normal. Rebuilding an inventory from partial data is a large part of the work.