El Dorado County winery's fire insurance jumps to $20k per year

CAMINO — As the insurance crisis in California continues, it is also making it harder for small businesses to stay afloat.

Eric Hays owns Chateau Davell Winery and has been open for about 15 years.

He said fire insurance for his business started at around $3,000 and went up gradually over the years. This year, he said he experienced the biggest jump, with it now being $20,000.

"It's not something that was in our business plan or our expenditure costs. So having to come up with that money, it's coming out of our profit honestly," Hays said.

This has caused Hays to have to raise prices for the first time since he opened.

"We held off for a long time, you know, even with inflation, costs, cost of living, fires, all of that. But we finally have to give in," Hays said.

That $20,000 a year averages out to more than $1,600 a month, which Hays said is now more than the cost of the mortgage for the building itself.

He explained that a big worry is that he'll be hit with another fire insurance jump next year.

"That's what's concerning. We're making it work this time but another jump like that, it could be devastating," he said.

Hays said that he hopes something can be done quickly so that all home and business owners can stay afloat.

"It'd be great if there were some sort of regulation with the insurance companies or some sort of assistance from the state or the feds, something to help," Hays said.

We reached out to California's insurance commissioner for comment and his office released a statement that said:

"We urge businesses who have concerns about their insurance coverage to contact our Department at 800-927-4357 or online at Getting Help (ca.gov) .

Each situation is different, so by contacting us it will allow us to evaluate this business owner's situation and provide any assistance that we can.

Earlier this month, Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara released further details of his transformative plan to increase the writing of homeowners and commercial insurance policies in areas of the state with high wildfire risk. This action is the next step of his Sustainable Insurance Strategy that will help restore coverage options for Californians across the state while safeguarding the integrity of the state's insurance market."