$400k Worth of Wine Rendered Worthless During Delivery, Says Insurer

Federal Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Chubb Limited, has filed a complaint in federal court last week suing a logistics provider, Connoisseur International Distribution Ltd. as well as Scandanavian Airlines System, for negligence after an insured received nearly $400,000 of “cooked” wine. Federal Ins. filed the complaint in the US District Court Southern District of New York on behalf of Zachy’s Wine and Liquor Store.

In June 2019, a shipment of 995 bottles of wine was sent from Stockholm, Sweden, to a wine retailer and auction house in New York, Zachys. The shipment of wine was in good order at the beginning of its journey, but during the course of transportation, handling, or storage of the wine, the shipment sustained damage potentially caused by exposure to excessive temperatures. The high-temperature exposure rendered the wine to be unfit for the intended use.  When the wine was delivered to the Zachy’s receiving facility, the wine was in a depreciated condition.